'The Crime Dog' Fred McGriff Enters Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with Great Speech
On Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown, N.Y., Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen took their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rolen was a 17-year veteran who played with the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds. He was a seven-time All-Star, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, a Rookie of the Year and a World Series champion.
You can read up on his induction here.
As for McGriff, he spent 19 years in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Rays, Cubs and Dodgers. He hit 493 home runs and had a lifetime batting average of .284. A five-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger, he also won a World Series title (1995) and an All-Star Game MVP.
Both players gave moving speeches at the podium, and you can watch McGriff's speech below:
McGriff spoke about getting cut from his high school baseball team during the tenth grade and talked about all of his career stops along the way. He talked about winning the World Series with the 1995 Braves and all the people who influenced his career, including fellow Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. He also had a moving portion of his speech about Tony Gwynn.
The 59-year-old will forever be immortalized in Cooperstown. As for who could join him next year? Here's a look at the ballot that could come about for the Class of 2024.
In other McGriff-related news, the Gwinnett Stripers, a minor league affiliate of the Braves, put out a hilarious re-enactment of his famous Tom Emanski skills video.
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