Ken Griffey Jr. Retires

On Wednesday, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement from major league baseball. 

He played 22 major league seasons, and was a virtual instant-success upon arriving to the big leagues in 1989 at the age of 19.   In his second season, he would hit 22 home runs, the first of his 15 seasons with at least 20 home runs.

Griffey Jr. was the #1 overall pick by the Mariners in 1987 out of Moeller High School in Cincinnati.  He would spend his first 11 seasons in Seattle before returning home after being traded to the Reds prior to the 2000 season.  Injuries plagued him during his time in Cincinnati, as he only played in more than 140 games twice in eight full seasons there.  He split the 2008 season between the Reds and the Chicago White Sox before returning to Seattle for the 2009 season.

Griffey was hitting .184 in 98 at-bats with the Mariners this season, and had not seen much playing time lately.  Not to mention the controversy over his unavailability when needed to pinch-hit in a game earlier this season. 

Griffey finished his career with 630 home runs, good for fifth on the all-time list.  He was a 13-time All-Star, won 10 Gold Gloves and won the 1997 American League MVP when he hit 56 home runs and drove in 147 for Seattle. 

Perhaps the most refreshing part of Griffey's career is we got to watch a slugger whose career came during the "Steroid Era" age naturally, as most athletes in other sports do.  He managed to avoid any ties to performance-enhancing drugs, and did not experience a physical transformation or power spike in his late-30's, ala Barry Bonds.   "The Kid" wasn't a kid anymore, and his skills eroded as such. 

But one is left to wonder "what might have been?" with Griffey as well.  During a three-year stretch from 2002-2004 with the Reds, he played in a total of 206 games and hit a total of 41 home runs.  He was age 32, 33, and 34 during those seasons, so one could argue those were the seasons that could be considered the end of his prime as a hitter.  It's easy to imagine, at least in my opinion, Griffey reaching 700 home runs or more if he had been healthy during these three seasons. 

Needless to say, Griffey will be a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible.