Fred McGriff: I Got Cut My Sophomore Year In High School

all right so here we have it the man of the hour he played in Major League Baseball for 19 years he's a five-time Allstar a World Series champion a three-time Silver Slugger a two-time home run leader one of the best Smiles in baseball and in 2023 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame please welcome Fred crime dog McGriff ruff ruff how are you what's up morning morning I'm very good so Fred let me ask you this you know um since you are the crime dog I am investigating I just got some information back when you were 14 years old working in Tampa Stadium selling sodas how did you make extra money because we're investigating that you didn't pay taxes on that one I hear you now when you when you're 14 years old I mean every little bit helps and so uh it was a blessing to sell Cokes to Tampa stadium and make Cokes for 50 Cent and uh I made about 30 bucks a week or so and uh when you're 14 years old that's a beautiful thing that's a lot that's a lot of money yeah and Fred how did you get that job uh well I grew up less than a mile away from uh back then it was called Tampa Stadium where the uh the Buccaneers played and you know later they changed it to a rayon James Stadium but it was uh it was called Tampa stadium so it was walking distance and so you know back then there always looking for uh kids to sell Cokes and everything and it was great for me when I look back because of uh the leg strength that I developed from walking up and down those stairs with a Traer Co folks and you have the uh you car you got a the Rope you got a rope and you got a towel uh in the back of your neck and everything but going up and down those stairs in uh the old somero it really built my uh leg strength up were you always tall Fred when did you grow like to be like complete like what are you 63 64 63 but I I was tall and lanky when I was in high school I was uh lanky and by the time I got uh 15 16 years old I started uh putting on some weight and developing and I uh started working out using novelist equipment and uh machines and stuff like that uh to get stronger Fred what was your reaction when you got cut your sophomore year in high school like did you like cry to your parents like what happened no no you just I mean I I knew the coach and uh back then we didn't have JV uh baseball in high school it was either just varsity and that was it and um they had a senior first baseman and so uh I knew he was gonna play most of the time and so I figured that uh for me to make this team I have to try to play uh The Outfield or something like that I never played Outfield before but I went to Tri outs and tried to play and uh didn't make the team end up like I said coach cut me but I had we had talked in the past and everything and he just said hey go to go back to little league and uh continue to work out and work and uh go from there and so uh the coach name was pop quer and they they still make fun of him uh today oh wow I can't believe he caught you but anyway did you feel like you deserve to make the team back then what do you think your sophomore year uh well like I said um we didn't have JV you know most kids when they're uh 14 15 years old it's uh it's tough playing uh at a varsity level a lot of kids need uh JV to mature and get a little older and everything because uh been here in Tampa we got real strong um High School programs and and so forth and so to play try to play varsity baseball when you uh 14 15 year olds around here in Tampa is uh really tough I mean Tampa probably uh has probably produced probably 60 70 major league baseball players and so we're going back to the uh Dwight goods and Gary sheffields and way bogs and Dave magins and uh Tino Lis Gonzalez Tino Martine yeah the list goes uh on it own so it's a pretty good competition yeah and you were discovered when when you faced do Gooden one year in high school and you hit a bomb off him did you remember was it a fast ball was his nasty curve or was it it was a fast ball but now my my team had some my my High School Jefferson High School had some good players also and so we had a uh a SE I when I was a junior we had a senior named alardo he ended up being a uh second round pick of the Baltimore Orioles uh he was pretty good we had a center fielder n Juan Hernandez um uh he uh he I think he ended up going to the Detroit Tigers a little bit and we had a first round pick a couple of years earlier Len fedo played up in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins he was he was really good player so just uh it was it's always a lot it was always a lot of Scouts uh in the area so so it wasn't just hitting a home run off of Dwight uh for me to get discovered but but here's the thing their eyes lit up when you did right I mean think about it uh well Dwight was awesome Dwight uh exactly yeah Dwight stood yeah but it's a lot like I said it was a whole lot of talent uh in Tampa so then when you got drafted by the Yankees how much was your signing bonus back then oh back then it was like uh what was it 20,000 or so so I'm I'm assuming you probably bought a car yep exactly Cutler Supreme yep Cutler Supreme okay but now anybody was it go ahead that was the style back in the day cut Supreme did you have like the rims and the tinted windows and the system inside with the music and all that stuff hey with 20,000 you can't get all that so you true yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you're just you're just glad to have your a car and uh because I didn't have a car in high school so uh my mom tried to buy me a car and the car we never got it it was a stick shift and so I ain't know how to drive it so we didn't never get it to work so my