| Fred McGriff | ||
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| First Baseman | ||
| Born: October 31, 1963 Tampa, Florida |
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| Batted: Left | Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | ||
| May 17, 1986 for the Toronto Blue Jays |
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| Final game | ||
| July 15, 2004 for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Batting average | . First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a Baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1521 - Edward Stafford 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for Treason. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Mets over Boston Red Sox (4-3 Ray Knight, MVP The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Headline events of the year The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since, ending the Curse of the Bambino. The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St Batting average is a Statistic in both Cricket and Baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively 284 | |
| Home runs | 493 | |
| Runs batted in | 1,550 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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Frederick Stanley "Crime Dog" McGriff (born October 31, 1963 in Tampa, Florida) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball player who starred for several teams from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s. The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Mets over Boston Red Sox (4-3 Ray Knight, MVP Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Oakland Athletics (4-0 José Rijo, MVP The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego California since their founding in 1969 Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins over Atlanta Braves (4-3 Jack Morris, MVP Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies (4-2 Paul Molitor, Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Philadelphia Phillies (4-2 Paul Molitor, Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians (4-3 Liván Hernández, The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St Headline events of the year Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: Headline events of the year The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since, ending the Curse of the Bambino. The Chicago Cubs are a Professional Baseball franchise based in Chicago, Illinois. Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA Headline event of the year The Florida Marlins become World Series champions holding off a dynastic New York Yankees team 4 games to The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The 1995 World Series matched the Atlanta Braves against the Cleveland Indians, with the Braves winning in six games to capture its third World Championship in The The Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award is given to the most outstanding player in each year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A power-hitting first baseman with a tall, lanky build, the five-time All-Star became, in 1992, the first player since the dead-ball era to lead both leagues in home runs. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Atlanta Braves (4-2 Pat Borders, MVP The dead-ball era is a Baseball term used to describe the period between 1900 (though some date it to the beginning of baseball) and the emergence of Babe Ruth Although he has never hit more than 37 homers in a single season, he finished his career only seven homers away from joining the exclusive 500 home run club. In Major League Baseball, the 500 Home Run Club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 500 or more career Home runs The first member of the He won a World Series title as a first baseman with the Atlanta Braves in 1995. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. He currently works in the Rays' front office as an advisor. He also currently works for Catch 47 as a co-host for "The Baysball Show".
McGriff's nickname "Crime Dog" was bestowed on him by ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman, noted for his unusual and idiosyncratic player nicknames. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to Christopher ("Boomer" James Berman (born May 10, 1955 in Greenwich Connecticut) is an American sportscaster The nickname is a play on McGruff, a cartoon dog created for American police to raise children's awareness on crime prevention. McGruff the Crime Dog is an Anthropomorphic Cartoon Bloodhound created for the National Crime Prevention Council for use by American In addition, Berman would punctuate McGriff highlights by referring to them as "Crime Time", again, a wordplay referencing Berman's NFL: Primetime newscast. Unlike most of Berman's nicknames, the "Crime Dog" nickname entered into standard usage. At first, McGriff stated he would prefer "Fire Dog" (a reference to a fire in the press-box of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the day the Braves acquired him from the Padres; symbolically, the then-slumping Braves "caught fire" and ended up winning their division), but since has stated that he actually is fond of the "Crime Dog" nickname. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, sometimes shortened to "Fulton County Stadium" was a multi-use ( Baseball, football, Soccer, Rock concert
Frederick is also fond of extending and curling his right arm above his head after hitting a monster shot. He has inspired future MLB superstar David Ortiz to follow his lead in curling his right arm around and over his head after his moon shot home runs.
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Early career
McGriff was a prospect in the New York Yankees minor league system in the early 1980s. The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City, New York. He was drafted by the Yankees in the 9th round of the 1981 amateur draft and signed June 11, 1981. In 1982, the Yankees, in one of their famous shortsighted moves of the decade, dealt McGriff, along with Dave Collins and Mike Morgan to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd. Champions Major League Baseball World Series Champion St Louis Cardinals World Series MVP Darrell The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Fred reached the majors full-time in 1987 and slugged 34 home runs the next year, his first of seven consecutive seasons with over thirty homers. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins over St McGriff emerged as the top power hitter in the American League in 1989 as he belted 36 home runs. The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League ( AL) is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Oakland Athletics over San Francisco Giants (4-0 Dave Stewart, His power numbers remained steady in 1990 as McGriff batted . Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds over Oakland Athletics (4-0 José Rijo, MVP 300 and established himself as a consistent producer.
