By: TJ Hartnett

GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services

I’ve made the case for several years now that Fred McGriff should be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

His time on the BBWAA ballot has come to a close with this year’s vote, his tenth shot at immortality the old-fashioned way. As he didn’t surpass 25% last year, it’s a safe bet to assume he won’t be reaching the 75% needed to be inducted into Cooperstown this summer.

That is a shame and has been for a decade now. But something happened earlier in December that makes it all the more shameful: Harold Baines was selected for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.

Now, I don’t mean to knock Harold Baines. He was a force for the White Sox in the 80s, and I’m sure he’s a very nice man but what he was not better than Fred McGriff.

To be clear, Baines was not elected to the Hall via the BBWAA ballot. He was elected by the Eras Committee, which is 16 people who vote in overlooked players from particular eras of the game.

This years’ batch, the Today’s Game Committee, inducted Baines and former all-time saves record holder Lee Smith. This makes the BBWAA’s failure to elect McGriff more palatable. Let’s not rule out the Crime Dog finding himself enshrined through this same process, but Baines is still going to have a plaque on the hallowed walls first.

To the naked eye, it might seem like Baines and McGriff are relatively similar players, or even that Baines is superior. Look closer.

Baines had more hits. He had more RBIs. He had a higher batting average. He also played in 370 more games than McGriff. That’s not insignificant if you’re comparing counting stats. If McGriff had played 370 more games even at his lowest level of production, he’d easily make up the RBI difference and close the hit gap, if not pass him there as well.

There is also the matter of intangibles. If Baines is a Hall of Famer, then surely McGriff is based on their respective significance. Baines was a consistent hitter throughout his long career, but was never a dominant one who could be considered the best. McGriff in the late 80s and early 90s was as feared as any hitter in the game at that time.

Baines was a piece of the puzzle on the teams he played for. McGriff was traded for in 1993 and both literally and figuratively Atlanta caught fire. He was the cleanup hitter for the 1995 championship team, Atlanta’s first ever.

Baines, on the other hand, spent the prime of his career on White Sox teams that were mired, in what would eventually be, an 88-year championship drought.

These “intangibles” are not nothing. Many voters will tell you that they vote as much on whether or not a player “feels” like a Hall of Famer as much as they will vote on their statistics.

Jack Morris’ entire argument for getting into the Hall of Fame was his postseason dominance and his 1991 National League Championship Series Game 7 performance in particular. Morris, for what it’s worth, also failed to get into the Hall through the traditional ballot but was selected by the Modern Era committee for induction last year.

While Baines’ induction this month and McGriff’s inevitable snub next month will be frustrating to those who believe that the slugger (who is just seven home runs shy of 500) is deserving of the call, all hope is not lost.

In fact, Baines’ induction should comfort those same people. Because once the Era Committees cycle back around to Today’s Game, they won’t have a leg to stand on in keeping the Crime Dog out of the Hall. It will be overdue, but it will be very deserved.