Fred McGriff #29

Married to Veronica...they have two children, Erick and Ericka...Is a 1981 graduate of Tampa's Jefferson High School where he was an all-league selection...turned down a baseball scholarship to the University of Georgia to sign with the Yankees who made him their 9th selection in the 1981 June Draft...Fred and his four older brothers and sisters grew up four blocks from Al Lopez Field.

1981

Made his professional debut with the Yankees' Bradenton (Rookie) affiliate, appearing in 29 games.

1982

Led the Gulf Coast League with 9 homers for the Yankees' Bradenton (Rookie) club...tied for the league lead with 41 RBI en route to being named to the GCL's postseason all-star team.

1983

Spent his first season in Toronto's organization, hitting 28 total homers at Florence (A) and Kinston (A).

1984

Split the campaign between Knoxville (AA) and Syracuse (AAA), homering 22 times in 126 games.

1985

Was limited to just 51 games for Syracuse (AAA) due to a stress fracture of his right ankle.

1986

Briefly played for the Blue Jays, appearing in 3 games in May and going 1-for-5...made his ML debut May 17 vs. Cleveland...singled the next day off the Indians' Don Schulze for his first big league hit...spent most of the season at Syracuse (AAA), hitting 19 homers in 133 games...led International League first basemen with a .992 fielding percentage.

1987

Spent his first full season in the majors, setting a Toronto rookie record with 20 homers...hit his first ML homer April 17 off Boston's Bob Stanley...recorded his first career pinch homer June 28 off Milwaukee's Jay Aldrich.

1988

Became the Blue Jays' starting first baseman after the departure of Willie Upshaw and batted .282 with 34 homers in 154 games...finished 2nd in the league in homers, slugging percentage (.525) and extra-base hits (73)...hit his second career pinch homer May 23 off Milwaukee's Odell Jones...led AL first basemen in fielding percentage (.997).

1989

Earned Silver Slugger honors for the first time after leading the AL with 36 roundtrippers...also was named to The Sporting News' postseason all-star team... hit the first-ever homer at the SkyDome June 5 -- a 2-run shot off Milwaukee's Don August...hit his first career grand slam July 21 off Seattle's Gene Harris...led A.L. first basemen in total chances (1,592) and double plays (148)...saw action in the postseason for the first time, going 3-for-21 in the ALCS against Oakland.

1990

Hit .300 for the first time in his career during his final campaign with Toronto -- the 8th-best mark in the AL...his 35 homers ranked 4th in the league...was hitting .268 on July 30, but batted .345 over his final 60 games.

1991

Appeared in 153 games in his first campaign with the Padres and had 31 homers and 106 RBI...ranked 3rd in the N.L. with 105 walks -- including a league-best 26 intentional walks...hit grand slams in back-to-back games against Houston August 13 (off Mark Portugal) and August 14 (off Jim Deshaies)...had his first career 14-game hitting streak April 23-May 9, batting .436 (24-55) with 6 homers and 16 RBI.

1992

Became the second player during the 20th century to win a home run title in both leagues, as his 35 homers led the NL...earned All-Star, Silver Slugger and The Sporting News all-star honors during a campaign in which he hit .286 with 30 homers and 104 RBI for the Padres...finished 4th in the league in RBI and 3rd in slugging percentage (.556)...opened the year by homering in 4 of his first 5 games, earning NL co-Player of the Week honors for the first week of the campaign...included during the week was an April 10 grand slam off Los Angeles' John Candelaria...homered in 4 consecutive games July 2-July 5, once again winning league Player of the Week accolades...was voted into the All-Star Game starting lineup, going 2-for-3 with 1 RBI in his first Midsummer Classic appearance at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium.

1993

Helped spark the Braves to their 104-win season after going from San Diego to Atlanta as part of a four-player deal July 18 ... appeared in 151 overall games and hit .291 with 111 runs scored, 37 homers and 101 RBI...Atlanta went 51-17 after his arrival and averaged 5.8 runs per game...for his efforts, he finished 4th in the N.L. MVP voting...was named the N.L. Player of the Month for July after batting .413 (33-80) with 9 homers and 22 RBI...hit his fifth career grand slam September 21 off Montreal's Gil Heredia...recorded his 1,000th career hit October 2 off Colorado's Gary Wayne...batted .435 during the Braves' 6-game NLCS loss to Philadelphia...homered in Game 2 off Tommy Greene for his first career postseason roundtripper...after the season, he won his third Silver Slugger Award and was selected to The Sporting News' N.L. all-star team.

