Say Goodbye Griffey

I pains me to read that Ken Griffey Jr. is thinking about coming back for the 2010 season with the Seattle Mariners. It hurts because I was sixteen years old when he broke into the majors in 1989 and collected his rookie cards just knowing he was going to be a star. He was a star at only nineteen when he roamed centerfield for the Seattle Mariners. He made some of the most amazing catches I have ever seen. One stands out from his early years. He was playing a shallow centerfield in Yankee Stadium and had to run full out back to the wall and jump high above the wall robbing someone of a home run. Griffey ran back to the dugout waving his glove in the air along with a big grin on his face. Junior was just a young kid playing baseball. Soon he played with his father, Ken Sr., and they both had the ultimate father/son moment when they hit back to back home runs. Years went by. I went to college and he got older, gained a few pounds, hit more home runs, ran into walls and his body began to break down. He missed far too many games than he deserved because of injury. His prominence faded in fans' minds, but he kept playing. He was switched to right field in Cincinatti because it required less ground to be covered. Seeing him as a Cincinnati Red never felt right. In 2008 he was traded to the White Sox and threw out Michael Cuddyer at home with a dynamite throw in the 163rd game of the season. The White Sox won the game 1-0 and the division with Griffey's throw being the most important defensive play of the game. That is how it should have ended, but great players seldom just walk away. They remember being that grinning kid playing baseball two decades before and try to catch that magic again. It doesn't happen.

Ken Griffey Jr. is currently batting .219 with 14 home runs for his original team the Seattle Mariners. He has 625 career home runs putting him in the elite status of baseball players while never being mentioned in steroid conversations. Ken Griffey Jr. is an icon that I want to remember as a superstar, not what he is now: a .200 hitter who doesn't play everyday. It's time to call it a career, retire and go to the Hall of Fame in five years. Don't hang on trying to capture that one last ball before it goes over the wall. Wave goodbye and let fans realize how lucky they were to watch you play baseball.