MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2022

Fred McGriff

Hall of Fame Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and welcome to the Hall of Fame's Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee introductory press conference.

Joining me here on the dais are Josh Rawitch, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame; the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Fred McGriff; and chairman of the board of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the non-voting chair of the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee, Jane Forbes Clark.

I'd also like to welcome Fred's wife, Veronica, who flew out with him early this morning from Tampa. Thank you.

With that, I'll welcome Jane to make some opening remarks.

JANE FORBES CLARK: Thank you, John, and thank all of you for being here today. As you all know, the National Baseball Hall of Fame's 16-member Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee met yesterday to consider eight individuals for Hall of Fame elections, individuals whose greatest contributions to the game have come since 1980, the ballot selected by the 11-member Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

And on behalf of the board of directors of the Hall of Fame, I would like to thank both committees for their thoughtful work.

You heard the results of this work last night on MLB Network, and we are so happy to have Fred McGriff on the dais with us today.

(Applause.)

He was an incredibly productive hitter across 19 Major League seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago Cubs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. A five-time All-Star first baseman, he hit at least 30 home runs in ten different seasons, leading the American League in 1989 and the National League in 1992, and finished in the top ten in MVP voting in six consecutive seasons.

The cleanup hitter for the Braves 1995 World Series championship team, he drove in 100 or more runs eight times and ended his career tied with Lou Gehrig with 493 home runs.

He now joins the baseball Hall of Fame team and our class of 2023. Congratulations, Fred.

If you would stand, and Josh could help you on with your new jersey.

We're looking forward to our induction ceremony in Cooperstown on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023, where Fred will be celebrated along with any electees who emerge from the BBWAA voting. That announcement will be on January 24th. Thank you all very much.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Jane. Before we open for questions from the media, we do welcome, Fred, if you'd like to make some opening remarks as well.

FRED McGRIFF: Thank you. Hello, hello, everyone. Personally this is a dream right now. When I first played that one day in the Big Leagues, that was my goal; but to sit here is just such a great honor to be here at this time with Josh and Jane.

I just want to thank the committee and everyone. This is just an awesome, beautiful day, and it's time to just enjoy myself. As you know, this isn't my Tom Emanski hat, but this is a whole lot better. This is beautiful.

THE MODERATOR: That's great. Thank you, Fred.

Q. Fred, you're up there all by yourself. Pretty interesting position to be in for a guy that played for so many different teams and made so many different friends and teammates over the course of your career.

FRED McGRIFF: It's a beautiful thing. Unanimous, you know what I'm saying? Hey, it's Crime Dog's time.

Q. I know you spent six years in the Minors, including being traded. How did that time help shape your career?

FRED McGRIFF: When I think about it, when I was young, it was all about me making adjustments and so forth, and being in the Minors and on those buses and so forth. I signed out of high school when I was 17 years old, so just having a chance to develop my game.

It was interesting because the Yankees drafted a first baseman named Billy Williams, because I was drafted by the Yankees and so forth. So he got most of the playing time when I first started. So for me over the years, just having to just keep developing, working on my game, and trying different stuff and so forth.

So the Minors were huge for me until I finally made it up to the Big Leagues and went from there.

Q. What did those years in Atlanta mean to you? And what does it mean to know you're now in a club with Chipper and Tommy and Greg and Smoltzy and Bobby?

FRED McGRIFF: My whole experience in Atlanta was just awesome, just a great bunch of guys. When I joined that team, we were ten games out of first place, and I got traded from the Padres. And I come over there, and they're like, Oh, man, Fred, the Padres, you all had such a good team, and then they decided to tear it up.

So in the middle of the year, we're ten games back, so it was like come on. We need some help. So that first night, I had a little rib injury, and finally I was able to play and hit a home run and so forth. We went from there.

But we still came up a little short. We lost to the Phillies in '93 and then the strike year in '94. But to come together in '95 and to finally win it, it was the ultimate.

But I tell people all the time Bobby Cox, great man, he was the leader. He kept everybody together, the boss man and so forth. Just a good bunch of guys, from Greg Maddox and Glavine and the Mark Lemkes, you go down the list, the David Justices, just good people. Forget about their play on the field, but they were just good people. So it's a great honor to be in the Hall of Fame with those guys.

Q. Fred, what was yesterday morning when you woke up, the whole day like compared to the previous ten years?

FRED McGRIFF: I try to keep my routine because like for the last month or so, once the ballot came out, you start counting down the days, like, okay, it's November 15th now. Now we've got about 14, 15 more days. So every scenario is playing through your head, like, okay, what's going to happen in this situation? Who's voting? Have they already voted? You're going through all these scenarios and not much sleep.

Yesterday I just got up, and I walked around the neighborhood, took my little walk and so forth, just to try to get my mind right. It's football, so you've got to watch football on Sunday. I had to go to church, like, Come on, Lord. So I did that.

But I just tried to keep everything normal and just go about my routine and let's see how it plays out.