first car was when I uh signed and your parents like what were their jobs when you were growing up while they were taking care of you yeah my mom was a school teacher and uh my dad a TV uh he had his own TV shop uh in Tampa so uh they're awesome they kept me in line and they uh made sure I got to my uh baseball practices and any other events that I was doing and they they got me to the boys club little stuff like that that I mean Fred you was just a regular you know like a regular family right just doing the right thing and then boom you get drafted now this must be exciting I mean when you found out you got drafted by the New York Yankees I mean you're like whoa hold on to me is this is this too good to be true right because it's the New York Yankees hey I'm from Tampa Florida so I ain't think like that I a we we didn't have we didn't have a we didn't have a professional baseball team uh closest team was the Atlanta Braves and so you know and then I didn't have uh uh the Yes Network and everything else so uh I didn't know a whole lot about uh the big leagues I mean I knew you know the Cincinnati Reds had spring training in uh Tampa and a lot of teams came down to uh Florida for spring training but I didn't um I wasn't uh goooo Gaga by the Yankees like yourself all right so listen so here's the thing so now you're in the minor leagues with the Yankees rookie Bowl have did you ever meet madingley back then no no no okay now do you go ahead uh I was a little younger I was younger at the time I was down in um Ricky ball M probably was in uh doublea or a ball double yeah I'm not sure how old m is now well because I remember he came up in 82 but his first full season was 83 okay yeah okay yeah and I in 83 I was well he was well he was in a big league oh no no he was no cuz they had uh they had this guy named Dave revering yeah Chris Chamas Chris Chamas was the first baser him and Dave revering were the first bases when I was coming up and the miners is they had uh arrestes drada stuff like that now do you think you got traded because they felt like madle was the future first baseman what's Your Gut on that or was just business no I got traded because they're trying to uh improve the big league team they added uh Dave Collins and uh and what was the trade was yeah they Tommy do uh you know the way George St operated he it was uh they wanted to win now with the big league club and so uh and then Pat gillick with the Blue Jays kind of uh he uh kind of pulled the wool over for uh Stan brener and uh I think they they he gave him three uh they gave they gave the Blue Jays three three three three uh choices it was myself arrest is drada and uh another first baseman uh what was his name another first baseman that was in AB ball and uh the Blue Jays uh in the end uh chose me out of those out of the three choices that they had so now you get to the Blue Jays right and um I think CES Fielder played with you in the miners right yeah now what they traded for he started out Cela started out with the Royals and I was with I started out with the Yankees and they they traded for both of us uh that off season you get to the big leagues who took you under their wing who was the guy Fred that said hey I'm the veteran here I'm going to take care of you uh it wasn't one guy I mean I just I played with great I played with I had great veterans I had uh Jesse Barfield ly Mosby uh you had George Bell you had uh Rance Mullenix G thorge uh Willie Upshaw was the first baseman at the time uh it was just a whole uh group of guys you know it's like kind of like um I I hear what you're saying but when you get up in the big leagues I mean you know you you with a 25 Bunch 25 guys so it's very I could see maybe but these guys they're trying to earn a living they're trying to you they try they're trying to produce in the big league so everybody everybody takes care yet you know what I mean right everybody I I know you got I know you hear certain situations where hey this guy pulled me aside and but n it's more of a group effort you know okay now when you were with the Blue Jays um the one batting instructor who do you want to thank and it really clicked with you like when did it happen when you said wow I can hang here I could hit home runs I could hit for a good batting average uh well when it comes to Hidden as as you probably have heard or he I mean hidden is a is a game of adjustments and everything and so it's you know when I was in rookie ball I had Mickey Vernon and Joe pepperone as my uh hitting coaches and miners I had John Mayberry uh who played in the big leagues for a lot of years uh with the Blue Jays uh I had Clarence Jones uh I had cedo Gaston so it's uh a number of guy everybody you know hitting it so hard and and everybody may give you bits and pieces and then it's a matter of you um making a little adjustments if you want to stay uh in the game you've all you always got to make adjustments it's not uh one little magical uh quote or somebody tell you something magical it's always about making adjustments and when how did you adjust Fred were you looking away and reacting in or were you looking middle in what was it uh I look for fast ball uh every a pitch I had a conversation with uh way bogs and uh bogs Liv he lived in Tampa also and uh had a conversation with him when I was in the miners I uh I would guess and look for look for breaking balls and little stuff like that and I had a nice little conversation with Wade and uh he told me like just stay on that fast ball look for the fast little stuff like that and so uh that's what I started doing and so throughout my career in the big leagues I just look for the fastball and uh adjust it to uh the breaking pitches right and did you how