Hall of Fame Ballot Review - Fred McGriff

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Career Accomplishments
493 career home runs
2490 hits
OPS+ of 134
7 100 rbi seasons
12 90 rbi seasons
9 30 homer seasons (7 in a row)
.284/.377/.509

The Case for McGriff
The Crime Dog was an excellent run-producing slugger. He had 9 season with 30+ homers, 12 with 90+ rbi, and finished with 2490 hits and a career line of .284/.377/.509. He had 7 straight seasons with 30+ homers, and 2 different sets of 3 seasons with 100+ rbi in a row. (1991-1993, 1999-2001). He finished with a career postseason line of .303/.385/.532.

The Case Against McGriff
While McGriff was always a very solid slugger, he was never really viewed as an elite slugger. Falling 7 homers short of 500 in an era known for the long ball is probably not a good thing either. He only won 1 World Series championship. He faded in his last two seasons, dropping off and really only playing part time at best during that time.

Analysis
I am actually quite torn on this one. How much value do I place in 7 home runs? That really seems to be what his career totals come down to. McGriff was quite a power hitter, and 7 consecutive seasons of 30+ home runs is definitely an accomplishment. To me, it seems like McGriff's career numbers would be enough to get him into the Hall, providing he was elite for a period of at least 5 seasons.

So what do his year-to-year stats show me? McGriff hit 31+ home runs for 7 straight seasons (1988-1994), posted OPS+ of 143 or higher during each of the seasons as well. He drove in 92+ runs 6 of the 7 seasons, and never had an OPS below .890. I would qualify that as an elite stretch of his career.

These numbers compiled with his career totals lead me to believe that McGriff should be a Hall of Famer.

MY VOTE: YES

Hall of Fame Eligible Players Review

I'm starting a new series today, and I'll be going over the list of players on this year's ballot for the Hall of Fame, and analyzing the ones who I believe have at least a reasonable chance of being inducted. The complete ballot can be viewed here.

Here's the schedule:

12/4: Jack Morris
12/7: Mark McGwire
12/9: Edgar Martinez
12/11: Fred McGriff
12/14: Harold Baines
12/16: Barry Larkin
12/18: Bert Blyleven
12/21: Roberto Alomar
12/23: Andre Dawson
12/25: Tim Raines
12/28: My Hall of Fame Ballot