McGriff elected unanimously to Hall on Contemporary Era ballot
SAN DIEGO — “The Crime Dog” lastly had his day.
In Fred McGriff’s first second probability on the National Baseball Hall of Fame voting course of, the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee did what the Baseball Writers’ Association didn’t. McGriff was the committee’s lone Hall of Fame choice among the many eight candidates thought of throughout a vote held Sunday at baseball’s Winter Meetings in San Diego.
McGriff obtained unanimous assist, showing on all 16 ballots solid. He will likely be inducted alongside any BBWAA picks on July 23 in Cooperstown, N.Y. The BBWAA outcomes will likely be introduced Jan. 24 on MLB Network.
“I’ve been totally blessed over the years,” McGriff mentioned. “[This selection] is just icing on the cake. And for it to be unanimous, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Though McGriff went 16-for-16, not one of the different males on the Contemporary Baseball Era poll — a poll comprised of gamers whose best contributions to the sport got here from 1980 to the current — obtained the 12 votes (or 75%) crucial for choice. The outcomes revealed by the Hall had been as follows:
McGriff: 16 votes, 100%
Don Mattingly, 8, 50%
Curt Schilling, 7, 43.8%
Dale Murphy, 6, 37.5%
Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Rafael Palmeiro: Fewer than 4 votes
And so as soon as once more, three distinguished gamers linked to performance-enhancing drug use — Bonds, Clemens and Palmeiro — had been left on the skin trying in. The earliest they might be thought of once more is three years from now.
The wait additionally goes on for Schilling, whose controversies away from the sector affected his candidacy on the BBWAA poll and should have once more performed a job right here. Schilling got here simply 16 votes shy of election by the BBWAA in his penultimate 12 months on that poll in 2021, then publicly requested to be faraway from the BBWAA poll for his remaining 12 months. Though that request was not honored, Schilling misplaced dozens of votes after which once more got here up quick in his first small-committee course of.
Mattingly and Murphy, in the meantime, have been right here earlier than. This was the third time a small committee thought of and in the end rejected their circumstances (after 15 years apiece on the BBWAA poll).
Until this long-awaited recognition, the view of McGriff’s profession had been impacted each by the steroid period and the 1994 gamers’ strike. His prime years got here simply earlier than league offensive totals turned bloated, affecting the appreciation given to McGriff’s counting stats. And if not for the strike, the power-hitting first baseman probably would have reached the vaunted 500-homer threshold.
The 59-year-old McGriff, who performed 19 seasons for the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, Cubs and Dodgers, got here up empty in 10 makes an attempt on the BBWAA poll, maxing out at 39.8% assist in his remaining 12 months in 2019. This was his first look on a small-committee poll.
In this explicit course of, a voting physique that included McGriff’s former teammate Greg Maddux (one other former teammate, Chipper Jones, had been anticipated to participate however got here down with COVID-19 and due to this fact was changed by D-backs CEO Derrick Hall) and his former Blue Jays boss Paul Beeston was notably well-positioned to acknowledge his impression and significance.
McGriff was acknowledged for a 19-season profession during which he completed with 2,490 hits, 493 homers, 1,550 RBIs and 1,305 walks — a mixture of numbers that solely 12 gamers had reached on the time of his retirement. Of these 12 others, solely Bonds and Palmeiro, each of whom are related to performance-enhancing medicine, aren’t within the Hall.
“Growing up here in Tampa, you know, I got cut from my high school team in 10th grade,” McGriff mentioned. “So for me just to play one day in the big leagues exceeded all expectations.”
McGriff was greater than only a huge leaguer. He was a five-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger, the MVP of the 1994 All-Star Game and a member of the 1995 World Series champion Braves. He appeared in 10 postseason sequence in 5 seasons, slashing a mixed .303/.385/.532 with 10 homers. He was a .284 hitter for his profession, he hit 30 or extra homers 10 instances, and he obtained MVP votes eight instances.
“I set goals every year,” he mentioned. “To hit 30 homers, that’s five good swings a month. That’s all you got to do for six months.”
He did it sufficient to earn his spot within the Hall.
