Remember Junior Griffey?
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by Ea34
Not to downplay the seriousness of performance-enhancing drug in sports, but baseball’s “Steroid Era” has become a caricature of itself. Rafael Palmeiro ’s Capitol Hill finger-wagging, Jose Canseco ’s book-of-the-month club and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa ’s video game stats from the late 90s have all managed to hijack our attention and focus it on one inane debate after another, when we could be paying attention to the actual games on the field. And then we have Barry Bonds. Ever since we decided that steroids in baseball are bad, no figure has been more discussed, written about, vilified and debated than Barry Bonds. Every day, a slew of unnecessary and redundant articles are written examining one aspect or another of Bonds’ career, not the least of which was my own self-important analysis of Barry’s impact on the average fan. Haven’t we had enough?
Now, I never had the pleasure of seeing Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio play, but having spoken to some of those who did, and it truly must have been a sight to behold. To hear baseball fans that grew up rooting for these legends wax poetic about the way they effortlessly patrolled center field, almost gliding to every fly ball hit in their direction, or the way the ball would leave their bat a little bit differently than it would everyone else’s, it makes me wish that we had a player that we could romanticize like that today. Hey, wait a minute! We do!
Think back… Has any player in the past 40 years captured the imagination of baseball fans the way a young Ken Griffey Jr. did? Throughout the 1990s, Griffey was the Michael Jordan of professional baseball. With the most beautiful swing in baseball history (we can debate this, but I’m with Junior!) and his grace and fluidity in the outfield, Junior Griffey was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. The ball would jump off of his bat like a tennis ball. And no matter how many times SportCenter showed his patented post-HR bat-drops, it never got old. As for his play in the field- it’s difficult to sum up with words. He made every spectacular catch an outfielder could be called on to make- sliding, diving, over-his-shoulder, climbing fences, running into fences (this probably cost him 75-100 HR over his career). Junior covered as much ground as any outfielder since Willie Mays. I’m still partially convinced that he could have played a game as his team’s lone outfielder. Ken Griffey Jr. in his mid-90s prime transcended mere statistics. Although, his stats rock pretty hard too.
In his prime, Ken Griffey Jr. was a statistical wonder. In his eight healthy seasons from 1992-2000 (I’ve excluded his injury-shortened ’95 season), Griffey’s average season saw him bat .298, hit 45 home runs, drive in 123 runs, scored 110 runs, get 167 hits (30 doubles) and steal 15 bases (not bad considering no one ever though of him as a base stealer). During that stretch, only once was his slugging percentage lower than .550 (.535 in 1992), and only once did he have an OPS below .900 (.896 in 1992), eclipsing 1.000 mark four times (1.025 in 1993, 1.076 in 1994, 1.02 in 1996 and 1.028 in 1997). All that, and not a single steroid allegation!
Sadly, Junior’s prime was cut short by a broken wrist and by a series of injuries to his legs. Despite being limited by injuries to an average of just 123 games per season his 19 big league seasons, Junior has put together a body of work that very few can match (589 HR, 1,679 RBI, 1,525 runs, 2,515 hits, 463 doubles, .290 BA, .555 SLG, .929 OPS), but it’s tempting to think about what kind of numbers Junior would have today had he not missed so many games. Here is a very crude calculation of Ken Griffey Jr.’s career statistics had he played an average of 143 (instead of 123) games per season. My calculations consisted of simply multiplying his “average season” of 31 HR, 88 RBI, 80 runs, 132 hits and 24 doubles by 116% (to account for the additional 20 games/yr; see, I told you it was crude!):
Instead of his career numbers standing the way they do today (All-time ranking):
2,340 games (87), 8,679 AB (82), 1,525 Runs (52), 2,515 hits (82), 463 doubles (71-t), 589 HR (6), 1,679 RBI (21), 1,146 BB (59)
Here is where Junior Griffey's stats would stand in baseball history (All-time ranking) had he played 143 games/season:
2,720 games (26), 10,088 AB (23), 1,773 Runs (20), 2,923 hits (35), 463 doubles (28), 685 HR (4), 1,952 RBI (6), 1,332 BB (33)
What a shame! Had Griffey missed half as many games throughout his career, he’d be nearing 700 home runs, 2,000 RBI and 3,000 hits! Not only that, Junior would be one of the most celebrated athletes in baseball history. With the villainous Barry Bonds now holding the game’s most sacred record, Junior Griffey would slide easily into the role of the protagonist, with the entire country pulling for him to restore the luster of the all-time home run mark. It’s fun to dream, isn’t it?
Although this isn’t the backdrop for the final years of Griffey’s brilliant career, he will still go down as one of the greatest players ever to grace a Major League diamond. Ironically, despite being arguably the greatest player of his generation, Junior has not been properly appreciated in his own time. His notoriety was constantly overshadowed throughout the years.
1994- Coinciding with the beginning of Griffey's prime, a strike costs Major League Baseball the final two months of the regular season, as well as the entire postseason, not mention years of decreased support and increased distrust from its fans. In 111 pre-strike games, Griffey was hitting .323, with 40 home runs, 90 RBI, 94 runs and 140 hits.
1996-99- Griffey’s production is overshadowed in 1996 and 1997 by the resurgence of a “new and improved” Mark McGwire, and in 1998 and 1999 by the epic home run production of both McGwire and Sammy Sosa, despite his awe-inspiring offensive numbers (1996- 49 HR, 140 RBI; 1997- 56 HR, 147 RBI; 1998- 56 HR, 146 RBI; 1999- 48 HR, 134 RBI).
2001-04- With Griffey constantly battling injuries, a newly buffed-up Barry Bonds puts on what must be considered, steroids or not, one of the greatest four-year offensive runs in baseball history. Bonds’ amazing production begins to obscure the outstanding accomplishments of not only Ken Griffey Jr., but of many of baseball’s all-time greats.
It’s hard to imagine a first ballot Hall of Famer that started out as a son-of-a-Major-Leaguer-turned-can’t-miss-prospect could be underappreciated, but the fact is that during Griffey’s best years, the spotlight always shone brightest elsewhere. Much of Griffey’s time in Cincinnati has been marred by injury, resulting in a significant drop-off in his offensive production, perhaps pushing the memories of his brilliant past further back in our minds. If we define “best players ever” by not only statistical measures, but by pure aptitude for playing the game, there is no doubt in my mind that Ken Griffey Jr. ranks in the top five.
So why don’t we take a break from freaking out about Barry Bonds and ranting about his “tainted” record, and show more appreciation to the Majors’ last remaining old-school legend. But we’d better hurry, time is starting to run out. I don’t know if you’re aware, but on November 21, “the Kid” turns 38.
