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The Oceania Baseball Association had a three-player Hall of Fame class in 2014, although LF Ian Griff was the only slam dunk with an 89.8% debut. Two returners very narrowly breached the 66% requirement with him. SP Kurt Sanders on his tenth and final chance got to 69.6%, making him the only tenth ballot inductee as of 2037. CF Mario Harris also squeaked in at 67.8% in his sixth attempt.



Two others crossed 50%, but fell short of induction. RF Will Lee had 60.8% on his seventh try and CF Jonathan Buai was at 52.9% with his ninth ballot. No one else was even above 30% with the second best debut seeing a mere 11.4%.

Reliever Paul Hendricks was dropped after ten ballots with the Samoan righty not staying long enough to have the accumulations. His 12-year career spanned seven teams between OBA, EBF, and MLB. He did win two Reliever of the Year awards between Melbourne and Guam and led thrice in saves. In eight OBA seasons, Hendricks had 224 saves, a 2.25 ERA, 604 innings, 836 strikeouts, 147 ERA+, and 16.0 WAR. He peaked at 29.6% in 2006 and ended at 10.5% in 2014, banished to the Hall of Good.



Ian Griff – Left Field – Brisbane Black Bears – 89.8% First Ballot

Ian Griff was a 6’6’’, 200 pound left-handed left fielder from Brisbane, Australia. Griff was an excellent contact hitter who was just above average at drawing walks and avoiding strikeouts. He had a reliably strong pop in his bat, getting 34 doubles and 32 home runs per his 162 game average. Griff didn’t get many extra bags with his legs, as he was a very slow and clumsy baserunner.

Griff had a fairly strong arm, but his poor range and glove work meant he graded as a lousy defender in left field. He played exclusively in left defensively, but did spend 1998 and much of 2003 as a designated hitter. Griff’s durability was excellent, making 130+ starts in all but one of his 16 seasons. He was adaptable, but some did question his work ethic. Regardless, Griff was one of Australia’s more popular players and beloved in his hometown Brisbane, where he played his entire career.

Even in high school, Griff was viewed as a ‘can’t miss’ prospect. So much so that Auckland picked him #1 overall in the 1990 OBA Draft. However, Griff spurned the Avengers offer and went off to college. Three years later, his childhood dream came true when his hometown Brisbane picked him fourth overall in the 1993 OBA Draft. The Black Bears were the 1991 Oceania Champion, but that had been their only pennant in their history. For Griff’s first eight years, Brisbane had seven losing seasons and one .500 effort.

Griff was a full-timer immediately and a successful one, winning 1994 Rookie of the Year. Brisbane quickly attached their fortunes to him with an eight-year, $14,280,000 extension after the 1996 season. 1997 would be a banner year, leading the Australasia League in slugging (.567), OPS (.938), and wRC+ (173). Griff won his first Silver Slugger and was third in MVP voting.

His popularity started to grow nationwide as he played for Australia in the World Baseball Championship from 1995-2008. Griff had 96 games and 78 starts with 89 hits, 45 runs, 10 doubles, 23 home runs, 61 RBI, a .301/.374/.574 slash, 173 wRC+, and 3.9 WAR.

With Brisbane, Griff had seven seasons worth 5+ WAR. He led in RBI and OBP in 1998 for his second Silver Slugger, then won his third in 2000 by leading in hits. 2001 saw league and career bests in hits (208), doubles (43), batting average (.362), and wRC+ (181). He also had a career-best 1.024 OPS and added 6.8 WAR, 35 homers, and 113 RBI, taking third in MVP voting and his fourth Slugger.

Griff actually regressed slightly in 2002, but still won his fifth Slugger. Most importantly, Brisbane finally posted a winning season at 88-74, taking the pennant in a very competitive season. The Black Bears defeated Fiji for the Oceania Championship with Griff earning finals MVP. In the seven game series, he had 10 hits, 11 runs, 2 doubles, 5 home runs, and 11 RBI. Griff’s RBI and runs marks remain OBA all-time playoff bests, cementing his status as a hometown legend.

This would be Brisbane’s only pennant during his run. They fell back to around .500 for the next few years. The Black Bears would have 94 and 102 win efforts from 2007-2008, but couldn’t compete with Melbourne’s historic dynasty. Griff won his sixth Slugger in 2003, leading in hits for the third time. Brisbane extended the now 33-year old Griff to a five-year, $16,200,000 contract. He got his second batting title in 2004 and seventh slugger.

Griff won his eighth Slugger in 2006 despite missing a month to a forearm strain. He then had a renaissance 2007 season for his ninth Slugger and a second place in MVP voting. He had career bests in home runs (42), RBI (133), OBP (.400), runs (103), and WAR (7.1). Griff’s power dropped a bit in 2008, but he still posted 3.1 WAR over 139 games.

The 2008 campaign ended in mid-September with a broken bone in his elbow with an expected five month recovery. Griff planned to be ready for 2009, but he suffered a setback in January that required surgery. This put him out nine months, out for the entire season. With his contract expiring and an uncertain comeback bid, Griff retired that winter at age 38. Brisbane immediately retired his #25 uniform.

Griff ended with 2592 hits, 1137 runs, 471 doubles, 436 home runs, 1377 RBI, 522 walks, a .309/.353/.535 slash, 151 wRC+, and 71.2 WAR. As of 2037, he ranks 21^st in hits, 39^th in home runs, eighth in doubles, 25^th in RBI, and 39^th in WAR among position players. He wasn’t the #1 guy in the game during his run, but Griff was regularly a top five or top ten level hitter for almost his entire career in the Australasia League.

He got to live out the dream of many baseball players; he had a long career with his hometown team and he was the playoff hero in a championship season. Thus, Griff was the headliner for OBA’s 2014 Hall of Fame class with a first ballot 89.8% induction.