Q. A couple of things going back to the Atlanta years. Was it kind of an auspicious beginning when the press box caught fire the first day there? Was that an indication of what was to come? Also, was the comment that Greg Maddox made last night to Smoltzy on Twitter, was that an indication of how much fun you had together and how much you enjoyed together, when he said Smoltzy is still bald?

FRED McGRIFF: I didn't see that, but that's typical Greg Maddox. If you know Greg, that's Maddox. Just the whole experience with those guys. In '93, people don't know, but we had a little altercation with the San Francisco Giants when I was with the Padres, so I had a little injury.

Schuerholz calls me, and I tell him that I'm hurt and can't play.

He says, You can't come to Atlanta injured.

Okay, I'll go home to Tampa. I'll fly from San Diego to Tampa, and I'll hang out in Tampa for a few days. I had it all planned out where, if I leave Tampa by 12:00, by the time I get to Atlanta, it's going to be 6:00 or so, 6:30. I know there's no way I'm going to be in this lineup.

So I drive to Atlanta, and I go in that locker room and look at the lineup, and my name's in the lineup. And I'm like, oh, boy. So now I'm heading to the training room because my ribs are still sore from our little issues we had with the Giants. So the stadium catches on fire. I'm telling you, the man upstairs, He was looking after me. He's like, okay, you know you ain't ready to play.

So I spent two hours in that training room. The game starts. End up hitting a home run, which was pretty good if I say so myself. It was a big home run, and we ended up catching the Giants that year. Probably the greatest pennant race still to this day.

It's going to be interesting now that they're changing scheduling again for next year, make it more fair. Playing each team 19 times a year, that's too much. So get back to playing each team 12, 13 times a year, it will be so much better for everyone.

Q. First off, congratulations. Really awesome. You talked a lot about some of the players in Atlanta that you played with and you spent almost five years there, I believe. I want to hear your favorite Bobby Cox story that you have.

FRED McGRIFF: (Laughter.)

Q. That you can tell.

FRED McGRIFF: Put it this way, we won a lot of games, but when Mr. Bobby Cox gets upset, you're like, Oh, boy. You don't want to make eye contact with him. You're just going to keep your head down. When he starts like dropping names and everything, you're like, okay, I hope he don't say nothing about me.

But Bobby, we won games, but when he got a little upset, we all knew about it. But Bobby was great because the thing about it, and I learned over the years, that Bobby got tossed out of games so many times because he'd rather get tossed out of the game than have one of his players get tossed out of the game. So that's why he would always run interference and get tossed and his players stay in the game.

Q. I'm wondering if you think it's at all fitting to be elected here in San Diego and what you remember about your time that you spent as a Padre.

FRED McGRIFF: Without a doubt. We had some good teams when I was here in San Diego. Playing with Tony Gwynn, was just an awesome hitter. For me to just watch him swing the bat every day. He was the magician. He was so good that he loved to put a hit and run on. And if he saw that the shortstop was covering, he'll hit it in the shortstop hole. If he saw the second baseman was covering, he could hit it to the second baseman. He was just unbelievable. To watch him every day.

We had Benito Santiago and Tony Fernandez and Gary Sheffield, just a great lineup. When I got traded to the Braves, they were, like, scared of the Padres. They're like, Man, you guys had a good old team.

So just over the years, it was just great here and a lot of great memories. Now they've got a beautiful stadium, and I'm watching the playoffs this past year, and the crowds were wild. Padres had a good team. Came up a little short, but they had a good team.

Q. What do you remember about the day you got traded to San Diego? That was a blockbuster at the Winter Meetings at that time too.

FRED McGRIFF: Yeah, that was a tough one. I tell people, when I was with the Blue Jays and they end up drafting John Olerud, Olerud is a great player, but they told me, like, yeah, Olerud's dad played with Pat Gillick. So you're like, Okay. But Olerud was a great player.

That was a huge trade with myself and Tony Fernandez coming to San Diego, and then Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar going to Toronto. Put them on the map. They won a couple of World Series those years, like '92, '93.

Q. Congratulations. Very well deserved. Back to the Padres, you know the history with guys who have had spot careers in the Hall of Fame from the Padres, you have Tony and Hoppy, but you have Gaylord Perry, who just passed away. Goose is in the Hall of Fame. Roberto, who you just mentioned. There are a lot of Padres who played spot times with that organization, like you, who are in the Hall of Fame. What's your feeling about it? How does that cast your career in your Hall of Fame membership now?

FRED McGRIFF: You named off some great players. So it's an honor having put on that Padres uniform and being able to play with them over the years. Like you say, Gaylord Perry passed away, and Tony Gwynn and so forth. Tony, I still have so many great memories playing with Tony Gwynn. It's just good stuff.

Q. What's the insignia on your plaque, on your cap in your Hall of Fame uniform? Like Maddox, one of many?

FRED McGRIFF: We haven't quite had that discussion. We're working on some things. Stay tuned. In the future we will let you know.

