the almost daily dodger - fred mcgriff

the 2003 topps traded set included two future hall of famers in the dodger team set. one was rickey henderson, and the other was fred mcgriff

that is, of course, mcgriff's gold parallel card, numbered to 2003. it is easier to find and cheaper than rickey's gold parallel so i'm glad i picked up the man of steal's version somewhat hidden in a lot of rickey cards a few years ago.

anyway, i thought that the crime dog was a lock to hit his 500th home run in 2003 with the dodgers, but he managed only 12 homers, leaving him ten shy of the mark. in 2004, he hit only three for the devil rays in what would be his final season. falling short of that milestone probably hampered his hall of fame chances a bit, but it's all water under the bridge at this point. besides, being tied with lou gehrig on the all-time home run list isn't the worst thing in the world.