So Long, Kid

Career Stats:

Batting Average: .284
Home Runs: 630
Runs Batted In: 1836
Hits: 2781
Stolen Bases: 184
Slugging %: .538
OPS%: .907

13x All-Star, 10x Glove Glove Winner, 11x Slugger Award Winner, 3x Home Run Derby Champ, 1997 A.L. MVP, and a member of the All-Century Team

Great philanthropist and humanitarian

Class act all the way through
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

George Kenneth "Ken" Griffey, Jr. retires on June 2, 2010, exactly 23 years after he was drafted #1 overall by the Seattle Mariners.

Much like two of my favorite Seattle sports players that played all or most of their career with Seattle, the city is going to miss The Kid. The other two being Gary Payton and Walter Jones.

Griffey is hands-down the BEST baseball player in the 90s and would have been in the 2000s if not for injuries. It is a major travesty to see how injuries derailed the career of this future first-ballot Hall of Famer, the only one who did it right in this so-called "Steroid" era. Much like how Galarraga's would-be Perfect Game was tarnished, Junior's career statistics were subdued by season-ending injuries.

What a sad day for baseball all around. I don't know if/when Seattle will get its next great superstar that will have been drafted by this team and retire in the same jersey. Ichiro was not really "drafted" by the M's per se, but he will be the next retirement that will hit us Seattlelites dearly. After that, who knows? One thing is for certain though: we will never see another Ken Griffey, Jr in Seattle. His athletic ability, speed, power, and humanitarianism was what made him so great.

Hey, Sounders...if you need any ideas on who should get the next Golden Scarf, I think one candidate is fairly obvious. The statement that Ken issued today embodied how much he loved this city and he should know how much we love him back. This city does deserve a major championship as Junior said and his dedication should be rewarded. I sure hope the Sounders front office considers it! Thank you for everything Junior! Congratulations on a wonderful career.



References:

Picture taken from Tim Brown's column on Yahoo! Sports