The End of an Era

Today was the end of an era for me as a baseball fan. Today saw the retirement of the first true superstar of my era. Today, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement.

This announcement has been kind of overshaddowed by the botched call that ruined Armando Galarraga's perfect game (seriously, out by a mile, and that was out 27! That was the perfect game. Ruined. But that is for another time). And it's sad that something so controvercial had to happen on the day Griffey announced his retirement, because he deserves better than that.

Griffey was more than a baseball player, more than a superstar. He was an icon. Almost from the get go. He put Seattle baseball on the map. He made it cool to be a baseball player again. At baseball fields all over America, kids wanted to take batting practice with backwards baseball caps, and beautiful upper cut swings, just like Junior.



That upper cut swing was called the most beautiful swing in baseball. It was so smooth, so elegant. And it was perfectly suited for hitting home runs. And hit home runs he did...to the tune of 630!





But Griffey was not just a masher, he was a complete player. A true 5-tool talent. His speed led to both amazing baserunning, and some of the best center field defense baseball had seen in a long time. He was amazing. He could track down anything near him. He would climb up walls, dive through the air, and catch balls he had no business catching. He won 10 gold glove awards in the 90s for his defensive prowess.



But Ken Griffey Jr. was even more than all that. In Seattle, he was baseball's savior. A team that had never had a winning season, and that would sell so few tickets to games that if you didn't show up to your scheduled game, you could just bring your ticket to another game and be let in. Baseball in Seattle was dead...until Griffey arrived. Griffey brought with him a youthful vigor, and an excitement in the sport that Seattle had never experienced.

Griffey started putting up numbers. Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson were rookies the same year as Griffey...and all of a sudden, the Mariners were winning! Probably the most important game for this Mariners regime was Game 5 of the ALDS in 1995 against the Yankees. The Mariners dropped the first two games of the series (best of 5), but came back to win the next two games, setting up a decisive fifth game. In the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 5, with Griffey on first base, teammate Edgar Martínez hit a double. Griffey raced around the bases, slid into home with the winning run, and popped up into the waiting arms of the entire team.





The Mariners went on to lose the ALCS to Cleveland, but that series has been known as the series that saved baseball in Seattle (as there were rumors the team might be looking to relocate). Instead of moving, the Governor of Washington at the time, Mike Lowry, called the state Legislature into Special Session where a new stadium authority was created, and a new tax on hotels and rental cars were added to support the baseball stadium. Today, this facility is known as Safeco Field, and is referred to by some as "The House That Griffey Built".

Griffey went to Cincinnati in 2000, and his career kind of fell apart due to injuries. But he did reach the 600 home run plateau. However, the projections of him being the best of all time in most stat categories, projections he very well could have surpassed, went by the wayside with his injuries (I believe he would have been the home run king, not Bonds, had he stayed healthy). Finally, last year, he returned to Seattle for one final hurrah. And it was more or less successful, with Griffey hitting 19 home runs. This season, unfortunately, was not as successful, and Griffey, getting almost no playing time, decided to hang up his cleats.

Ken Griffey Jr. was really the first true superstar many of the kids in my era got to watch from the beginning of his career to the end of his career. He was larger than life. He was a true baseball superstar for my generation. Ken Griffey made 13 all star games...his final all star game coming in 2007...at the All Star game I was in attendance for in San Francisco. Yes, I was at Griffey's final All Star Game. That seems like a much bigger thing now than it did at the time. While never a fan of the Mariners, I always admired and enjoyed watching Griffey play.

So, I guess I just want to say thank you, Griffey, for many wonderful years of getting to watch you play baseball. Your joy for the game was always evidant, and you were truly a class act.