1994

Reached the 30-homer mark for the seventh straight time during the strike-shortened campaign, hitting 34 homers and driving in 94 runs in 113 games...finished 4th in the league in homers, RBI, slugging percentage (.623) and total bases (264)...led N.L. first basemen in total chances (1,077)...in 37 games leading up to the strike, he batted .350 (48-137) with 15 homers and 41 RBI...earned All-Star Game MVP honors after hitting a dramatic game-tying 2-run homer off Lee Smith in the 9th inning...the N.L. won the contest at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium 8-7 in 10 innings.

1995

Won a World Series championship ring, as Atlanta defeated Cleveland in 6 games during the Fall Classic...homered in his first World Series at-bat, going deep in the 2nd inning off Orel Hershiser in the Series opener ... also set a World Series record in that contest with 21 total chances, while his 19 putouts tied a mark set by the New York Giants' George Kelly during Game 6 of the 1923 Series...also homered in Game 3 off Charles Nagy... batted .352 in the postseason (19-54) with 7 doubles, 4 homers and 9 RBI in 13 games...hit 2 homers and drove in 5 runs in Game 4 of the Division Series -- a series-clinching 10-4 victory over Colorado...had 4 doubles in the NLCS against Cincinnati -- including 3 in Game 2...during the regular season, he tied for the N.L. lead in games played (144) and batted .280 with 27 homers and 93 RBI ... his RBI total ranked 9th in the league. ... went 4-for-5 with 2 homers and 5 RBI on Opening Day (April 26) vs. San Francisco...made his third All-Star Game appearance.

1996

Established career highs in RBI (107) and doubles (37) and finished 2nd on the Braves in extra-base hits (66) ... hit .295 with 28 home runs. ... reached the 300-homers mark for his career May 19 when he went deep off Cincinnati southpaw Chuck McElroy... had a pair of 5-hit games -- April 30 at Houston and August 24 vs. the Cubs... had 28 RBI in April, tying his one-month career high...in the season's second game, he had a career-high 6 RBI in a 15-2 victory over San Francisco April 3...was named the N.L.'s Player of the Week for May 27-June 2, going 11-for-21 with 3 homers and 5 RBI...went to the All-Star Game for the fourth time...in 16 postseason games against Los Angeles (Division Series), St. Louis (NLCS) and the Yankees (World Series), he had 5 homers and 16 RBI...During the final 3 games of the NLCS -- in which Atlanta overcame a 3-games-to-1 deficit -- he went 6-for-15 with 2 homers, 7 RBI and 6 runs scored...crossed the plate 4 times in the series-clinching seventh game...drove in 3 runs in the Braves' 4-0 victory over the Yankees in Game 2 of the World Series.

1997

Spent his final year with Atlanta, appearing in 152 games and batting .277 with 22 homers and 97 RBI...reached the 1,000-mark in career RBI September 17 vs. San Francisco...on June 4, he hit his 200th N.L. home run off Montreal's Jeff Juden...played in 3 games in the Division Series vs. Houston and in 4 games of the League Championship Series against Florida, going 9-for-30 with 5 RBI...led the Braves in runs scored (4) during their Division Series sweep of the Astros.

1998

Led the first-year Devil Rays with 19 homers, 81 RBI and 79 walks ... had his string of 11 consecutive 20-plus homer seasons snapped...his 33 doubles were the 5th-highest total ever for a player on an expansion team...had 4 RBI in Tampa Bay's first victory April 1 (11-8 over Detroit). ... ranked 2nd among A.L. first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage.

1999

In 144 games with Tampa Bay, batted .310 with a .552 slugging percentage...hit 32 home runs...reached the 30-plus home run mark for the eighth time in career...drove in 104 RBIs.

2000

Fred reached numerous milestones during a campaign in which he batted .277 with 27 homers and 106 RBI for the Devil Rays...became the 31st player to reach the 400-homers mark June 2, hitting a 2-run shot off the Mets' Glendon Rusch at Shea Stadium. * recorded his 2,000th career hit June 4 off the Mets' Rich Rodriguez...played in his 2,000th big league contest August 2 vs. Cleveland...became the second player in M.L. history (joining Frank Robinson) to hit 200-plus homers in both leagues when he hit his 200th A.L. roundtripper September 23 off Toronto's Roy Halladay...tied his career high by hitting safely in 14 straight games April 28-May 13, going 20-for-57 (.351)...was 8-for-13 with the bases loaded with a pair of grand slams (April 3 off Minnesota's Brad Radke, May 17 off Texas' Doug Davis)...his homer on May 11 at Yankee Stadium gave the Devil Rays a 1-0 victory ... it was his second career homer in a 1-0 contest (also September 5, 1995, for Atlanta against St. Louis). * was the Devil Rays' lone representative at the All-Star Game July 11 in Atlanta, going 0-for-2 in his fifth Midsummer Classic.

