The Kid Calling it a Career?

A couple of days ago, news broke that Seattle Mariner's outfield Ken Griffey Jr. missed a pinch hitting opportunity because he was sleeping in the clubhouse. Griffey (a.k.a "The Kid") has denied this, and the Mariners have denied this, but I'm not really sure why someone would make that up. It appears that Griffey, now 40 years old is sort of a lightning rod this year for the Mariners. The team is struggling, and many are questioning why he is still playing baseball when he is a shell of his former self.

I'm not a big baseball fan. In fact, I rarely get interested until the playoffs, and even then my interest is luke warm. When I was a kid though, things were a different story. I loved baseball, and really all sports. Ken Griffey Jr. was easily the best baseball player I ever watched play. He was brilliant at the plate and in the outfield, and he seemed like a really good guy. Griffey broke into the league at age 19 and was almost instantly great. His best years were with the Mariners in the 1990's. As a free agent in 2000, he went to play for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. In Cincinnati, the injury bug struck him and he was never the same player again.

Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the all time great baseball players, and in this steroid era there are very few suspicions about Griffey. He never bulked up like so many players in this era, and his body started to break down when he got older (like it does for most players not using steroids). A lot of people are calling for "The Kid" to retire, and it's hard to argue with them when Griffey has clearly lost so much of that skill he once possessed. But, he deserves to leave the game the way he wants to leave the game, and baseball will be worse for it when he finally does hang up the cleats.