Former Toronto Blue Jays Slugger Earns 'Hall of Pretty Good Election'

Congratulations are in order for former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Kelly Gruber, who earned induction into the fictitious "Hall of Pretty Good" on Sunday. He's the 103rd member.

And yes, we're well aware that the "Hall of Pretty Good" isn't real. That said, the internet phenomenon has done a great job at highlighting careers of players who don't get enough recognition. Gruber received 68 percent of the vote, which is held on social media. 

As noted by the sites official Instagram page, a player must have 38.6 bWAR or less for his career, no MVP awards, no Cy Young's, cannot be a member of the Hall of Fame and must be retired/inactive for at least three seasons.

Former Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar is in the HOPG, while Jackie Bradley Jr., who briefly crossed paths with the Jays in 2022, is in as well.

Current Jays outfielder Davis Schneider said before a World Series game in 2025 that he aspires to one day make the cut.

Now 64 years old, Gruber was a first-round pick of Cleveland in the 1980 MLB Draft out of the Texas high school ranks. He spent 10 years in the big leagues with the Blue Jays and California Angels, playing from 1984-93.

He spent the first nine years of his career in Toronto, helping the Jays win the World Series in 1992.

For his career, he was a .259 hitter with 117 homers and 443 RBIs. He hit a career-high 31 homers in 1990 and had 118 RBIs that year also. A two-time All-Star, he was also a Silver Slugger winner and a Gold Glove winner.

He made the playoffs three times with Toronto (1989, '91-92), hitting .190 in 22 games. He had 47 plate appearances in the '92 playoffs, hitting just .098, but the Jays defeated the Atlanta Braves to win their first title.

The Blue Jays contingent is now in Las Vegas at the general managers meetings, which has a chance to be the biggest event of the offseason. With about three weeks until the lockout, this will likely be the only chance for teams to be around each other in person and for the Jays to talk with players and agents.