SAN DIEGO — The Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee unanimously elected first baseman Fred McGriff into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
McGriff, who played for six different teams in his career, spent a season and a half with the Cubs toward the end of his playing days. He posted a .278/.361/.518 slash line with Chicago in 2001 and 2002.
McGriff was a five-time All-Star and helped lead the Braves to a 1995 World Series title.
McGriff was the only player on an eight-person ballot elected into Cooperstown by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee on Sunday.
The Hall of Fames’ “character clause” loomed large. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, who have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs, were also on the ballot. Each received fewer than four votes. Curt Schilling, whose Hall of Fame case was tinged by a history of bigoted social media posts, received seven votes.
The other four players on the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee ballot this winter were Don Mattingly (eight votes), Dale Murphy (six), Albert Belle and Rafael Palmeiro.
A panel of 16, chock full of Chicago ties, decided their fate. Players needed to be included on 75 percent of the ballots cast by the committee members to be elected into Cooperstown.
Of the seven Hall of Fame players on the committee, three had played for the Cubs – Greg Maddux, Ryne Sandberg and Lee Smith – and one was White Sox legend Frank Thomas. Former Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and current White Sox executive vice president Ken Willians also served on the committee.
BBWAA Hall of Fame balloting will determine the rest of the 2023 HOF class. The results of that election will be announced Jan. 24.