One question that I have yet to see be discussed in the major media, and I thank my fellow contributor Ben for bringing this issue to light, is whether we should reevaluate the careers of players who weren’t quite Hall of Fame material. According to the Baseball Writers Association of America rules for election, Hall of Fame voting “shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” Another mantra is that a player’s career should be evaluated against those of his contemporaries, and only the best of each generation should gain acceptance.
As players with Hall of Fame-caliber careers see their election chances disappear due to PED allegations, shouldn’t other players from their generation step up and enter the Hall of Fame discussion? Specifically, is Fred McGriff now a Hall of Fame player?
Fred McGriff hit 493 home runs in his career, knocking in 1,550 RBIs. These are great numbers, but most people leave McGriff out of Hall of Fame consideration because he was nowhere near as feared as players like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Raphael Palmeiro, etc (you get the point). Now that these other careers are being discounted as illegitimate, shouldn’t McGriff’s numbers be held in higher regard? Let’s look deeper:
McGriff has 493 home runs. Of all Hall of Fame eligible players, the only ones with more than 450 home runs who are not in the Hall are Mark McGwire (583) and Jose Canseco (462). The other twenty players were all elected. In the RBI category, we a similar trend: Of HOF eligible players with 1,500 or more RBIs, the only ones not in the Hall are Harold Baines(1,628) and Andre Dawson (1,591). Neither of these players has been accused of PEDs, but both are at least in the Hall of Fame discussion, and neither had the home run total of McGriff.
As far as longevity, McGriff hit 20+ home runs every year from his rookie campaign of 1987 to 2002, excluding 1998 when he hit 19, and 30+ home runs from 1988 to 1994, sprinkling other 30+ home run seasons in 1999, 2001, and 2002. He also drove in 100 or more runs eight times.
The Crime Dog was also essential to his teams’ yearly success. He played on the postseason five times, with the Blue Jays in 1989 and with the Braves in 1993 and 1995-1997. In 218 plate appearances over 50 games, he was a .303 postseason hitter with a .532 slugging percentage and .917 OPS. In fact, removing his weak performance with the Blue Jays and looking only at his four postseasons with the Braves, he hit .323/.411/.581/.992 (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS). During his two World Series appearances with the Braves (one of which they actually won) he hit .279 with a .605 slugging percentage and .989 OPS. If anything, his postseason numbers were an improvement over those from the regular season. Plus, that “Crime Dog” nickname has be to worth at least a vote or two.
Fred McGriff has been left out of Hall of Fame talks because he wasn’t the best of his generation. Now we are finding that most of the best of his generation bent (or broke?) the rules to obtain that status. McGriff’s name has never once come up in PED talk. Maybe it’s time that he should – as one of the players who resisted the temptation and still attained the game’s highest levels of play.
References:
BBWAA Rules for Election:
http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/bbwaa.jsp
Career home run leaders:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml
Career RBI leaders:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/RBI_career.shtml
McGriff career stats:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcgrifr01.shtml
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