Congratulations to the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2023

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York expanded its list of players by two this past Sunday afternoon.  Inducted into the Hall were Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen.

I Consider myself fortunate to have seen Rolen play for the Cardinals at Busch II and the new St. Louis stadium that opened in 2006.  He was a key to the Cards National League title in 2004 and the Birds run to the World Series championship in 2006.

Rolen played for four major league teams during his 19 year career but note he's wearing a Cardinal cap on his HOF plaque.

The Baseball Writers Association of American selected McGriff, who was a unanimous choice of the Hall's Contemporary Baseball Players Era Committee, in December.  I saw McGriff play  in person on many occasions during his career when he would come to St. Louis as a member of the Padres, Braves, Cubs and later the Dodgers.

I particularly remember the 1996 NLCS series in which McGriff played a key role in the Braves win and return to the World Series.  It seemed as if McGriff was at the plate whenever runners were in scoring position.  He homered twice in the seven game series and drove in seven runs with an .858 OPS.  McGriff also destroyed the Cardinals in the last three games of the NLCS that year in which Atlanta outscored St. Louis 32-1.

Images courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

Chicago Cubs announcer Pat Hughes was also inducted into the Hall of Fame Broadcasters wing as the 2023 Ford C. Frick Award winner.  He was joined in the Hall's Writer's Wing at the Cooperstown festivities by John Lowe who received the Baseball Writers Association of America's Career Excellence Award.

Scott Rolen Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Former St. Louis Cardinal and Philadelphia Phillie third baseman Scott Rolen has been elected to the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.  He will join Fred McGriff this summer in induction ceremonies at the hall in Cooperstown, NY.  McGriff was selected to the hall by the Contemporary Era Committee.

I had the chance to watch Rolen many times at Busch Stadium II and Busch Stadium III, while he was a member of the Cardinals between 2002 and 2007.  Rolen was a good third baseman offensivly but I didn't think his production would land him in the hall.  However, he is one of the best defensively I've ever seen play the position.  While with the Cards Rolen played on two world series teams.  The Cardinals lost to the Red Sox in 2004 and then won it all against the Detroit Tigers in 2006.  Rolen was an integral part of both teams.

I hope Rolen will go into the Hall with a Cardinal hat on his induction plaque.  He played more years with the Phillies but put up better numbers with the Cardinals and was selected to four All-Star teams during his time in St. Louis.

He played a total of 17 years in the big leagues, seven with the Phillies, six with the Cardinals, parts of four years with the Reds and a partial season with the Blue Jays.  His career stats included a .281 batting average, 316 home runs and 1287 RBI.

Rolen and McGriff, who played for the Blue Jays, Braves and Rays, will be inducted into the baseball hall on Sunday July 23rd.