Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones and Greg Maddux to vote on Hall of Fame

Atlanta Braves – Fred McGriff

Atlanta Braves fans and writers on this site are split on whether McGriff belongs in the Hall of Fame.

• Last week Mitchell wrote that McGriff was an in-betweener,
• In 2014 and again in 2015, Jeff said Crime Dog should enter the Hall of Fame

I respect Mitchell’s opinion, but in 2013, I wrote this about McGriff.

Fred McGriff had ten consecutive seasons with 30+ home runs for the Padres and Braves. Pitchers didn’t want to see him at the plate with the game on the line. If he’s not elected, Crime Dog should bite the nonvoters hard and often.

I haven’t changed my mind. Baseball is swimming in numbers, but let’s cut to the chase. During an era when players openly cheated while Bud Selig and others turned a blind eye, McGriff was the most dangerous steroid-free hitter in the game. Tom Verducci sums up the case for Crime Dog better than I can.

Atlanta Braves – Dale Murphy

Two weeks ago, Sam said Dale Murphy isn’t a hall of fame player because he doesn’t measure up to past center fielders already in the Hall.

In many ways, the case for Murph resembles that of McGriff.  He gets little credit for winning back-to-back NL MVPs and playing so well for that weren’t always good. From 1978 through 1989, the braves finished higher than fourth place three times. In two of those seasons, Murph was NL MVP; in the third year, he finished ninth in MVP voting.

In 2012 I wrote that Murph wouldn’t be selected and why I felt he should.

In order to compare him with his peers during that time I ran a search on Baseball-Reference for players  with numbers similar to his. Specifically they had to have: Played 50% of at least 1900 games in LF, CF or RF Had an OBP of at least .350 a slugging % of at least .475 and OPS+ of at least 120 The search turned up one name; Dale Murphy.

In 2013, I discussed Murph in what I consider the proper context and my conclusion after reviewing his career.

My conclusion then and now is that had he played for the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers he would already be in the hall.

The coming ballot is Murph’s last and best chance, but I don’t think he makes it.

A shot in the dark

Rafael Palmeiro is an odd case. Statistically, he belongs, but he wagged his finger at Congress, and it later came out that he used PEDS. The problem with that report is the source, and I never bought into it.

The stats didn’t show a surge in numbers, and Palmeiro wasn’t a dummy. I didn’t believe he was stupid enough to go before Congress and lie as others clearly did.

Then I found a post by John Perrotto on Baseball Prospectus (not behind a paywall now) that said I wasn’t the only one who believed Raffy.

An extremely reliable source—with no ties to Palmeiro—told me an off-the-record story at the Winter Meetings that convinced me that Palmeiro was indeed a clean player and was tricked into using the steroid when he thought he was taking a shot of vitamin B-12 that led to his suspension and end of his career in 2005. Unfortunately, there would be too many legal ramifications to make the story public.

The last sentence holds true today unless the individual who spoke with Perrotto comes forward, Palmeiro won’t enter the Hall.

That’s a wrap

The 75% rule still applies; each member may vote for up to three candidates but isn’t required to vote for any of them. Unlike the voting by the BBWAA, the committee sits in a room and discusses each player.

I know Chipper and Maddux will push McGriff hard and expect Theo to make a case for Schilling. I don’t know where Susan Slusser stands on Bonds, but I don’t want to believe either PED cheats makes it.

When the smoke clears, I expect McGriff and Schilling to sit on the stage in Cooperstown next year. If they kick open the door for Big PED and “my- wife-used-them-not-me PED,” they might as well put all of them in.