COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — When they were drafted nearly three decades ago, one was on everybody’s baseball radar, the other a blip at best, picked almost as an afterthought in the final round thanks to a recommendation by an important family friend.

That their baseball paths started so differently — the Seattle Mariners made Ken Griffey Jr. the first pick of the 1987 amateur draft and a year later the Dodgers selected Mike Piazza on the 62nd round with the 1,390th pick, ahead of only five other players — in the end didn’t matter one bit. Two players who wore their hats backward a lot — one for fun, the other because he had to — and left indelible imprints on the game will be rewarded Sunday with induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“It’s incredibly powerful,” said Piazza, by far the lowest draft pick in history elected to the Hall. “This whole year for me has been so euphoric. It’s such an honor.”

Dubbed “The Natural” for his effortless excellence at the plate and in center field, Griffey, the first No. 1 pick to be selected for enshrinement, hasn’t followed form since his selection in January. He’s been feted in Seattle, which likely still has a major league team because of his tenure there.

When he visited Cooperstown in late May for a mini-orientation, Griffey chose not to take the customary introductory tour of the Hall that’s become sort of a tradition in recent years. He did attend a series of brief meetings with Hall of Fame staff at a separate location in the village and said he wanted his first walk through the front doors of the stately building on Main Street to be with his kids.

Griffey played 22 big-league seasons with the Mariners, Reds and White Sox and was named on a record 99.32 percent of ballots cast, an affirmation of sorts for his squeaky-clean performance during baseball’s Steroids Era. A 13-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, Griffey hit 630 home runs drove in 1,836 runs.

Griffey also was named American League MVP in 1997, drove in at least 100 runs in eight seasons, and won seven Silver Slugger Awards. In the 1995 ALDS, he became just the second player in major league history to hit five home runs in a single postseason series.

Piazza played 16 years with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Padres and Athletics and hit 427 career home runs, including a record 396 as a catcher. A 12-time All-Star, Piazza won 10 Silver Slugger Awards and finished in the top five in MVP voting four times. Piazza, a .308 career hitter, posted six seasons with at least 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and a .300 batting average.