The Greatest Of My Time

I have been a baseball fan for an incredibly long time. For most of my life really. And in my time, there have been 3 players that existed during my time that were head and shoulders above the rest. There are a lot of players that I wanted to see play, because of their particular skills or abilities, like Greg Maddux, Ichiro and Vladamir Guerrero, or last name, like Sammy Sosa and Elias Sosa, but none could compare to the three greats of "my" generation. One has been disgraced by the steroid era - Barry Bonds; one continues to pummel the ball like it's his job (hint: it is) - Albert Pujols, and the other showed such tremendous ability at all 5 skills that it is ridiculous - Ken Griffey, Jr.

Ken Griffey, Jr. had some tough shoes to fill. His father, Ken Griffey, was a pretty darn good baseball player himself. Senior played in the majors from 1973 through 1991, was a member of the "Big Red Machine" earning 2 world series titles, was a 3 time All-Star, including MVP of the 1980 All-Star Game.

Ken Griffey, Jr. was so much more. He played from 1989 through this season, 2010. He hit .284 with 630 homers, 2,781 hits, and 1,836 RBIs. He was a 13 time All-Star, including the 1992 All-Star game MVP. He was a 10 time gold glove winner, a 7 time silver slugger winner, and a member of the All-Century team. He was also the 1997 MVP. But Jr. was much more than stats and awards. Watching him patrol center field with reckless abandon was like watching Mozart conduct a symphony, like watching Picasso paint, like watching me write this post. (OK, so I got a little carried away). Griffey is THE greatest defensive centerfielder since Mays, and perhaps is even better than Mays. By watching Griffey, you simply knew he was great, even if you never saw a statistic of his.

He has been recently chastised about being a bad "guy", or at least a bad "teammate". The story about him not being able to pinch-hit earlier this year because he was asleep in the clubhouse made its way around the airwaves. In my experience, this can not be further from the truth.

Now, I do not know Griffey, Jr., but I have had the occasion to meet him on two occasions: once at a charity golf tournament and once at events surrounding the BCS Championship game. At the first, I was a volunteer caddy, but I had clubhouse privileges for food and drink (note - not locker room privileges). Most caddies did not have such privileges (it's a long story). After the round, I walked into the clubhouse to eat, as did a few of the caddies that had such privileges. The "bouncer" told us that we had to leave, not realizing that we were allowed to be there. Included in the group was Griffey's caddy for the round. Griffey, Jr. saw what was happening, and even though he had no idea that we were actually allowed to be in the clubhouse, told the bouncer that he was leaving if we were not allowed in. He then invited us to his table where we talked about fantasy football and baseball for the entire meal. The conversation was particularly funny because Griffey's quarterback was Drew Brees, sitting at the next table.

My second time meeting Griffey, Jr. also had to do with a charity event. The BCS Championship game was held in Miami in 2009. As a kickoff to BCS week, the baseball player Brad Wilkerson, a UF alum and resident of South Florida, hosted a charity event. Griffey, Jr. attended the event out of respect for a fellow baseball player. At the event, Griffey, Jr. purchased half of a box that was being auctioned for the charity. When we all arrived at the tailgate for the game (I was not part of the people invited to the box, but went to the game anyway), Griffey was parading around the grounds with ... his children. He couldn't have cared less about being a celebrity, he simply wanted to take his kids to the game, and help a fellow major leaguer's foundation while he was at it. Certainly, most of us could not purchase a box to a BCS game, but, we all would bring our kids (if we had them) to a game of such import if the situation arose. He was just being a regular dad.

And although baseball seems to be in good hands with a great quality, and quantity, of young guns, we will certainly miss seeing the likes of Griffey, Jr., who will forever be patrolling centerfield, at least in my mind. And as a baseball fan, let me simply say ... Thank you! The Hall of Fame is going to be lucky to have you as a resident in five years.