The Best I Ever Saw

I don't know how long I'll live, but when its all said and done, I know that Ken Griffey, Jr. will be the greatest baseball player I saw in my lifetime. Yeah, he went to Moeller; I don't hold that against him (neither with Barry Larkin). Legend has it that a game versus Lakota back in the day, Griffey hit a home run that landed on the roof of the old Lakota High School. I've been to that field; its to the opposite field and there's a small parking lot between the outfield fence and the school. And I have no doubt he hit the roof. Griffey finally got pitched to tonight and he hit home run number 600 in front of about 387 fans in Florida. A moment long overdue for one of the greatest players of all time.

I hate playing the "what if?" game, especially with sports. So many things happen, situations change constantly, and there's just no way to know what might have been if this or that when differently. But as much as I dislike the "what if?" game, its hard, very hard, not to wonder "what if?" when you think about Griffey's time in Cincinnati.

I still remember the day he was traded to Cincinnati. I had my dad send me the Sports Illustrated issue that week with this as the cover story; I still have it. The1999 season had ended with a one-game playoff between the Reds and Mets, where Al Freakin' Leiter threw the game of his life and dropped a two hit complete game shutout on the Reds, sending the Mets to the postseason. It didn't help that there were more than a few Mets fans around (Renee, Rachel, I'm looking at you). Fast forward to Spring 2000. The Reds needed offense, they got an All-Century player. On the day the Reds got Griffey, I went to practice, saw said Mets fans, and proclaimed, "That's it, its over. The Reds, World Series champs."

Again, called that one a bit early. I'm a homer; sue me.

What if Griffey doesn't get hurt? What if he doesn't shred his hamstring into a thousand pieces? What if he doesn't mess up his knee, or break his wrist? Do the Reds win more games? Maybe, maybe not, you can't predict that kind of stuff (but most likely not, because a lot of those teams were atrocious). But the numbers would have been there. Tonight could have easily been #700, or 750, or more. Maybe he gets to Ruth before Bonds does, and Bonds never gets to top spot. Sure, I think A-Rod will end up with the record (somewhere around 800 homers), but until then, it could have been Griffey up there waiting, and not Bonds.

But it didn't happen. Griffey got old and his body broke down. That's what happens when aren't applying the "arthritis cream" and taking the "flaxseed oil" that you get from your friend Victor Conte (yes, I believe that Griffey is clean and that Bonds cheated; I make no bones about it). Baseball became more of a job than it was in Seattle and he clearly lost a lot of the joy he had back then. A lot of fans turned on him because the Reds weren't winning and he was on the DL. And it wasn't like he was getting hurt "washing his truck" (see: Kent, Jeff) or playing Guitar Hero (see: Zumaya, Joel); he was on the field, running the bases, going after fly balls.

His injury-plagued tenure in Cincinnati has, unfortunately, overshadowed his accomplishments in Seattle. I hope that's still not the case five years after he retires. I hope they remember that he was a member of the All Century Team. I hope they remember he was the player of the decade in the 90's and the face of baseball during that time. I hope they remember that he took less money to come home and it was the organization that failed him, not the other way around. I hope they remember that his name was never mentioned in the Mitchell Report or any book written by Jose Canseco. I hope they remember that he worked his way back after every injury. I hope they remember The Kid, hat backwards, smile on his face. I know I will. Because maybe someday, long in the future, I'll see him walking down the street, and I'll look up and say, "There goes Ken Griffey, Jr., the best there ever was in this game."