It’s always shocking when you read about someone who passes away so suddenly but it’s even more shocking when you know the person and it was very, very sad news to hear yesterday that Angels broadcaster Rory Markas has died. Like me, he was a graduate of Chatsworth High School and grew up in the Valley, and he basically got his dream job in life. He was a genuine man who battled a brain tumor and was back in the booth long before anyone could have expected. He will be missed by everyone who knew him and even those who didn’t, but had the good fortune to watch and hear him call Angel games.

Of course, everyone knows we try to keep things positive and upbeat over here at Inside the Dodgers, so I’ll conclude this post by saying that I really hope Fred McGriff gets into the Hall of Fame when it’s announced live today on the MLB Network at 11 a.m. PT.  While there are tons of former Dodgers who belong in the Hall that I could “stump” for (Gil Hodges, Maury Wills, and Fernando Valenzuela for his impact on the game), the Crime Dog gets his first chance today and I really don’t think that failing to hit seven more homers for the magic number of 500 should hold him back.

The St. Petersburg Times has a great article today about his candidacy and even though he only played one season here, I do believe he deserves to be enshrined. He was a pretty quiet guy with a huge grin and when he laughs, he kind of reminds me of Eddie Murphy. Of course, none of that justifies his Hall case so we can let you all debate it in the comments below.