Cooperstown Choices: Fred McGriff

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2012, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty seven men on the ballot this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2012 menu at the top of the page.

Tune in Saturday, January 7, 2012 as I-70 Baseball Radio will host a panel of writers discussing the Hall Of Fame Ballot in a 2-hour special.

In this article, we take a look at Fred McGriff

Fred McGriff
The Crime Dog’s 19 year career would take him from the frozen north in Toronto in 1986 all the way to the Florida beaches in Tampa Bay in 2004. In between he would play for a total of six teams and put together a career that may finally reach the pinnacle in 2012.

Why He Should Get In
When you set a bar for those numbers that make a player a “shoe in” for Cooperstown, you open the door for scrutiny when a player falls just short. McGriff was able to put up 493 home runs, 2,490 hits, and 1,550 runs batted in during his career. Added with his .284 lifetime batting average and .886 career OPS (On Base plus Slugging Percentage) and the first baseman put together quite the career. Three Silver Sluggers, six top ten Most Valuable Player finishes, and four All Star appearances show that he was near the top of his peers during his peak.

Why He Should Not Get In
Quite the career of almosts, it seems. He’s just short of 500 home runs, just short of 2,500 hits, and barely over the 1,500 runs batted in mark. He is well above a “bubble” player, but still just outside of Cooperstown’s promised land.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.