Fred McGriff

Fred McGriff is an American former professional baseball first baseman, who played for six Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from 1986 through 2004. A power-hitting first baseman, he became a five-time All-Star and led both leagues in home runs in separate years — the American League in 1989 and the National League in 1992.

McGriff finished his career with 493 home runs, tied with fellow Hall of Fame player Lou Gehrig, and only seven homers away from joining the 500 home run club. He won the 1995 World Series over the Cleveland Indians as the first baseman with the Atlanta Braves. He currently works in the Atlanta Braves' front office as Special Assistant to Baseball Operations. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022.

McGriff's nickname, "Crime Dog", created by sports broadcaster Chris Berman, is a play on McGruff, a cartoon dog created for American police to raise children's awareness on crime prevention.

McGriff ended his career with ten seasons with at least thirty home runs. He and Gary Sheffield are the only players ever to hit at least thirty home runs in one season for five different teams, with McGriff accomplishing the feat with Toronto three times, San Diego twice, and Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and the Chicago Cubs once each. He led MLB in total home runs hit from 1989 to 1994, and hit the third-most home runs in the decade from 1988 to 1997 (after Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire).

As of 2019, McGriff stood as one of only 16 players to record a career .280 batting average, .375 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging percentage along with at least 490 home runs.

On December 4, 2022, it was announced that McGriff was unanimously elected by the Contemporary Era Committee to the Baseball Hall of Fame.