Fred McGriff, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023, had an impressive 19-season career with seven MLB teams.
So much in demand was McGriff that he was twice a trade deadline acquisition by a contender. McGriff played in five postseasons, and starred for the Atlanta Braves in both the 1995 and 1996 World Series.
He was a career .303 postseason hitter with 10 home runs, four of them coming in the World Series.
This is a look back at the 10 most exceptional games in the Hall of Fame career of Fred McGriff
Our standard of measurement for regular season games is Win Probability Added. That calculates the individual’s role in influencing the game’s outcome.
McGriff played in nearly 3,000 regular season and postseason games, so there’s a lot to choose from. Here are his 10 greatest.
10. April 21, 1996, Padres 2, Braves 1. This 15-inning marathon began as a tremendous pitching duel between Atlanta’s Steve Avery and San Diego’s Fernando Valenzuela. But, by the ninth, both starters had turned over the double shutout to their respective bullpens. McGriff, whose previous contributions included a second-inning double, came up in the bottom of the ninth with two out and Chipper Jones, who had walked, at first.
The Braves trailed 1-0 because Steve Finley had driven in the game’s first run in the top of the ninth with a line single. McGriff offset that, lining a double to the wall in center that allowed Jones to cross the plate with the tying run.
Issued a two-out walk in the 11th, McGriff watched as Finley untied the game with a 15th-inning sacrifice fly scoring Rickey Henderson, who had singled to start the inning, then taken second and third on successive throwing errors by reliever Tom Thobe. With two out in the bottom of the 15th and Mark Lemke at second base, Padre reliever Doug Bochtler opted to intentionally walk McGriff and pitch to Thobe, the Braves having used all their bench players. Thobe grounded out to end the game. Win Probability Added: +.508.