{"id":149668,"date":"2022-12-06T10:50:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T10:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-hall-of-fame-panel-sends-fred-mcgriff-to-cooperstown\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T10:50:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T10:50:06","slug":"baseball-hall-of-fame-panel-sends-fred-mcgriff-to-cooperstown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-hall-of-fame-panel-sends-fred-mcgriff-to-cooperstown\/","title":{"rendered":"Baseball Hall of Fame panel sends Fred McGriff to Cooperstown"},"content":{"rendered":"
The long wait for Baseball Hall of Fame recognition is finally over for Fred McGriff.<\/p>\n
McGriff was unanimously elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame through a vote by the Hall’s “Contemporary Era” committee, earning all 16 votes as others who dropped off the writers’ ballot saw their support shrivel.<\/p>\n
Yankees great Don Mattingly received eight votes and pitcher Curt Schilling seven, falling well short of the 12 needed for election. Two-time Atlanta Braves MVP Dale Murphy earned six votes. <\/p>\n
But slugger Barry Bonds \u2014 a seven-time MVP \u2014 and pitcher Roger Clemens \u2014 a seven-time Cy Young Award winner \u2014 failed to garner at least four votes. That significantly less than 25% support is a dropoff from the 66% and 65% of votes Bonds and Clemens received, respectively, from the Baseball Writers’ Assn. of America in their final year on that ballot.<\/p>\n\n
McGriff’s accomplishments were significantly overshadowed by the huge power numbers produced in baseball’s so-called steroid era. In that light, his election can be viewed as correcting an oversight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s all good. It’s been well worth the wait,\u201d said McGriff, who played his last big league game in 2004.<\/p>\n
One of the most consistent sluggers of his generation, “The Crime Dog” finished his 19-year MLB career just seven home runs short of the 500 mark once considered to guarantee a ticket to Cooperstown.<\/p>\n\n
During his decade on the BBWAA ballot beginning in 2010, McGriff never received even 40% support by the time his eligibility expired in 2019. Given a second chance, the post-1980 Era committee overwhelmingly validated McGriff’s credentials.<\/p>\n
MORE:<\/strong>What to know about Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball ballot, veterans committee voting<\/p>\n EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW:<\/strong>Stay up to date with our sports newsletter<\/p>\n