On Sunday, the Contemporary Era committee elected MLB legend and 1995 World Series champion Fred McGriff to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 59-year-old spent time with the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Chicago Cubs over the course of his 20-year career.
The “Crime Dog,” as he was affectionately known, put together a solid career, earning five All-Star selections and three Silver Slugger Awards.
For his career, the slugger hit for a .284 average and had a total of 493 home runs, while posting a 52.6 WAR.
While McGriff is certainly deserving of the honor, there were several notable players that were passed up and did not receive the 12 necessary votes from the 16-person committee.
Fred McGriff has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Era committee. Among those who did not receive the necessary 12 votes from the 16-person committee: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Dale Murphy, Rafael Palmeiro and Don Mattingly.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 5, 2022
McGriff Elected To Hall, Other Stars Left Out
Players such as Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, Curt Schilling, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds were among those who did not receive the 12 necessary votes in order to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
With players such as Bonds, Clemens, and Palmeiro, there will always be a debate.
On one hand, these three stars had Hall-of-Fame-worthy careers in terms of statistics.
On the other hand, their alleged use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs could be used as a reason to keep them out of the Hall.
There are always two sides of a debate, especially on subjects such as Hall-of-Fame eligibility for players who may or may not have been using steroids.
Regardless, there are still several players who certainly deserve to be enshrined that were kept out once again, such as Murphy and Mattingly.
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