Fred McGriff's 19-year career in Major League Baseball has often been overlooked, with more outlandish players filling the spotlight. With "The Crime Dog" eligible for the elusive Hall-of-Fame in 2010, many sportswriters should take a second look at his credentials before making a decision on his Hall-of-Fame fate. Because many players have made everyone question the legitimacy of records and career accomplishments, it would be unfair to discount someone who has never been proved or even accused of wrong doing.
Over his long and illustrious career, McGriff belted 493 homeruns, carried a career .284 batting average and was a crucial figure on the Atlanta Braves 1995 World Championship season. Now, one must take into consideration what McGriff has accomplished without ever being suspected of foul play. While other stars of his time such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Mark McGwire have recently come under intense scrutiny, Fred has remained under the radar, but in his career, McGriff was setting incredible slugging standards.
For six years in a row, "The Crime Dog" belted atleast 30 homeruns, which at the time was an incredible feat, before steroids and HGH corroded the sport. In addition, McGriff was a five-time all-star, an all-star game MVP, and was top ten in the MVP voting six times in his career. "The Crime Dog" played for 6 different teams over his career and was consistently productive. His numbers never soared and fell like many of the other stars of his generation. Additionally, the southpaw slugger was a three-time Silver Slugger Award Winner. Not to mention, he has always been a class-act, a gentleman that several players should strive to be more like. Quiet and polite, but still able to strike fear in opposing pitchers for nearly twenty years.
Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff should definitely be in the Hall-of-Fame simply based on his statistics, but more importantly because of the intregrity he brought to the game during a time when it would have been easy not to do the right thing. Fred McGriff is one of the few professional athletes aspiring young athletes can look at and say: that's the way to do it. Major League Baseball and the professional sporting world in general can only hope to have more players like Fred McGriff. He has always been a great role-model and if he did not make the Hall-of-Fame, it would be a shame and could make one further question the integrity of the game.
