You can count off nearly a dozen off the top of your head. Baseball stars, if not baseball heroes, who have fallen like dominoes to the accusations, and in most cases, confirmation of performance enhancing drug use. Mark McGwire. Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, and Alex Rodriguez. As much as people don't want it to be true, there are even whispers about Albert Pujols. So I'm going to focus on a player who has done it the right way. A player who, had injuries not plagued him later in his career, would have had a case as the best player to ever take the field. In the 1990's, this player had a Jordan-esque presence in the sport. The forgotten face of baseball, Ken Griffey Junior. Griffey broke into the league in 1989 as a 19 year old son of a former major leaguer. Griffey excelled at every facet of the game, and it did not take long to deliver on the expectations. In his first full season, he hit 16 homeruns and drove in 61. He and his father also became the first father-son to play on the same team, and on September 14th, 1990, Ken Jr. and Ken Sr. hit back-to-back homeruns. And that was just the beginning. For the rest of the decade, Ken Griffey Jr. was synonymous with baseball. Video games, cereal boxes, shoes, you name it, and Griffey's face was on it. In the mid-90's, The Kid had his best seasons, hitting fewer than 40 homeruns just once between 1993 and 2000. In addition to his hitting, he displayed prowess in the field, winning the Gold Glove award every year from 1990 to 1999. Before the 2000 season, Griffey was traded to his hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, this was where he ran into bad luck. He hit 40 homers and had 118 RBI in his first season with Cincy, but it would be downhill from there. He would battle injuries the rest of his time in Cincinatti, only playing 2 more full seasons until being traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2008. He did have great moments though, including hitting his 400th, 500th, and 600th career homerun. Even with all his injury trouble, Griffey's 613 homeruns are 5th all-time, and his 1775 RBI are 18th. His 10 Gold Gloves are second all-time among outfielders. Griffey was one of, if not the best all-around player of this generation. His swing has been described as one of the purest ever. And in an era where the best players count the days until they can test free agency and cash in, Griffey never opted to, instead signing long-term contracts with his current team. It was not until this past offseason, at age 39, that he hit the open market. And he returned to Seattle, where he began his career. Griffey has always played hard, never been outspoken, and has kept his nose clean of steroids. At a point in the game where top-dollar has meant everything, and many high-profile players sought to gain a chemical advantage, Griffey played the game the right way, and been loyal to his teams. It's a shame more players did not follow his lead, and we can only speculate where Junior would sit in the record books if not for injury. Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Forgotten Face of Baseball
You can count off nearly a dozen off the top of your head. Baseball stars, if not baseball heroes, who have fallen like dominoes to the accusations, and in most cases, confirmation of performance enhancing drug use. Mark McGwire. Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, and Alex Rodriguez. As much as people don't want it to be true, there are even whispers about Albert Pujols. So I'm going to focus on a player who has done it the right way. A player who, had injuries not plagued him later in his career, would have had a case as the best player to ever take the field. In the 1990's, this player had a Jordan-esque presence in the sport. The forgotten face of baseball, Ken Griffey Junior. Griffey broke into the league in 1989 as a 19 year old son of a former major leaguer. Griffey excelled at every facet of the game, and it did not take long to deliver on the expectations. In his first full season, he hit 16 homeruns and drove in 61. He and his father also became the first father-son to play on the same team, and on September 14th, 1990, Ken Jr. and Ken Sr. hit back-to-back homeruns. And that was just the beginning. For the rest of the decade, Ken Griffey Jr. was synonymous with baseball. Video games, cereal boxes, shoes, you name it, and Griffey's face was on it. In the mid-90's, The Kid had his best seasons, hitting fewer than 40 homeruns just once between 1993 and 2000. In addition to his hitting, he displayed prowess in the field, winning the Gold Glove award every year from 1990 to 1999. Before the 2000 season, Griffey was traded to his hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, this was where he ran into bad luck. He hit 40 homers and had 118 RBI in his first season with Cincy, but it would be downhill from there. He would battle injuries the rest of his time in Cincinatti, only playing 2 more full seasons until being traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2008. He did have great moments though, including hitting his 400th, 500th, and 600th career homerun. Even with all his injury trouble, Griffey's 613 homeruns are 5th all-time, and his 1775 RBI are 18th. His 10 Gold Gloves are second all-time among outfielders. Griffey was one of, if not the best all-around player of this generation. His swing has been described as one of the purest ever. And in an era where the best players count the days until they can test free agency and cash in, Griffey never opted to, instead signing long-term contracts with his current team. It was not until this past offseason, at age 39, that he hit the open market. And he returned to Seattle, where he began his career. Griffey has always played hard, never been outspoken, and has kept his nose clean of steroids. At a point in the game where top-dollar has meant everything, and many high-profile players sought to gain a chemical advantage, Griffey played the game the right way, and been loyal to his teams. It's a shame more players did not follow his lead, and we can only speculate where Junior would sit in the record books if not for injury. 
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Prediction Time!!!
So it's the first week of April. That means the snow should (hopefully) be gone, and warmer weather is on the way. But more importantly, it means Opening Day for Major League Baseball and the start of the new season. And with a new season comes new hope, in a time where most teams (Sorry Pittsburgh) have a shot at the playoffs. So, here are my prediction for the 2009 season.
In the National League:
East: Phillies Central: Cubs West: Diamondbacks Wild Card: Marlins
Division Series: Phillies over D'Backs, Cubs over Marlins
NLCS: Cubs over Phillies
American League:
East: Yankees Central: Tigers West: A's Wild Card: Red Sox
Division Series: Yankees over A's, Red Sox over Tigers
ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox
World Series: Cubs over Yankees
Awards:
NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez, FLA AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, NYY
NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels, PHI AL Cy Young: Jon Lester, BOS
NL ROY: Tommy Hanson, ATL AL ROY: Elvis Andrus, TEX
NL Manager: Lou Piniella, CHI AL Manager: Bob Geren, OAK
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