Fred McGriff

Frederick Stanley McGriff (October 31, 1963-) was the first player to hit a home run at the Toronto SkyDome and in 1992, became the first player lead both the American and National Leagues in home runs. Fred was drafted by the Yankees in the ninth round of the 1981 MLB Draft, came up in the New York system, but was then traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982. Throughout Crime Dog’s career (named after McGruff – the Crime Dog, an animated mascot teaching children about crime), Fred seemed to be traded each time he began to hit his stride and settle in with a team. He led the AL in home runs in 1989, batting .269, and was traded to the San Diego Padres a year and half later, despite hitting 31 points higher (.300). Fred played first base for 19 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Blue Jays (1986-1990), the San Diego Padres (1991-1993), the Atlanta Braves (1993-1997), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-2001, 2004), the Chicago Cubs (2001-2002) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2003). When McGriff began in the Majors, his skills, both in the field and on the basepaths, required improvement, so Fred worked hard to become one of MLB’s elite first basemen and was able to steal safely in more than 60% of his attempts with only average speed. The power-hitting McGriff was the final component to get the Atlanta Braves over the hump, which had won the NL East division title six times in seven years around Fred’s tenure (1991-1997), as they won the 1995 World Series title over the Cleveland Indians. Fred won three Silver Slugger Awards, finished in the top ten in MVP voting six times and was a five-time All-Star and was named the 1994 All-Star Game MVP. Fred McGriff ended his career following the 2004 season having batted .284 with 2,490 hits including 441 doubles and 493 home runs, scored 1,349 runs and drove in 1,550 RBI. In the field, he posted a .992 career fielding percentage.