did you know as you know when you talk to Young hitters how would you say how do you work on um hitting the off speed pitches you know because a lot of people could get fooled they go forward and all that but what does it take to be say that again old saying don't miss the fast ball that's the best way to hit the breaking ball that's the best way to hit the breaking ball is don't miss the fast ball so when they throw when they throw you that fast ball You' be ready to hit because if you uh I laugh sometimes uh what listening game watching games now because uh breaking balls are very tough to hit so nowadays when they punch numbers into computer the computer is going to tell these pictures to throw breaking balls so it's like duh you know because that's a hard breaking balls are TP usually the only breaking balls that you really hit good are the ones that um the pitcher hangs them and makes mistakes those are the ones that you hit but if you they throw good ones uh you're not gonna hit them so watch that go up there looking for breaking balls when they're already hard to hit and I wanted I wanted to hit to my strengths and so uh I look for the fast ball it's like if you if you watch the Yankee highlights from last night some some pitcher through a uh uh Stanton a little hanging curveball and uh and he hit it a mile right well what what do they say you hang it you bang it right yeah crazy but with the fast for but you notice guys coming out of the boat now man they're throwing like 99 to 100 how do hitters even hit that yeah you know I just think you know it's it's interesting because they say all these guys throw 100 but then they end up getting ripped and everything and it's like if you're throwing 100 miles an hour you shouldn't you shouldn't be getting ripped so the conclusion I came up with that uh the radar guns are just uh technology has come a long ways and so radar guns are different these days they're more they're more advanced and everything so they're measuring the balls different they're measuring the balls right out of the pcture your hand well in the past when I was playing and they said guys were throwing 94 95 they were measuring a little bit later so because I'm like if you throwing a 100 you shouldn't be getting ripped yeah exactly Fred what time's your tea time uh I'm at 11:22 11:22 all right and what time you got a hit with uh your practice driving I'm gonna be I'm gonna be at this course in probably uh 10 minutes I'm G be at the course all right beautiful good all right so Fred um do you think the Blue Jays traded you because they felt like John olude was the guy I mean yes he's of course he's a superstar without a doubt the guy could hit you know but do you think that was it they trade you to San Diego uh I don't know you got to talk to you got to talk to Pat gillick the general you know what I'm I'm going to do Tony Soprano on him and I'm gonna say yo why' you trade my guy H how's that hey that's what you got to do all right so with the blue with San Diego you had a great career I mean you had you know you had your boy Sheffield with you is Derek Bell from Tampa too yeah okay so pretty much you guys did have a good team right back then San Diego yeah we had a really good team they just uh management the owner uh decided that uh baseball ain't going to work in San Diego and uh he wanted to get out so Tom Warner who uh on the team decided to uh trade everybody and he end up he end up selling the team uh and then about two years later he showed up uh part owner of the Boston Red Sox okay I get that part now here here's a dream right now you're with the Braves right you got traded to the Braves in Midsummer was it 93 uh yeah 92 93 something like that yeah yeah now that 93 season let me tell you something you guys had a squad man I mean you guys were stacked surprised the Phillies uh took you guys down to go to the World Series but I mean you still was a a great team tell me about that home run you hit and then there was a fire in left Center inside the stadium uh when I first got traded yeah the first night uh uh the lantern caught on fire up in one of the suits and uh delayed the game for uh four or five hours I believe I think we teed the game started at 9:30 940 or whatever and so uh luckily luckily they uh they got the fire out and they uh then they checked the stadium out and just allow fans back into the stadium and then uh played the game and it was my first night in uh Atlanta and I was able to hit a home run off of uh who's that uh Joe mcgrain back back in the day yeah Fred who was the toughest Lefty that you said wow this guy's vicious man I can't even hit him well I don't know if you ever say you can't hit him but but I'm when I was in minor when I was in the minor go ahead when I was in the minors you have you I mean you had tough lefties and the miners and and stuff like that and in big leagues you had a lot of good pitchers but you just I always tell everybody Randy Johnson because everybody is uh familiar with the name and everything but uh uh there a lot of guys out there throwing nasty sliders and uh that are tough to hood even even Johnny Franco was tough to hit man really wow throwing that spw ball the Brooklyn boy huh Johnny Franco yeah yeah Fred when you guys won the World Series in 95 right where'd you guys party afterwards come on now you could tell me that I mean that's normal you guys celebrate no no no I'm saying I mean you we're talking about 95 95 2005 2015 we're talking almost 30 years ago oh come on it ain't that bad you can still remember ah somewhere in Atlanta we want we we clenched in Atlanta uh was it Tong and groove Buckhead yeah we're down in Buckhead oh okay yeah so was it like an all nighter and then you