The two former Legion Baseball players will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 23.
The 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Sunday, July 23, at the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y. The event will air exclusively on MLB Network at 1:30 p.m. ET, with a 90-minute preview shown immediately before the ceremony at noon ET.
The two members of the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2023 are both American Legion Baseball alumni. Fred McGriff played for Post 248 in Tampa, Fla., while Scott Rolen played Legion Baseball in Jasper, Ind.
McGriff was a unanimous selection by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee. The “Crime Dog” played 19 seasons in the major leagues for six teams: the Atlanta Braves, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers.
A five-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and one-time World Series champion — with Atlanta in 1995 — McGriff finished his career with 493 home runs, 1,550 RBIs and a .284 batting average.
The 2005 American Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year, Rolen played 17 seasons in the major leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. He was the 1997 National League Rookie of the Year as well as a seven-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner. Rolen was also part of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals.
Rolen is just the 18th third baseman elected to Cooperstown, the lowest total of any fielding position, and the first since Chipper Jones in 2018.
The induction of McGriff and Rolen into the Baseball Hall of Fame will bring the total of Legion Baseball alumni enshrined in Cooperstown to 85.
- Baseball