Ken Griffey Jr.

Junior Griffey was drafted in 1987 by the Seattle Mariners. In 1989, he became my favorite player. I always paid attention to what he did, even though my love of baseball eroded.



For me, his was the most beautiful swing in baseball. It is what a swing should be. He was great offensively & defensively. Injuries hampered him, but those things happen.



For his career, here are his stats:

.284 Batting Average, 630 Home Runs, 1,836 RBI, 2,781 Hits, & 10 Gold Gloves


So with Griffey's retirement, the last of my childhood favorite players has retired. (Anthony Carter, Michael Jordan, & Mario Lemieux) So there goes the last piece of my childhood. I never got to see Junior in person, but I want to thank him for being great on the field, in life, & as a role model. So goodbye, Junior. We'll see you in Cooperstown