Orioles Hall of Fame: Melvin Mora, John Lowenstein, Gary Roenicke all elected in 2015

The Orioles announced their 2015 Hall of Fame class on Monday afternoon, with some names familiar to Orioles fans both from recent years and farther into the past. This year's three honorees are: Melvin Mora, John Lowenstein, and Gary Roenicke.

The voting process works like so, according to the Orioles Advocates website, which only recently emerged from the bleak depths of orange Comic Sans font:

The regular Hall of Fame Committee consists of a small group of media members and Advocates appointed by the current Advocate president. The committee creates a ballot containing the leading candidates for election to the Hall of Fame. Ballots are mailed to prominent media members, members of the Oriole Hall of Fame, members of the Oriole Front Office, selected Baltimore baseball figures and eligible Advocate members . The nominee receiving the most votes, but at least 60% of the votes cast, shall be elected to membership in the Hall of Fame.

There is also a Veterans Committee, which is the group that elected Lowenstein and Roenicke this year. Who else was on the ballot with Mora this year? No one knows! Last year, there were no inductees.

Mora last played in the majors in 2011. His ten-year Orioles career came to an end after the 2009 season, long enough that he sits in the top 10 on the franchise's leaderboard in categories like doubles, RBI, home runs, runs, and total bases. He's also 12th in games played in an Orioles uniform, with 1,256. Melvin Mora has more home runs in an Orioles uniform than Chris Davis is likely to ever have. I know, Mora hung around longer, but still.

For the most part, Mora was a solid and otherwise unremarkable player during some dark Orioles years. He was here from 2000-09 so he never played for a winner, despite all that playoff experience he brought to the table. Mora was great in 2003 and 2004, though. Across 236 games between those seasons, he batted .331/.419/.539, an impressive number even in that era. That was good for a 151 OPS+.

In our Top 40 Greatest Orioles rankings from last year, we slotted in Mora at #15. He was a great Oriole even if he was never on a great Orioles team.

It's fitting that Lowenstein and Roenicke were elected together. You can't think of one without also thinking of the other. The tandem was combined on our Top 40 list as well, coming in at #34. They played for seven seasons together in Baltimore, combining to hit 171 home runs. They were part of the 1979 American League champions as well as the 1983 World Series winners.

Also honored is a long-time scout, Fred Uhlman Sr., recipient of the Herb Armstrong Award, which is given to a member of the organization for contributions that were not made on the field. Uhlman is credited with signing players like Steve Finley, Gregg Olson, and David Segui to the Orioles.

This year's inductees will be honored at a luncheon at Oriole Park on August 14 at noon, and also in an on-field ceremony before the Orioles play the Athletics that same night. The Orioles announced that Lowenstein will not be able to attend either one of these events due to a prior commitment.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a $125,000 one-day fantasy league today. It's $2 to join and first place wins $10,000. Enter now!