Two Chicago Cubs Up for Veterans Committee Induction This Week
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The veterans committee will convene on Dec. 4 this year to determine the fate of eight individuals on the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot.
Their names: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro, Fred McGriff and Curt Schilling.
Of that group, two are former Chicago Cubs, though neither spent much of their career in Wrigleyville.
Rafael Palmeiro began his career in Chicago, earning an All-Star appearances in his third MLB season and his first qualified year. That offseason the Cubs traded him to Texas with Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall for a package of six players that included Luis Benitez, Pablo Delgado, Paul Kilgus, Curt Wilkerson, Mitch Williams and Steve Wilson.
Naturally none never lived up to the legend that Palmeiro became, but his story was tainted by steroids, one of several reasons he's fallen to the Veterans Committee ballot.
On the flip side to Palmeiro, McGriff came to Chicago in 2001 in a mid-season trade as a 38-year-old.
His .942 OPS that year was unable to propel the Cubs to a playoff birth, nor was his .858 OPS in 2002 able to do so either, but he carried the legacy of greatness he started in Atlanta into the Windy City.
McGriff ended his career with 493 home runs, and had he hit just seven more he'd likely already be a Hall of Famer. McGriff, unlike Schilling or Belle, never had character issues, and unlike Clemens, Bonds or Palmeiro, was never implicated in a steroid scandal.
The only thing holding McGriff back is his quality of play.
On Dec. 4, a committee of 16 current and former baseball players and executives will meet to vote on these eight players.
The same thresholds apply here as they do on the BBWAA ballot. A player will need 75% of the vote to earn induction, or 12 of 16 voters.
Among former-Cubs on the induction committee are Greg Maddux, Ryne Sandberg, Lee Smith and Theo Epstein.
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