The end of an era has happened. Ken Griffey Jr. has announced that he is stepping down from baseball, the game he owned in the 90’s.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of Ken Griffey Jr. My childhood is filled with memories of playing against fictional baseball teams in his Ken Griffey Jr. baseball franchise games for the Nintendo systems, and watching him crush teams with the Seattle Mariners — a franchise that he helped save.
Griffey racked up 13 All-Star appearances, 630 home-runs, 1,836 RBI’s, and his career spanned from 1987 to 2010. That’s 23 years playing baseball, and a basic automatic Hall-of-Fame induction. He never was linked to the steroid scandal that marred so many other great players of the era, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and NoBalls McKibbins. His athletic ability was unparalleled for the time, he did everything cleanly, was able to play professional baseball WITH HIS DAD, and he leaves a legacy behind that includes being fifth on the all-time home run list.
The announcement happened yesterday night, when Griffey called Mariners’ team president Chuck Armstrong and said he was done playing. They laid his jersey out behind second base, and showed a five-minute video tribute to him.
It received a standing ovation. Rightfully so.
Comments
James Sheldon
June 3rd, 2010 - 10:11:07 AM
Had his stint in Cinci not been riddled with injury, I really believe he would have owned the homerun crown. Coming into the league so young, he put a lot of mileage on his body early, so it seemed inevitable. Regardless, he was a team player and class act. A little trivia. Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. are the only father and son duo to hit back to back home runs in a game. Thanks to Griff for all the memories!!!
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