Fred McGriff - Move To The National League

Move To The National League

On December 5, 1990, McGriff was traded to the San Diego Padres with Tony Fernández in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter – two players who would be integral in Toronto's back-to-back World Series titles in the early 1990s.

He continued to flourish in the National League, hitting .278/.396/.474 for San Diego in 1991. He led the NL in home runs in 1992, three years after he had accomplished the same feat in the AL. On July 18, 1993, the Padres, seeking to unload their high-priced veterans, dealt McGriff to the Atlanta Braves for prospect Vince Moore, Donnie Elliott and Melvin Nieves. McGriff hit a pivotal home run in his first game with the Braves and his offensive tear during the second half of the season helped carry the team to a division title, with a record of 51–19 after his arrival. He finished with a career high 37 homers and fourth place in the NL MVP voting. McGriff was batting .318 and already had 34 home runs when the strike ended play in August 1994. It would have been a career-year for McGriff. He did manage to win the All-Star Game MVP Award that year after hitting the game-tying home run for the National League, after the NL trailed 7–5 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Fred was runner-up to Ken Griffey Jr. in the 1994 Home Run Derby.

McGriff's production remained steady in 1995 as he continued to be a successful cleanup hitter for the Braves. He hit two home runs in the 1995 World Series en route to a championship ring. The quiet star hit .295/.365/494 with a career-best 107 RBIs on his way to another World Series appearance in 1996. With only 22 home runs in 1997, McGriff appeared to be in decline. Being controversially called out on strikes by umpire Eric Gregg on a pitch 3 feet outside thrown by Liván Hernández during the 1997 NLCS was the last significant event for McGriff as a Brave. The team allowed him to be picked up by the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays after the season.