Baseball Hall of Fame 2023: Induction Ceremony Start Time and TV Info
Cooperstown will welcome two more of baseball's greats Sunday with the inductions of Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rolen, an eight-time Gold Glove winner with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, arrives in his sixth year of eligibility.
McGriff, a hitter of 30-plus home runs 10 times in his illustrious career, enters as a unanimous selection after appearing on all 16 ballots of the Contemporary Era Players' Committee.
Two unsung heroes and World Series champions, they will have their moments in the spotlight Sunday afternoon in New York.
Schedule, TV Info, Inductees and Award Recipients
1 of 3Date and Time
Sunday, July 23 at 1:30 p.m.
Viewing Info
Airing exclusively on MLB Network; Streaming on MLB.com
Hall of Fame Inductees
Scott Rolen (elected by Baseball Writers' Association of America)
Fred McGriff (unanimously elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee)
Hall of Fame Award Recipients
Carl Erskine (Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award)
John Lowe (Baseball Writers' Association of America Career Excellence Award)
Pat Hughes (2023 Ford C. Frick Award)
Scott Rolen
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Rolen will sport a St. Louis Cardinals cap on his Hall of Fame plaque and it is not difficult to see why he would choose to sport that team's logo in immortality.
The third baseman spent six seasons with the National League squad, four of which as an All-Star and three as a Gold Glove winner. He appeared in two World Series with the storied franchise, winning one in 2006.
Prior to arriving in St. Louis, he won the 1997 Rookie of the Year award with the Philadelphia Phillies and won four Gold Gloves. He twice received MVP votes during his time in Philly, despite that team never quite reaching the level of success he would achieve with the Cardinals.
Late in his career, Rolen showed little signs of slowing down. With the Cincinnati Reds, he was part of a 2010 playoff team, earned another All-Star nod and more MVP votes, as well as his eighth and final Gold Glove.
He tallied 316 career home runs, a .281 batting average, and an OPS+ of .855.
His arm strength and ability to rocket the ball from third to first and record an out at the most crucial of times helped define him. He was a defensive marvel, even as the game sought to incorporate more offense.
An all-time great infielder, he made every team for which he played better. That, more than the sure-handed glove, strong arm, and individual awards, is the definition of a Hall of Famer.
Fred McGriff
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It is astonishing that McGriff had to wait as long as he has to take his place in the Hall of Fame, even more so when you realize that he fell off the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot completely in 2020.
He played for 19 seasons, with the Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, Cubs and Dodgers, and earned MVP votes in six consecutive seasons (1988-93), then twice more in 1994-95.
He led the American League with 36 home runs in 1989 with Toronto and the National League with 35 in 1992 during his time with San Diego. He was a three-time Silver Slugger winner, a four-time All-Star and in 1995, won the World Series with the Braves as its home run-hitting cleanup man.
McGriff is tied with Lou Gehrig at 493 career home runs and accumulated a .284 batting average, 2,490 hits, 441 doubles, and 1,550 RBI. His greatness was not reserved for the regular season, either.
McGriff showed up in big games, hitting .303 in the postseason with 10 homers, 37 RBI, and 100 total bases.
The first baseman brought his explosive offense to whichever team he played for, striking fear in the hearts of opposing managers who knew he was more than capable of launching one out of the park.
Like Rolen, his greatest legacy may be that the teams he played for were better for having him in their clubhouse, where he may have led silently but spoke volumes for what he accomplished on the field.
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