Ken Griffey Jr. Retires
- Author: Min-Q Kim
- Posted on: Thursday June 3, 2010 at 12:00 PM
- Filed under: sports, baseball, ken griffey jr., retires, exclusive
After 22 seasons, Ken Griffey Jr. hangs em up. Simultaneously, an entire generation of men wave bye-bye to their youth. (photo via quotd)
Ask any male between the ages of 25 and 40 who the best baseball player they ever saw was, and they'll tell you: Ken Griffey Jr. He began his career in 1989, and for the next decade, his star shone brighter than everyone else's. They called him "The Natural," "The Kid," and other such genuflecting nicknames. Poetry in motion in center field, a cannon arm, blazing speed, and the sweetest swing you'll ever see, Junior played the game with a new kind of flair and made it all look so easy. His batting stance alone: when everyone else was crouched, Junior stood up straight, quiet and regal. But when he swung, he was an assassin. He was Willy Mays in color television, the second coming, and in the era of exploding television coverage, he was the superstar with the mega-watt smile, and gave the game its youth back. He was the first player to spin his hat backwards during batting practice, something kids in little league emulate to this day.
The most perfect baseball swing you will ever see. (photo via masterprocrastinator)
Junior changed the way people play center field. The wall was no longer a boundary, but rather a part of the field. (photo via beyondthebeat)
When Junior showed up at the Home Run Derby and took his swings with his hat turned backwards, kids everywhere followed suit. (photo via WEEI)
Junior ends his career fifth on the all-time home runs list, with 630, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 All-Star Game appearances. He was named to the All-Century Team before he turned 30, and was named the Player of the '90s. The tagline to his career will always be "If it weren't for the injuries..." Indeed, he spent years after the turn of the century suffering various leg injuries -- most think because of the wear and tear due to the decade he spent on the unforgiving turf in the Kingdome. Whatever the case, his career is marred a bit with unfulfilled promise, but even still, those years in his prime were something to behold. And behold we did, eyes wide.
Sports Illustrated announced Junior's arrival with this cover story. 630 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves, and an All-Century Team selection later, the now 40-year-old wonder has called it a career. (photo via ODC)
When Upper Deck put out their first collection of baseball cards, the first card of the set was of a #1 draft pick out of Cincinnati, OH -- a Seattle Mariners outfielder named Ken Griffey, Jr. A fine choice, as that card and that '89 Upper Deck set helped launch the baseball card craze of the early 90's. (photo via sportscasm)
He did it 630 times, and it was an event every time.
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