guys like barely made the parade no no oh okay all right so you guys were gentlemen yeah yeah yeah how many times how many times your teammates just like you know make fun of you in in in in a joking way when they see that video of your commercial in the clubhouse to to to too many to remember I mean it was all every night it was on TV did you get paid residuals with that commercial no oh my God I should have been your agent back then I should have been your agent back then yeah you should you would have made a fortune like those Geico guys you know the commercials the spokesperson I hear you oh wow cedo Gaston what was it like uh learning from him I mean he was a good coach you know he was H yeah yeah he was a good coach he was uh it was a hidden coach before he became a manager and so uh he was really knowledgeable and he had a uh he had a nice big league career also before he uh won a couple of championships uh as manager of the uh Toronto Blue Jays but not I I I've had a lot of good coaches uh over the years let me ask you this um Fred with Tony Gwyn hitting style did he let the ball get really deep on the outside pitches I couldn't I couldn't answer that one for you because I mean I've never uh well I'm saying when you watch his approach right I'm sure a lot of guys watch Tony Gwyn even if they're teammates they always watch how the guy hits yeah but but you don't you know I mean I I don't use um I don't I don't I don't use that word let the ball get deep let the ball travel I mean you're talking about a ball uh thrown 90 something miles an hour and uh you got less than one second to decide if you're gonna swing or not so the B the ball gets up on you so you you you you're not you're not that good but you can say um oh I'm let the ball get deep let the ball right so you're saying like you know if it's there on the outer half have you gotten that batter box before have you gotten that batter box before the ball's on top of you so you can't you you can't try to let the ball let the ball get deep let the ball travel you gotta you got the ball's coming 90 miles an hour at you right so you got to hit out front right right yeah think about it because if you let it get deep it's GNA you know it'll be a foul ball the ball's not g to have that nice Back Spin right you just you just you're just trying to make contact dude you're trying to hit it okay okay I mean you you gotta you g to get gon have to get you in the batter's box no but you know what is Fred I mean I was a 400 hitter in college baseball right and you I we hear coaches let it get deep let it get deep but I said to myself I don't think I let it get deep I think I hit it where I supposed to hit it you know to get that drive yeah you I never yeah you never think about letting this ball drive a get that that's people that's sit in the stands that they never played before they're the ones talking about let the ball get deep and travel and all that right but when you w when you watch highlights on TV every time somebody hits a home run they're hitting the ball out in front of the plate exactly yeah and then so Fred your Hall of Fame speech who helped you out with that did you do it on your own or did someone help you out uh had had had a few people you know you know you you you have six seven months to think about it so you have you run across a whole lot of people that tell you to uh do this and do that and don't do this and and and so forth right but listen the Hall of Fame spee was great I mean you know it's like I don't know why it took 10 years but you know once you once you retired I said this guy's definitely Hall of Famer I don't know what it took why it took 10 years it's all good all good did you uh is that a World Series ring that you're wearing right now uh Hall of Fame oh Hall of Fame ring all right so Fred how often do you golf I'm thinking you golf every day uh three or four times a week get out there it's good exercise oh it is and what's your handicap uh I play like a eight eight handicap I wow that's nice yeah I'm fine yeah I'm fine till I get around the greens I uh bad putter bad chipper bad pitch pitch shots yeah but handicap eight how many people could say that right I mean a non uh you know no well if I do have like some hand ey skills I think you know baseball players and hockey players who uh hockey players with those slap shots and and you got baseball guys so uh I can find a way to uh put the club head on the ball it just it just may not go straight did you golf I can find a way well of course did you golf with the guys with the pitchers when you were with the Braves organization were you allowed to golf in the morning and then baseball no no no no no no not if you're position player well now I'm sure guys sneak out some guys sneak out so it's like don't let them see you uh don't let them see you with your golf clubs are then you going it's if you uh if your team is winning and you play golf then it's all cool and if your team is losing and you play golf now um you're gonna get in trouble you know so if Bobby Cox found out that you were golfing while on a during a losing streak what do you like no I didn't say I didn't say I didn't say no no I didn't say losing streak I said if your team is losing if you're playing on bad teams oh and you play golf you yeah you get in trouble okay all right so let me ask you this how was Bobby Cox as a manager he was awesome out of all like out of all the managers would you say he was the best one that you played for yeah yeah he well he well he was all he was good but it's I mean I never had issues with managers because they always put me in the lineup so well you earned it yeah but guys guys if as long as the manager put guys in the lineup most guys