Yesterday, lost in the hullabaloo over the not-so perfect game, the greatest baseball player I have ever seen retired. Ken Griffey Jr closed out his 22 year career quietly, saying he did not want to distract or hinder his team anymore.
This may be the only case of wondering what a player with 630 career home runs, an MVP and 11 gold gloves might have been like if he had stayed healthy. Jr lost at least 3 full seasons due to injuries to his legs and wrist, and had been averaging over 40 home runs when he was healthy.
He made fielding an art form. The acrobatics we see from the likes of Torii Hunter these days began with Jr, the next evolution of the perfect player.
He was Willie Mays. He was Hank Aaron. He was better than Bonds and didn't need steroids to do it. Griffey was my second favorite player growing up, second only to Cal Ripken Jr. If he had stayed healthy, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have broken Aaron's record and won a few more gold gloves. So goodbye Jr. We are going to miss you. You represented what was good, fun and right in baseball. We will miss your play, your spirit and your smile.
PS- SOMEONE GIVE HIM A TV DEAL!
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He could've broken all of the records had he not been injured. Should've stayed in Seattle!
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I watched Strasberg pitch against the Buffalo Bisons in his last AAA start. Wow, 99 mph fast ball, great curve & changeup. My team's high prospect pitcher, Dillon Gee, got smacked around a little by Syracuse. Tejada, a young 2B/SS, looks pretty good. Daniel Murphy, who had been doing well playing 2B, got hurt AGAIN the night before. He can't catch a break. It's sad to see that the best players on the Mets AAA team are over 30,,,,,,Feliciano who is hitting .325 and Hessman(?) who leads the minors in HRs and is high in all-time HRs in the minors (329). This guy is freakin' Crash Davis from 'Bull Durham'!