Fred McGriff (R) presents Braves' draft pick JR Ritchie with his jersey at the 2022 MLB Draft. Jul 17, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former Atlanta Braves player Fred McGriff presents JR Ritchie with his jersey after he was selected by the Atlanta Braves as the 35th pick of the MLB draft at XBox Plaza at LA Live. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
MLBBy Andrew Bucholtz on

The Baseball Hall of Fame has its newest inductee. That would be Fred McGriff, who played for six MLB teams between 1986 and 2004 and hit .284/.377/.509 with 493 home runs. On Sunday, the Hall of Fame revealed the results of its Contemporary Baseball Era Players’ Ballot, which saw only McGriff elected:

As Ryan Thibodaux mentioned, the tally  for McGriff was a unanimous 16 votes. That ballot also saw Don Mattingly receive eight votes (or 50 percent: 12, or 75 percent, were needed for election), Curt Schilling receive seven votes, and others receive fewer:

McGriff (seen at right above presenting a jersey to new Atlanta Braves selection JR Ritchie at this July’s MLB Draft) signed with the New York Yankees in 1981 after they picked him in the 9th round of the 1981 amateur draft. He briefly played in the minor leagues for them, but was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982 along with Dave Collins and Mike Morgan for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. That trade has since been called one of the most lopsided in baseball history, including by Rob Neyer in a 2006 book.

McGriff mostly played as a first baseman. He started his MLB career with the Blue Jays in 1986. He played there through 1990, then was traded to the San Diego Padres. In 1993, he was traded to the Braves, where he played through 1997; he won a World Series with Atlanta in 1995.

McGriff went on to further stints with the Tampa Bay Rays (then the Devil Rays, 1999-2001 and 2004), Chicago Cubs (2001-2002) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2003). He finished his career with five All-Star selections and three Silver Slugger nods, and led MLB in home runs twice. And he’s now received induction to Cooperstown for his career.

[Ryan Thibodaux on Twitter; photo from Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

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