McGriff was the first person to hit a home run at Skydome, now known as the Rogers Centre. SkyDome redirects here for other uses see SkyDome (disambiguation
Move to the National League
On December 5, 1990, McGriff was traded to the San Diego Padres with Tony Fernández in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter - two players who would be integral in Toronto's back-to-back World Series titles in the early 1990s. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego California since their founding in 1969 Octavio Antonio Fernández Castro (born June 30, 1962 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic) better known as Tony Fernández Roberto Alomar Velázquez (born February 5 1968 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a former Major League Baseball player (- considered by many to be one of the Joseph Christopher Carter (born March 7 1960 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma) is a former Right fielder in Major League Baseball who played
He continued to flourish in the National League, hitting . The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball 278/. 396/. 474 for San Diego in 1991. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Minnesota Twins over Atlanta Braves (4-3 Jack Morris, MVP He led the NL in home runs in 1992, three years after he had accomplished the same feat in the AL. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Toronto Blue Jays over Atlanta Braves (4-2 Pat Borders, MVP On July 18, 1993, the Padres, seeking to unload their high-priced veterans, dealt McGriff to the Atlanta Braves. Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) McGriff hit a pivotal home run in his first game with the Braves and his offensive tear during the second half of the season helped carry the team to a division title, with a record of 51-19 after his arrival. He finished with a career high 37 homers and fourth place in the NL MVP voting. The Most Valuable Player Award (commonly known as the MVP award is an annual award given to one outstanding player in each league of Major League Baseball. McGriff was batting . 318 and already had 34 home runs when the strike ended play in August 1994. The 1994 Major League baseball strike was the eighth work stoppage in Baseball history as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage Headline events of the year As a result of a players' strike the MLB season ends prematurely on August 11, 1994. It would have been a career-year for McGriff. He did manage to win the All-Star Game MVP Award that year after hitting the game-tying home run for the National League, after the NL trailed 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award is given to the most outstanding player in each year's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
McGriff's production remained steady in 1995 as he continued to be a successful clean-up hitter for the Braves. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians (4-2 Tom Glavine, MVP He hit two home runs in the 1995 World Series as he won his only championship ring. The 1995 World Series matched the Atlanta Braves against the Cleveland Indians, with the Braves winning in six games to capture its third World Championship in The quiet star hit . 295/. 365/494 with a career-best 107 RBIs on his way to another World Series appearance in 1996. The 1996 World Series matched the defending champion Atlanta Braves against the New York Yankees, with the Yankees winning in six games to capture their first Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves (4-2 John Wetteland, MVP With only 22 home runs in 1997, McGriff appeared to be in decline. Champions Major League Baseball World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians (4-3 Liván Hernández, Being controversially called out on strikes by umpire Eric Gregg on an outside pitch by Liván Hernández during the 1997 NLCS was the last significant event for McGriff as a Brave. Eric Eugene Gregg ( May 18 1951 – June 5 2006) was an Eisler Liván Hernández Carrera (born February 20, 1975 in Villa Clara, Cuba) ( ɛrˈnandɛs is a Starting pitcher in Major The National League Championship Series pitted the Florida Marlins against the Atlanta Braves. The team allowed him to be picked up by the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays after the season. The Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball franchise based in St
Late career
It looked like McGriff would be allowed to finish out his career in his hometown of Tampa. He batted . 278, but with only 19 home runs. However, McGriff's career experienced a minor renaissance in 1999 when he hit a career-high . Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves (4-0 Mariano Rivera, MVP 310 with 32 home runs. The season rejuvenated McGriff's career and gave hope of him reaching the coveted 500 home run mark. After another solid season in 2000, McGriff got off to a good start in 2001. Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: He was heavily pursued by the contending Chicago Cubs around the trade deadline, and the soft-spoken McGriff waived his no-trade clause to allow himself to be dealt to Chicago on July 27, 2001. The Chicago Cubs are a Professional Baseball franchise based in Chicago, Illinois. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. He hit a respectable . 282 with 12 homers in 49 games with the Cubs, but the team did not reach the postseason.
