Fred McGriff: Hall of Famer?

The guys who support Mattingly are a passionate bunch. It's the same way with Terrell Davis in the NFL.

I get the argument. There is part of me that would rather see a guy who was one of the best in the game for five years get in rather than someone who was just very, very good for 10-12 years, but I think the "he would have gotten in if he hadn't gotten injured" argument is a bad one. There are a lot of guys who look like HOF locks after 5-7 seasons who shit the bed during the second half of their careers.

 

Albert Belle is another.

 

My biggest memory of McGriff was when the Padres gave him away to the Braves for almost nothing and the Braves were able to catch the Giants. I think that was 1992.

 

I don't just think Albert Belle merits mere consideration. I think he should have sailed in on the first ballot.

 

I would have voted for Belle without even thinking about it. How many guys have had 100 RBI in their final season? I know there are PED issues with him, but I wonder if that hurt him as much as being such an asshole that he makes Barry Bonds and Jim Rice seem warm and fuzzy. A friend who covered Belle said, "He's the only athlete I've ever covered who I was actually afraid of."

 

For whatever it's worth, he has vehemently denied it, and I'm not aware that his name has ever been connected to them through the Mitchell report or anything like that.

 

If, as people imply, voters don't vote for people they consider a world-class asshole, that's going to hurt Belle.

 

Didn't he only stay on the ballot for two years? That's obscene.

 

Yeah, he got like 3 percent his second time.

 

There's no question it was a factor. He didn't even get 10 percent of the vote. That's insane.

I think Jim Rice would have gotten in a lot earlier if he hadn't been such an asshole.

From the stories I've heard, Belle was on a different level than just your typical asshole ballplayer.

 

I like the 162-game average that they have on Baseball Reference.

Belle's average for 12 seasons was 40 HR, 130 RBI and .295.

 

I remember one year a teammate taped a sign above Belle's locker that said something like "This year, I'm going to be calm, cool and collected," then attached a crushed shaving cream bottle to it.