The new Contemporary Era Committee announced the results of their vote Sunday night, inducting former Cub first baseman Fred McGriff into the Hall of Fame with 100% of the vote. McGriff, whose 18-year career also included tours with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, and Dodgers, fell off the BBWAA ballot in 2019 after his tenth year, earning just 39.8% of the vote.
With the Cubs becoming surprise contenders in the 2001 season, they acquired McGriff from the Devil Rays. The Crime Dog held up his part of the bargain down the stretch, putting up a .942 OPS with 12 home runs in 49 games with the Cubs. Unfortunately, the pitching fell apart as the Cubs went 23-28 in August and September, finishing five games behind the Astros and Cardinals. At age 38, McGriff returned to the Cubs in 2002, posting a .858 OPS and 125 OPS+ to go along with 30 homers and 103 runs batted in. The rest of the Cubs, however, were butt, going through three managers and finishing with a 67-95 record. McGriff became a free agent following the season.
Players needed twelve of the sixteen votes to gain election. Don Mattingly finished second, with eight votes, followed by Curt Schilling, with seven, and Dale Murphy with six. Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro each received fewer than four votes.
Fred McGriff’s numbers in games I’ve attended were:
Yesterday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2023. The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 24th, with induction taking place July 23rd. David Ortiz was elected in last year’s voting and notable PED suspects Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa fell off the ballot after reaching their ten-year limit, the new ballot contains fourteen holdovers along with another fourteen newcomers. For the first time in a decade, the logjam caused by a combination of BBWAA rules limiting the number of votes on one ballot to ten and the ongoing refusal by some writers to vote for players tainted by PEDs has come to an end.