McGriff had 30 home runs during a strong 2002 campaign, which earned him a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2003 season. Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Caribbean World Series: The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA Headline event of the year The Florida Marlins become World Series champions holding off a dynastic New York Yankees team 4 games to He was 22 homers shy of 500 for his career, but the forty-year-old McGriff could only muster 13 with a . 249 batting average.
During spring training in 2004, the Devil Rays re-signed McGriff in hopes of letting the veteran ballplayer hit 500 home runs. Headline events of the year The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since, ending the Curse of the Bambino. Unfortunately, he ended up with a . 181 average and had hit just two home runs in his sporadic play from the end of May until mid-July. The Devil Rays released McGriff on July 28, 2004, seven home runs shy of 500. Events 1540 - Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of Treason. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Despite the fact that McGriff only played in Tampa Bay late in his career, he collected 66 win shares as a Devil Ray, the team's all-time record. Tampa Bay is a large natural Harbor and Estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the western coast of Florida, comprising Old Tampa Bay Win Shares can refer to a book by Bill James or the statistic explained in the book
While McGriff hoped to catch on with another team after being released by the Devil Rays, McGriff officially declared his retirement during spring training of 2005 when he received no calls from any teams requesting his services. 2005 Major League Baseball season Headline events of the year Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win the World Series He retired with 493 home runs, tied with baseball legend Lou Gehrig, and becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2009. Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig ( June 19 1903 – June 2 1941) born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was an American
Life outside sports
In 2000, the production company Rocco's Jobbers produced a pilot for a television series based loosely on McGriff and the "Crime Dog" nickname. The concept of the series revolved around a professional baseball player who moonlighted as a crime-fighting vigilante named "The Crime Dog". The project was a major creative and financial disaster, failing to get picked up by any networks. It is believed that McGriff himself has the only surviving copy of the pilot episode, which was given to him by his friend and former teammate, David Wells, who has an ownership interest in Rocco's Jobbers. David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963 in Torrance California) is a former Major League Baseball Starting pitcher. On casting sheets used to promote the project, the comedy-action series was described as "Major League meets Blade", referencing two successful movie franchises. Kirk Jones, who played the titular character in Blade: The Series in 2005, was cast as The Crime Dog in the pilot. Kirk Jones (born in April 3, 1970 Brooklyn, New York, alias Sticky Fingaz or Sticky or Lay-Z-i) is an Blade The Series is a 2006 action film/series American Television program based on the Marvel Comics character and popular film series
McGriff has appeared in commercials for Tom Emanski Baseball Training videos on ESPN since 1991, which are still aired to this day on the network (one of television's longest running commercials ever). Tom Emanski (born July 11, 1949 in Ridgewood New Jersey) is the guru behind Tom Emanski Instructional Videos a set of nine video tapes which lay out the Because of the frequency and longevity of the Emanski commercials, ESPN analyst Kenny Mayne coined a second, less used nickname for McGriff, "Baseball Superstar", as he was referenced in the commercials as "Baseball Superstar Fred McGriff. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to Kenny Mayne (born September 1, 1959) is a comedian and a Sports Journalist for ESPN. " Currently, McGriff hosts a radio show in Tampa and is an assistant baseball coach at Jesuit High School of Tampa. Jesuit High School of Tampa is a private Catholic all-male High school located in Tampa Florida, USA, and established in 1899. McGriff was never proved to be responsible for the fire that occurred in the press box of Fulton County Stadium on the day he was traded to the Braves.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball Home Run Records
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
- List of Major League Baseball home run champions
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- McGriff's Mission (Simply Baseball Notebook)
| Preceded by José Canseco |
American League Player of the Month April 1989 |
Succeeded by Ron Kittle |
| Preceded by José Canseco |
American League Home Run Champion 1989 |
Succeeded by Cecil Fielder |
| Preceded by Howard Johnson |
National League Home Run Champion 1992 |
Succeeded by Barry Bonds |
| Preceded by Andrés Galarraga |
National League Player of the Month July 1993 |
Succeeded by Tony Gwynn |
| Preceded by Kirby Puckett |
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1994 |
Succeeded by Jeff Conine |
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