Q. I know people up there are hoping for that decision on the insignia on your plaque, but you mentioned Pat Gillick before, and there's an old story that said, when he traded for you, a reporter called him up and said, Can I talk about the Dale Murray trade? And he said, Yeah, but I'm hoping in a couple of years we're going to be talking about it as the Fred McGriff trade. What was it like for you to be going to a new organization to have a champion like that for you in such a high spot there?

FRED McGRIFF: It was great at the time because I was drafted by the New York Yankees and so forth. Steinbrenner would always trade his younger players to get the veteran players in return, so for me to have the opportunity to get traded to the Blue Jays, it gives you a lot of hope.

As a young player, it's about I just want to play in the Big Leagues. It doesn't have to be with this team or that team. I just want to play in the Big Leagues. So playing with the Blue Jays just gave me an opportunity. Bobby Mattick and the guys back in the day, Bobby Mattick would work you from sunup to sundown. Bobby was going to work you, hitting you ground balls constantly. They always make jokes how Bobby Mattick wore out quite a few arms because he'd have you working all day long.

It was another great organization, starting with Pat Gillick did a great job. I was talking to Jesse Barfield, called me yesterday, and we were talking about old times. Those guys they taught me how to play the game. Lloyd Moseby, Barfield, Willie Upshaw, just good people. They brought me up.

It was great because Cito Gaston ended up being the manager, but when I first started, they hit me -- I played against right-handed pitchers, and Cecil Fielder played against left-handed pitchers. But they hit us 7 and 8. So it was great to break in that way. Instead of putting us right in the fire, they put us lower in the lineup. So we had a chance to learn to play the game.

Q. Eventually you became the everyday guy and hitting in the middle of the order. Things got so huge in Toronto, when the Jays moved into the Dome and you hit the first homer off the Hard Rock, what was it like being part of things in Toronto at that point in time?

FRED McGRIFF: It was awesome. It was 50,000 people every night packing the SkyDome at the time, and at the time it was the stadium. The SkyDome, retractible roof and so forth. Every night those folks are at the game cheering for the Blue Jays: "OK Blue Jays," let's play ball.

Over the years, it's like I tell people, like the Canadian national anthem, when you're playing with the Blue Jays, they play two national anthems every single night. So it gets instilled in you the American national anthem, Canadian national anthem, just it becomes a part of you. Same way that Blue Jays song, it was "O-Kay."

Q. Fred, congratulations, you talked about Toronto, San Diego. I want to remind you of a place you played many, many years ago, the Dominican Republic. You are more remembered there more than you know. You played for the Alligators, the Caimanes, right? You hit a home run that people still talk about. It's become part of the lexicon. They say they're still looking for that ball in San Cristobal. Do you have any recollection of playing for them and any particular long home run you hit there?

FRED McGRIFF: That home run, I'm not sure. That was back in '84, '85. It was a ways back. I tell people me going down to Dominican Republic to play winter ball, it was the best thing I ever did because I got a chance to get extra at-bats and so forth.

But I was playing against -- winter ball, they take it dead serious. I'm playing against Jose Rijo, Mario Soto, just great pitchers. It's like World Series for folks. If you don't perform well, they like, McGriff, malo, malo, malo. They'll get you. It's just a great experience.

That's why sometimes it kills me when you hear these days, they'll say I'm not going to play winter ball. I'm not going. I don't need winter ball. I'm like go to winter ball, man. It was a great experience.

And the thing about it, with Dominican being a third world country, every kid needs to just go down there and be able to appreciate the United States a whole lot more if they would go down to Dominican Republic and just see everything that's going on. It's sad, but kids don't want to go. Now they just, oh, I think I'll just go to the Arizona Fall League, and I'll just hang out for a little bit.

No, but Dominican was awesome.

Q. In your time at Toronto, you just reeled off the names of five or six brothers that played in your era, African American players, including Cito Gaston. We're at a point now with baseball where there's not a whole ton of them. Your thoughts on that as a guy that played when the Black player was prominent in Major League Baseball, and now you're up here representing on the highest stage.

FRED McGRIFF: We're going to have to get back to getting the African American kids involved and everything. I think it starts at the lower level because travel ball has changed things tremendously. When I was coming up, your parents paid $35 for your kid to play Little League baseball, and now travel ball is $3,500, $4,000.

So it makes it difficult for a lot of parents to afford for their kids to play baseball. So I believe the kids just start going on different avenues and playing different sports because it's tough.

Unlike with basketball, if one person has a basketball, then you find a rim and a basket and we all can play. Football is just this one football. That's all we need in a wide-open area. We're going to play. Baseball you need gloves, you need bats, you need balls, you need a lot more equipment to get kids to play. So it's a little more difficult.

The Little League program has got to try to get back going again some kind of way.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you all for joining us today. Congratulations again to Fred McGriff. Fred will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023, in Cooperstown, along with any electees who emerge from BBWAA balloting, and those results will be announced on January 24th.

We hope to see you all in Cooperstown for induction weekend. Thank you.