No, it’s really not. First off, I respect Fred McGriff. And I do feel he will eventually get inducted. But Cepeda played through a major knee injury, suffered late in the 1961 season, which eventually caused him to miss the entire 1965 season. An injured Cepeda was a better player than the healthy McGriff. It’s not a huge gap, but it is a statistically significant one, and Cepeda was robbed of much of his prime. Career plate appearances, career bWAR Fred McGriff 10,174, 52.6 Orlando Cepeda 8,699, 50.1 Plate appearances per 1 win above replacement, average WAR/650 PA McGriff 193.42, 3.36 Cepeda 173.63, 3.74 Cepeda was pretty much done before his age 34 season. The knee injury he suffered came when he was only 23 years old. A healthy Cepeda hits over 500 home runs, and does it in an era of depressed offense. The second Dead Ball Era ended with the 1968 season, meaning Cepeda’s prime came in the pitcher dominated mid 60s, while McGriff’s performance came in the steroid era.

Got in, you feel happy having downgraded another player 🙃 burn in hell