A new name will be heading to Cooperstown in July 2023. Former first baseman Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff was elected by the 16 members of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.

Two members of that committee are Hall of Fame Detroit Tigers players Jack Morris and Alan Trammell. They voted on Sunday during the start of the baseball winter meetings in San Diego, which is also the home town of Trammell. He played his high school ball at Kearny High School. The Contemporary Era Committee considers candidates whose careers primarily took place after 1980. Both Morris and Trammell were voted in by this committee in 2018.

McGriff was the only player on the ballot elected. The rest of the eight-player ballot included the following names: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Don Mattingly, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Belle and Dale Murphy.

Candidates need 12 votes for induction. Mattingly was the next closest to election, as he received eight votes. Schilling got seven, while Bonds and Clemens each received fewer than four.

Both Bonds and Clemens have the cloud of PEDs still hanging over their careers. This was the first time Bonds, Clemens and Schilling were on the Contemporary Era Committee ballot. All three hit the 10th and final appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot.

Originally drafted by the Yankees in 1981, McGriff was traded to Toronto after one season in the minors. In his first full season in the majors in 1987, he was the left-handed bat in a 1B/DH platoon with a familiar right-handed hitter in former Tigers slugger Cecil Fielder. McGriff’s career highlights include:

-In 1992, he became the first player to lead the both the AL and NL in home runs since the nineteeth century

-Hitting 30 home runs 10 or more times. He also was the first to do that with five different teams.

– A five-time All-Star, he was on the 1995 Braves team that won the World Series. That team had Taylor, Michigan’s own Steve Avery in their starting rotation.

Also, for anyone growing up in the 90s, McGriff was all over your TV with this ad:

Winter Meetings should kick off the Detroit Tigers acquiring players

The hot stove has been more like a Hot Pocket with a frozen center so far for the Tigers. But we expect to see Detroit sign or possibly trade players for their 2023 roster.  We will keep you posted for any movement that may occur. And to the future committee meetings for the Hall of Fame, please do all Tigers fans a solid. Elect Lou Whitaker to the Hall already. His WAR is 23 points higher than McGriff. (75.1 to 52.6)

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