New Hall of Famers reflect on journey at Legends of the Game Roundtable

“It was beautiful,” McGriff said of his seeing his bronze plaque on display after Sunday evening’s installation. “And better than that, yesterday, my older brother (Dexter McGriff) put in the (mounting) screws and everything, and so it was great for him to be able to have that opportunity. This morning, to go in there and for my family to take pictures with it – it was beautiful.”

Family has been a major theme throughout the weekend for both inductees.

“My dad (Ed Rolen) was able to go in with my family last night and turn the last screw on the plaque,” Rolen added. “That means the world to him and to our family for sure.”

Looking back on their careers, McGriff and Rolen each reflected back upon game some game-changing moments. For “Crime Dog,” it was his first-pitch home run off Cleveland’s Orel Hershiser in his first World Series at-bat that Morosi said “is still flying somewhere over Atlanta.”

“I’m usually an aggressive hitter,” McGriff said as he relived the moment that sparked the Braves’ championship series victory. “My first World Series appearance – you’ve got your butterflies. So the best way to get rid of butterflies is to swing at that first pitch. It was a huge moment.”

Finishing his career with 493 home runs, McGriff had 10 seasons with at least 30 long balls and was the first player in history to record a 30-homer season for five different franchises.

In Game 7 of the 2004 National League Championship Series, Rolen lit a fire of his own, tagging Houston’s Roger Clemens with a two-out, two-run big fly in the bottom of the sixth to clinch the NL pennant for the St. Louis Cardinals. Replaying the scenario, Rolen took the audience through his approach in late stage of the game.

“I was on deck and I was coming up. The (Astros manager) came out and they had a little meeting and they talked to Clemens,” the usually reserved Rolen began.  “I said to myself at the time, ‘If you leave him in, you lost.’ First pitch fastball and there it was. I could’ve popped it up to the catcher, who knows? But it worked out pretty well.”

Rolen’s reliability at the plate and in the field helped earn him seven All-Star Game appearances and eight Gold Glove Awards over his 17-year career.

The Class of 2023 had plenty of advice to impart on audiences and young baseball players this weekend, but simplicity and consistency stood out as major keys to their success. In an age where advanced metrics and analytics are often used to better one’s game, these Hall of Famers stressed the importance of going back to the basics.

“Simplicity is always the key,” Rolen said. “But there’s nothing simple about [baseball]. And to compound it and make it harder doesn’t make any sense to us because we’re always trying to make it as simple as we can. What’s wrong with a ground ball up the middle? Nothing!”