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.