Didja know that Ken Griffey Jr retired last night? You may push that to the side a bit after what happened to Armando Galarraga's imperfect game last night.
That's what Griffey's career was though. He gets lost in the shuffle in his retirement just like his whole career was lost in the shuffle by the steroid era. Griffey finishes with 630 home runs; 5th all-time. The top guy on that list, Barry Bonds, has been plagued by steroid implications. Alex Rodriguez, who will pass Griffey at some point, has already admitted to using performance enhancers.
That doesn't even take into consideration his contemporaries. During Mark McGwire's and Sammy Sosa's steroid fueled home run battles, Griffey was right there with them. Nobody remembers that Griffey was right there with them. In 1997 and 1998, Griffey hit 56 home runs in each year. That was an amazing feat that gets eclipsed by McGwire and Sosa and their cartoonish home run totals. He didn't get the same love.
Griffey is a tough guy to pinpoint historically. To people who watched him play over the past 22 years (well, at least the first 12 seasons and a few after that), he was the best player of his time. He was what people think of Albert Pujols right now. The difference is that Pujols is a better hitter for average and Griffey was one of the greatest fielders we've ever seen. During the early 1990s, there was no more exciting player in the game.
But he's also a guy that never won a championship. In fact, he never even got to the World Series. He made just one appearance in the League Championship Series (Mariners 1995). He only made the playoffs three times and one of those times (2008 with the White Sox) he was nothing more than a role player. Another time (1997), he was awful.
His time with Cincinnati was all but forgettable. He debuted with a bang (40 HRs, 118 RBIs) but then quickly fell off. He played in more than 128 games only once in the next seven years. When he was healthy, he was pretty effective. Too bad he seemed to always be injured.
Still, Griffey is easily a first ballot Hall Of Famer and should be viewed as one of the greatest talents to have ever played baseball.
That's what Griffey's career was though. He gets lost in the shuffle in his retirement just like his whole career was lost in the shuffle by the steroid era. Griffey finishes with 630 home runs; 5th all-time. The top guy on that list, Barry Bonds, has been plagued by steroid implications. Alex Rodriguez, who will pass Griffey at some point, has already admitted to using performance enhancers.
That doesn't even take into consideration his contemporaries. During Mark McGwire's and Sammy Sosa's steroid fueled home run battles, Griffey was right there with them. Nobody remembers that Griffey was right there with them. In 1997 and 1998, Griffey hit 56 home runs in each year. That was an amazing feat that gets eclipsed by McGwire and Sosa and their cartoonish home run totals. He didn't get the same love.
Griffey is a tough guy to pinpoint historically. To people who watched him play over the past 22 years (well, at least the first 12 seasons and a few after that), he was the best player of his time. He was what people think of Albert Pujols right now. The difference is that Pujols is a better hitter for average and Griffey was one of the greatest fielders we've ever seen. During the early 1990s, there was no more exciting player in the game.
But he's also a guy that never won a championship. In fact, he never even got to the World Series. He made just one appearance in the League Championship Series (Mariners 1995). He only made the playoffs three times and one of those times (2008 with the White Sox) he was nothing more than a role player. Another time (1997), he was awful.
His time with Cincinnati was all but forgettable. He debuted with a bang (40 HRs, 118 RBIs) but then quickly fell off. He played in more than 128 games only once in the next seven years. When he was healthy, he was pretty effective. Too bad he seemed to always be injured.
Still, Griffey is easily a first ballot Hall Of Famer and should be viewed as one of the greatest talents to have ever played baseball.
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