are not gonna have issues uh with the manager it's when they it's when they don't put you the lineup is when uh guys have issues now when when they would not put you in the lineup Fred like a guy like you like want in a blue no they put me in the lineup I was in line I was in the lineup most days if I was healthy no no no but I'm just saying like if he gives you a day off he'll tell you the night before hey Fred I'm gonna give you a day off the next day so chill out no not when I was playing that didn't happen you just you come to the ballpark and you check your you check and see if you're in the lineup or not okay that's that's how I used to be but Fred whole but with this analytic stuff right you remember with buck shalter last year they told them that hey the analytics team told them that hey nmo hit a double and a triple so you have to sit him the next day because he has too much he he ran too much can you believe this what's going on with the game now I guess they're smart people running the game now so they uh they they they they guys can't play every day no more their their bodies you know honestly to really determine if uh playing every day if to to determine if playing every day had a big effect on you you would have to do a uh a 10 15 year study uh everybody would have to um eat the same food have a you know uh the liquid had to be the same to deter you know what I mean to determine actually that if playing every day uh affected guys you would have to do a 10 years 15 years study to I mean it's it's it's crazy yeah I I mean look here's the thing my take on analytics it's good to get information but you know what you you got to go with your gut you got to you got to see see what you see you know not what the computer tells you yeah sometime and sometimes like uh teams arresting guys in um August September and it's like maybe you need to punch into to the computer that if we lose this game we're going home you can't you can't punch stuff like that into computer they're giving guys days off and if we lose this game we're going home you know yeah don't make sense so do you think with these managers they getting you know they getting bullied by the computer right these managers can't even manage some of them young managers I'm talking about no yeah no they want to keep your job if if you want to keep your job you gotta play byle rules that's pretty tough Fred with all the computer stuff that's why they hire they hire you know the young guys and they they do what they're told to do Fred did you lift weights when you were playing yeah lightweights just uh the night after game after once game just lightweight just to maintain and dur and during the off season did you lift heavier weights yeah okay and heavyweights during the heavy weights offse you said heavy weights offseason light during the yeah lightweight lightweights during the season yeah lightweights lightweights during the season oh look at that look at that good looking face right there there you do I told you I thought it was gonna be I thought it was just gonna be voice only drive what I'm going to do is I'm going to put your your picture and then we'll hear the audio just a picture so okay okay all right so you're heading to the golf course right now right yeah oh I'm here right now yeah what a LIF I gotta try to make some cash I gotta try to make some cash today oh what you guys gam why you guys gamble while you Golf five bucks five bucks oh all right yeah yeah not not the Pete Ro Style no we just play nice little friendly game you you know gotta make it interesting gotta be this is this this is about this is about bragging rights oh okay this it's about being able to talk noise Fred did you play 36 holes a day too sometimes no never I'm playing no I'm playing 18 holes okay all right so listen I know you I know you gotta go listen thank you for the Fred you know what I think what you did I think you blocked me accidentally through text messages no I didn't I swear because every time I text you it doesn't get delivered I'm like what's up a friend what I do wrong I may have I may have to check because you know how you learn how you gotta um these phones got so many little gadgets on them and some little this app and that app yeah yeah I think what happened was that when I called you you probably thought it was a telemarketer so you blocked it that's that's that's might what happened right exactly I'm like Fred what' I do wrong we had a great conversation at the Masters what' I do yes we did no I'll check it I'll check it to make sure yeah I mean I'll email you my phone number friendly reminder I'm like Fred this is me and by the way Larry was Larry was full of [ __ ] I wasn't upset I was like yo what's up with Freddy thiss me oh oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah he he sent he sent that text and I'm like what yeah no Fred I I love you brother are you kidding me I wasn't upset I was just like I'm like Larry it doesn't get delivered look okay I was like man that ain't right right exactly it's like what I'm giving him time while you I'm like Larry I'm not upset why did you write that we were with Terry Bradshaw this past weekend in Nashville okay yeah yeah BR Brad sha does a good job yeah yeah he's funny man his stories are hilarious yeah he does a great job on TV yeah all right so Fred listen nice talking to you keep in touch anytime you're in New York give me a call you know what I mean all right all right all right I I'll stay in one I'll stay in one spot next time all right you got it you know what maybe I should interview you again how's that we'll talk about okay your afterlife all righty I'll talk to you brother all right I'll talk to you okay thank you so much all right