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COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Fred McGriff bet his friends he wouldn’t break down during his Hall of Fame speech, but he sure came awfully close on Sunday, looking to the heavens when talking about his late parents.
It took all of nine seconds for Scott Rolen’s voice to quiver, and his eyes filled with tears when he began talking about his parents and family.
“Well, that didn’t work,’’ Rolen said, pausing to regroup before trying again.
Rolen and McGriff delivered beautiful, impassioned Baseball Hall of Fame induction speeches Sunday in front of a crowd of about 10,000 in Cooperstown, New York, talking about the people responsible for their legendary careers – their own families.
“Baseball was my career, but it is not my story,’’ Rolen said. “I dreamed of being a Major League baseball player, but I was not raised to be a Major League Baseball player. I was raised to be honest, to work hard, to be accountable for my words and actions, and to treat people with kindness and respect.
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“I was not taught in today’s terminology: exit velocity, launch angle or spin rate. Rather, I was taught, “Please. Thank you. Excuse me. And I’m sorry.”
Rolen, 47, spent most of his speech talking about the love for his parents, Ed and Linda, saying it was truly a blessing for them to be in attendance, celebrating his greatest honor.
“We’ve had some health concerns in our family, Covid came through, and my mom’s holding up a big target at that time,’’ Rolen said. “Mom, at one point, said, “Scott, I’m going to be alive when you get inducted to the Hall of Fame. That’s kind of grim.
“That’s where her mindset was, and for them to be there today, for my whole family to be there with some of the challenges, we’ve had, is absolutely everything.’’
Rolen, raised in tiny Jasper, Indiana, with a home that had two La-Z-Boy chairs and a wood-burning stove in the living room, talked about the hard work and discipline his parents instilled into him. He was not always the most talented athlete or the best player on the field, but he learned from his father during a high-school All-Star basketball tournament that he could always control effort.
The mantra became: “Well, do that then.’’’
“It turns out that, ‘Well, do that then’ carried me into the minor leagues,’’ said Rolen, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, “and gave me a simple mindset that I would never allow myself to be unprepared or outworked. ‘Well, do that then,’ put me on this stage today.’’
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McGriff, 59, the youngest son of a TV repair shop owner (Earl) and school teacher (Eliza), talked about being cut from his high-school team as a sophomore. He could have pouted. He could have lashed out at his coach, Pop Cuesta. He could have blamed everyone but himself.
“I could have quit playing baseball, but I didn’t,’’ McGriff said. “Instead, it motivated me. I started riding my bike about three miles each way to the gym. I got stronger, and I continued to play ball.’’
He and his close friend, Dave Magadan, who had a 16-year career in the big leagues, started hitting for hours every day. He began reading hitting guru Charley Lau’s book, “The Art of Hitting .300,’’ so many times that he nearly had it memorized.
He went from hitting .148 without a homer in his first minor-league season with the New York Yankees to becoming one of the most prolific power hitters in Major League Baseball history with 493 homers. He became the first player in baseball history to hit at least 30 homers with five different teams.
“Since elementary school, my goal was to play in the major leagues,’’ McGriff said, “and I exceeded every expectation I could ever imagine. … Honestly, I would have been happy playing just one day in the big leagues. But I can tell everyone a computer can’t measure what’s in someone’s heart. And I always had heart growing up in Tampa, Florida.
“It’s been a long journey. I encourage you, whatever your dream is, to never give up. Always remember to stay true to who you are. There will be fires along the way, but those fires can ignite the spark for the next season of your life.’’
McGriff, who wound up having nearly the entire 50-member Hall of Fame class shaking his hand in an unprecedented greeting when introduced, thanked Magadan, who attended the ceremony. He thanked Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, who gave him the advice to look for fastballs on every single pitch instead of breaking balls. He thanked Yankees minor-league coach Ed Napoleon, who had him working on his fielding at 8 a.m. every day. He thanked Cito Gaston, his first hitting coach in Toronto. And all of his teammates, coaches and trainers who helped along the way.
But, the moment he almost broke down was when he mentioned the two most important people in his life, leaving his wife, Veronica, wiping the tears from her face.
“No two people had bigger impacts on my life than my mom and dad,’’ McGriff said. “They were my No. 1 fans. The ushers and concession stand workers, they all knew Mrs. McGriff. They never pushed me to play baseball, but they always supported me. They both drove me to my games and practices.
“And I know they’re up above looking down smiling today, so proud of their youngest son.’’
The greatest moment of Rolen’s baseball career, he said, was seeing his parents walk to their seats after driving all night in their R.V. from Florida for his major-league debut. They arrived in the fourth inning of the first game of a Phillies doubleheader on Aug. 1, 1996, against the St. Louis Cardinals – for whom he would play years later – in Philadelphia.
“Seeing Mom and Dad walk to their seats from my position at third base,’’ Rolen said, “was a feeling never topped again my 17 years.”
A tradition was born. Rolen’s mom would wave to Rolen from the stands just before the start of every home game, and Rolen would acknowledge her by subtly tipping his cap, and tapping it twice.
Rolen’s daughter, who was 5 years old at the time, soon started wearing a baseball cap, too, and would tip it back at her dad for the rest of his career.
When Rolen finished his speech he looked directly at his family, pulled a Hall of Fame cap from behind the dais, put it on his head, and then tipped it back to them.
“In baseball,’’ Rolen said, listing his former teams, “I am a Jasper Wildcat. I am an Indiana Bull. I am a Philadelphia Phillie. I am a St. Louis Cardinal. I am a Toronto Blue Jay. I am a Cincinnati Red. And today, I am a National Baseball Hall of Famer.
“In my life, I am a friend. I am a brother. I am a son. I am a husband. And I am, the greatest gift, a father.’’
Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale
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