I don't care what people say about Ken Griffey, Jr. I understand why some people are bitter about him. I understand why a lot of people think trading him away was the best move Pat Gillick made as GM. I understand why people don't want him back. But, George made the Mariners relevant, and was my first baseball hero. For that, I will always be happy to see him be successful. So, yesterday when he hit 2 home runs in a meaningless game, I got excited. We love you Junior.
That's it yo.
..yes we do....for the old geezer like me ,baseball heroes start with Ted Williams,then Yaz followed by a tip of my cap to Jim Rice...then Junior,The Kid who saved MLB in Seattle..the one who hit home runs in 8 games in a row ( we were ther for #8)..who hit an opposite field home rn in first Kingdome at bat ( we were there) ..who played with his dad ( we were there)...its very personal with Junior and I agree with Mike L. --he's special and will always be a Mariner in my heart ( he better have the "S" on his Cooperstown cap)
ReplyDeleteI'm one of these older types too... my first baseball hero was Harmon Killebrew. In NE Oregon, we only saw MLB on TV, of course, and it seems like the Twins were on quite a bit. I also liked Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Jim Kaat, Yastrzemski, Bob Gibson (one of the meanest pitchers of all time), Juan Marichal (another one!)... Al Kaline, Micky Lolich...
ReplyDeleteBut then Griffey came along and gave the Mariners franchise and MLB a much-needed breath of fresh air! Even though he left Seattle under less than pleasant circumstances, he will always be one of my favorite players. I love seeing him still playing the game with enthusiasm. I wouldn't even mind seeing him back with the Mariners as a DH for his final year or two. I think he'd be able to hit fairly well at Safeco, even if he used to say he didn't like the ballpark.
I would also hope he'll wear the 'S' when he goes into Cooperstown!
griffey certainly gave the m's more than a breath of fresh air - he made baseball in seattle. and that is not an overstatement. even his first few years when the m's were still pretty bad, people came to the kingdome (surpassed only by the old olympic stadium in montreal for worst place to watch baseball ever) to watch baseball during the seattle summer. after what he did for seattle, we owed him anything he wanted, and if he wanted to go to back to cincinnati, then that was what he got. the only thing about it that ever bothered me is when he made it public that he would only accept a trade to cincy - that immediately drove down his trade value, and the m's were probably lucky to get what little they did.
ReplyDeleteit will be interesting to see what hat he has on his hof plaque. he clearly had his best seasons in seattle, but i wonder if he will want to go in as a red for his dad.