'The Crime Dog' Fred McGriff Enters Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with Great Speech

Fred McGriff took his place in Cooperstown on Sunday with an emotional speech capping his entrance into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
'The Crime Dog' Fred McGriff Enters Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with Great Speech
'The Crime Dog' Fred McGriff Enters Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with Great Speech /

On Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown, N.Y., Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen took their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rolen was a 17-year veteran who played with the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Reds. He was a seven-time All-Star, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, a Rookie of the Year and a World Series champion.

You can read up on his induction here.

As for McGriff, he spent 19 years in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Rays, Cubs and Dodgers. He hit 493 home runs and had a lifetime batting average of .284. A five-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger, he also won a World Series title (1995) and an All-Star Game MVP.

Both players gave moving speeches at the podium, and you can watch McGriff's speech below:

McGriff spoke about getting cut from his high school baseball team during the tenth grade and talked about all of his career stops along the way. He talked about winning the World Series with the 1995 Braves and all the people who influenced his career, including fellow Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. He also had a moving portion of his speech about Tony Gwynn.

The 59-year-old will forever be immortalized in Cooperstown. As for who could join him next year? Here's a look at the ballot that could come about for the Class of 2024.

In other McGriff-related news, the Gwinnett Stripers, a minor league affiliate of the Braves, put out a hilarious re-enactment of his famous Tom Emanski skills video.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.