A Junior For The Ages

After years, months, weeks and days of waiting, the press and baseball fans around the world were interested what Ken Griffey Jr. had to say after hitting the 600th homerun of his glorious career against the Florida Marlins yesterday. It was a great moment in baseball history as the feat puts him in the club of only 6 players who ever exceeded the 600 plateau. But Junior's answer seemed not nearly as shiny as the moment deserved. "When I grew up my dad was my hero... I mean... I always tried to be like him. I never imagined or dreamed of coming close to 600, I had no idea I could even come close. It's great to play the game and to have the chance to be like my dad." An honest answer as there is and also much more low key than you would expect for a player who just cemented his status as one of the greatest players who ever lived. And just that is making Ken Griffey Jr. so special, so great and so memorable. His character, his class, his love for the game and his honesty in a baseball era of lies, lack of class and tainted records.

It was great to see a player like Griffey achieve what he did last night. But as happy as you are for him, everyone wonders about what could have been. Today, Griffey is just a shell of his former self. Few even remembered his heyday in the 90s after his career tumbled in Cincinnati between injuries and losing records. But yesterday all that admiration, all that love and all that praise came back for a player who proapably deserves it more than anyone else. In the steroid era it's hard for baseball fans to believe anything they see. It wouldn't surprise anyone if people would be taken back in admiration of Griffey's talents and records. But nobody ever doubted him. Nobody. And that says more than a thousand tests in my opinion.

While yesterday every baseball fan could be a fan of Griffey for one more time, there has always been that sad kind of feeling watching Junior in recent years. As the injuries piled up, the statistics dropped. The highlights weren't there anymore as was the admiration by the general public. Here he was, the greatest player of a decade, on the downside of his career. The man with the perfect swing. And he was slowly but surely falling of the face of baseball excellence on a small market team. But just like in his interview after number 600, it was about the love for the game for Griffey. He wanted to be home, play for the hometown Reds, where his father already rounded the bases.

His career isn't over, and even though it can hurt to see Griffey at times today, that's a great thing for baseball. A class act and a figure like Griffey doesn't come around every day, not every decade. A guy who cares for others and a player who plays for the love of the game. It doesn't always look like Griffey has fun playing the game today at the age of 38 and with a body hurt by many many injuries and highlight crashes into outfield walls. Griffey once said about the search for records: "As long as I have fun playing the game, stats will take care of themselves." As he said, the stats took care of themselves. And so should his legacy. We shouldn't look at him howling in pain or striking out. We should remember him in his prime. In those years back in Seattle where he was one of the greatest all around players that ever lived. Where he hit towering homeruns with a grace few others could ever achieve. Where he put his body on the line for an out and his team's success. And where he put together a stretch that can hold up against any player's prime in the history of baseball.

Ken Griffey Jr. is a great baseball player, but even a greater person. He is a true legend of the game, even though others have taken the spotlight today. He is a player where fathers will turn to their sons in a few decades and tell them that they saw him in his heyday. And we should feel honored today that we are able to do the same...