2001

Fred was acquired by the Cubs from Tampa Bay July 27 ... in 146 overall games, he batted .306 with 31 homers and 102 RBI...reached the 30-homer mark for the ninth time during his major league career and the 100-RBI mark for the seventh time...joined Hank Aaron (17 straight seasons from 1955-1971) as the only players in M.L. history to drive in 80-plus runs in at least 14 straight campaigns...batted .282 in 49 games for the Cubs with 12 homers and 41 RBI...made his Cubs debut July 29 vs. St. Louis, going 1-for-3 with a run-scoring single off Matt Morris ... in his second game (July 31 at San Diego), he went 3-for-4...hit his first homer with the Cubs August 2 at San Diego -- a 2-run shot off Junior Herndon ... it was his 20th roundtripper of the season -- as he joined Barry Bonds as the only two active players to hit at least 20 homers in 14 different campaigns...his second homer with the Cubs was a grand slam August 10 off San Francisco's Aaron Fultz -- the eighth of his career ... the home run was his first at Wrigley Field since April 15, 1994...over his last 27 contests, he batted .326 (30-92) with 10 homers, 5 doubles, 2 triples and 27 RBI...during a 10-game hitting streak September 20-September 29, he batted .342 (13-38) with 6 homers and 16 RBI...homered in 4 straight games for the third time during his career September 20-September 23, going 6-for-16 with 11 RBI...in 97 games with the Devil Rays, he batted .318 with 19 homers and 61 RBI...at the time he was traded to the Cubs, he ranked 9th in the American League in batting average ... also was tied for 7th in the league in multi-hit games (36) and for 5th in intentional walks (9)...batted .449 in 15 games against National League teams (22-49) with 7 homers and 17 RBI...recorded a .330 average prior to the All-Star break -- both a Tampa Bay club mark and his career high...had the 36th 2-homer game of his big league career July 15 at Atlanta.

2002

Reached the 30-homer mark for the 10th time during his Major League career and the 100-RBI mark for the eighth time... in 146 games, he batted .273 with 30 homers and 103 RBI for the Cubs... when he hit his 30th homer of the season on Sept. 22 off Pittsburgh's Kris Benson, he became the first player in big league history to record 30-homer campaigns for five different teams... was the first Cub first baseman to have a 30-homer campaign since Ernie Banks in 1968 (32)... when he hit his 20th homer on July 21 off Houston's Roy Oswalt, it gave him 15 career 20-plus homer campaigns - tying Barry Bonds for the most among active players... became the first player in ML history to record 100 or more RBI for four different teams and was the first left-handed batter to drive in 100 runs for the Cubs since Bill Buckner (105) in 1982... had a trio of two-homer games (May 3 at Los Angeles, June 3 at Milwaukee, June 21 vs. St. Louis)... in the May 3 affair, he hit a game-tying solo homer off Andy Ashby in the sixth inning and put the game away with a three-run shot off Paul Quantrill in the seventh... the first homer was the 450th of his ML career... both of his June 21 homers came off St. Louis' Woody Williams... his first homer tied the game and his second was the game-winning hit in the Cubs' 2-1 win... added Miller Park, Pacific Bell Park and PNC Park to his "conquered" list, giving him a big league record of homering in 42 different parks... had a 10-game hitting streak May 18-27, going 18-for-40 (.450) with four homers and 13 RBI... it was the 11th double-digit hitting streak of his big league career... went to the plate 10 times following an intentional walk to Sammy Sosa and was 4-for-8 with a triple, two doubles, a walk, sacrifice fly and eight RBI... became just the second first baseman in National League history to not have any fielding chances in a nine-inning game, accomplishing the feat Aug. 15 vs. Houston... the Cubs' Jimmy Collins was the first NL first baseman to go without any fielding plays (June 29, 1937, vs. St. Louis)... scored from first base on a stolen-base attempt on May 15 at St. Louis... on the play, Cardinals catcher Eli Marrero threw wildly to second base and then center fielder Jim Edmonds threw wildly to third... had a game-winning three-run sixth-inning triple off San Francisco's Aaron Fultz on April 24.

2003

Was slowed by a trio of injuries (right groin, hip, right knee) that sent him to the disabled list (twice) for the first time in his career...was limited to 86 games, 13 home runs and 40 RBI...snapped a string of 15 consecutive seasons with at least 80 RBI - only Hank Aaron has more with 17.