ST. PETERSBURG, Fla – Fred McGriff couldn’t stop smiling being inducted into the Rays Hall of Fame. The Crime Dog, as he was affectionately nicknamed, admitted that getting into the big one, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, was huge; this meant a lot, having grown up in Tampa.
“When I first started playing we didn’t have a team,” McGriff said. “Finally, the Rays come along, and for me to have an opportunity to play here at home in front of family and friends and now to go into the Hall of Fame and come to a game and see my name right there, it’s pretty cool.”
Fred played baseball at Tampa’s Jefferson high. Well, he wanted to, until he got cut by then Jefferson coach “Pop” Cuesta. Pop told Fred he had to get stronger and so Fred did. He eventually made the team and never looked back.
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“This is Pop’s comin’ out party,” McGriff said. “For the last 40 years, everybody’s like you cut Fred McGriff. So this is his time to shine and let him say his peace.”
When Cuesta was introduced on the stage at Tropicana Field for McGriff’s induction you best believe it was brought up several times.
“I told him before, Michael Jordan got cut as a sophomore,” Cuesta said. They both turned out pretty good.”
McGriff said he and Pop became good friends. McGriff wasn’t used to losing with Tampa Bay after having won so much with the Atlanta Braves. McGriff said he and his former Devil Rays teammates would always take to the field with the intention of winning, each and every game.
“I set goals for myself,” McGriff said. No matter the situation, every night we had a chance to win. Every night you’re believing we’re gonna win a ballgame. My goals were to hit 30 homers, drive in 100 RBI’s. It’s a team game and an individual game.”
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McGriff played five seasons with the Devil Rays, finishing a long, successful big-league career. Crime Dog was a five-time All-Star World Series champ and had 493 home runs and 1,5550 RBIs.
McGriff and his family still call the Tampa Bay area home.
“I was able to play at home, drive from my house, and back from the ballpark,” McGriff said. “So many players wished they had the opportunity to live at home.”
McGriff joins the late Coach Don Zimmer, broadcaster Dave Wills, and former teammates Wade Boggs and Carl Crawford in the Rays Hall of Fame.
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