WHY I THINK FRED McGRIFF SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
As long as I can remember, 500 home runs and 3,000 hits for a batter, as well as 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts for a pitcher, would give the player who achieved the milestone an automatic induction into the Hall of Fame. In recent years, many players who have reached one or another of those plateaus have been connected to illegal performance enhancing drugs and therefore were excluded from Cooperstown. Then you have Fred McGriff, who was never linked with any illegal drugs, who is not in the Hall of Fame either, despite totaling 504 career homers (493 in the regular season, ten in the postseason, and one in the 1994 all-star game). I believe that as long as a player was clean of any cheating whatsoever and reaches one of the four career marks listed above, then he should automatically be inducted, as it had been for so many years. Aside from the 500 plus home runs that he hit, Fred McGriff was still one of the all around finest players that the game has ever seen. He had a lifetime batting average of .284, averaged better than a hit per game, and had eight seasons with over 100 RBI’s while also consistently providing fine defense at first base. Fred McGriff started his career with the Blue Jays, in 1986. He played in only three games that year and was a 20-homer man by 1987. McGriff then started a streak of seven straight 30-home run seasons and batted over .300 twice during that span. In 1995, now with the Atlanta Braves, he carried their offense with 27 homers and 93 RBI’s and led the club to the World Series title. McGriff swung a hot bat all throughout the postseason, as he batted .333 with a pair of longballs in the NLDS, .438 in the NLCS, and .261 with another pair of homers in the World Series. After two more fine seasons he was sold to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a move that would prove costly for the Braves. McGriff turned in four more Hall of Fame worthy seasons with Tampa Bay, splitting the fourth between them and the Cubs. He had one last big year in 2002 with 30 homers and 103 RBI’s before experiencing a severe decline in production. McGriff hit 13 homers in 2003, his age 39 season, and was released by the Devil Rays in July of 2004. Fred McGriff was a fine power hitter, a stellar run producer, and a good fielder. His home run total should have been enough for him to be a Hall of Famer, and his skills in every other phase of the game back it up nicely.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 2,460 season high: 161 in 1989 led NL: 144 in 1995
At Bats career: 8,757 season high: 617 in 1996
Hits career: 2,490 season high: 167 in 1990
Doubles career: 441 season high: 37 in 1996
Triples career: 24 season high: 4 in 1988 and 1992
Home Runs career: 493 season high: 37 in 1993 led AL: 36 in 1989 led NL: 35 in 1992
Runs career: 1,349 season high: 111 in 1993
Runs Batted In career: 1,550 season high: 107 in 1996
Stolen Bases career: 72 season high: 8 in 1992
Walks career: 1,305 season high: 119 in 1989
Strikeouts career: 1,882 season high: 149 in 1988
Batting Average career: .284 season high: .318 in 1994
On Base Percentage career: .377 season high: .405 in 1999
Slugging Percentage career: .509 season high: .623 in 1994
Total Bases career: 4,458 season high: 306 in 1993
Sacrifice Hits career: 2 season high: 1 in 1989 and 1990
Fielding Percentage career: .992 season high: .997 in 1988 led AL 1B: .997 in 1988
Double Plays career: 1,775 season high: 148 in 1989 led AL 1B: 148 in 1989, 140 in 1998
Putouts career: 18,985 season high: 1,460 in 1989 led NL 1B: 1,004 in 1994
Assists career: 1,447 season high: 126 in 1990
DID YOU KNOW?
-cousin of Charles Johnson and Terry McGriff
-nicknamed “Crime Dog”
-was a five time all-star and the game’s MVP in 1994
-hit the first home run ever in the Skydome
-is one of only two players ever to hit 30 or more home runs in a season with five different teams (with Gary Sheffield being the other)
-won three Silver Slugger Awards, two Player of the Month awards, and seven Player of the Week awards
-led the AL in OPS (.924) in 1989
-led the MLB with 26 intentional walks in 1991
-led AL first basemen in games in 1989 (159) and led NL first basemen in 1994 (112) and 1995 (144)
-finished sixth in the AL MVP Award voting in 1989, tenth in 1990, and 17th in 1988
-was fourth in the NL MVP Award voting in 1993, sixth in 1992, eighth in 1994, tenth in 1991, and 20th in 1995
-batted .303 with 36 runs scored, 57 hits, 11 doubles, one triple, 37 RBI’s, one stolen base, and 27 walks in 50 career postseason games
-ranks 28th in career home runs, 47th in RBI’s, 46th in walks, 50th in extra-base hits, 34th in intentional walks, and 13th in putouts
-among MLB first basemen, ranks third in career games, fifth in double plays, 12th in putouts, and 12th in assists
I certainly wouldn't mind if McGriff was put in the Hall. With 493 home runs, a career OPS+ of a stellar 134, and a respectable 52.6 WAR, he's a pretty good candidate. Good post.
ReplyDeleteJust one minor quibble, though, with something you wrote. You say that you should almost automatically inducted if he reaches 3000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 wins, or 3000 strike outs. I dunno. Let's take, say, Nick Markakis. At age 36 he has 2388 hits, 4 of his normal seasons away from 3000. But even if he does reach that milestone, would he be a deserving hall of famer? His career batting average, .288, is good, but if you hit just .288 you have to have some serious other achievements to be deserving of the hall. Markakis doesn't have those. He has merely average power, does not walk much, and is an average fielding outfielder. Putting him in the hall would be absurd. Or Jose Canseco.If he hit 38 more home runs, would that make him a hall of famer? If Vada Pinson had 243 more hits, would that make a hall of famer? No. Greatness is not defined by arbitrary statistical cutoffs.
Of course, 95% of the time people who reach these mile stones are deserving hall of famers, so it would not be too huge,but the other 5% would be embarrassing. I probably spent too much time on this (Don't mean to be negative), but putting too much emphasis on one category is dangerous.
I am sorry for disagreeing with you, Mister GTT, but for years everyone in baseball has considered one of the four milestones an automatic induction. This is Damien, the author, and I don't really understand the rule either. But even the most ridiculous of rules are rules, and everyone who has reached any of those milestones, excepting McGriff and now Curt Schilling, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame. The main reason for my reply is the individual players that you criticized. I agree with you about Canseco, but only because he was on steroids and encouraged them among young players, which is abhorrent. Markakis, however, has the highest fielding percentage ever by a rightfielder and 500 doubles to go along with his hit total, which, if it reaches 3,000, is enough anyway. I am especially stubborn about Vada Pinson, who will be featured in an upcoming article on this blog. Look over his numbers again. He played in a pitcher friendly era, and still betters the Hall of Fame averages for runs scored, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, and total bases. He was also a very good heads-up ballplayer and a good fielder. I hate to disagree with someone who knows so much about baseball, but I study these things way more than I probably should, and know my way around them pretty well.
Delete