Griffey Jr. Retires

[Hector]

Today?

Better bats, better balls that are purposely made to go farther and faster...better equipment...more pampering done to players, better medical attention such as modern surgical procedures...much higher salaries...and STEROIDS.

[toys2cool]

Baseball's not like Basketball or Football...the greats back then would still be great now

[saildog]

Ted Williams too...

Oh, hell, yeah...

You factor in the fact that his career was interrupted by service in TWO wars....what numbers might he have put up? ( Career cut short by almost five years due to military service). Then again, the things that made Ted a great hitter probably made him a great fighter pilot. (Did you know he was John Glenn's Wingman in Korea?)

By the way, the hard feelings of Seattle Fans toward Griffey are about the same as those held by Boston Fans toward Williams and Yankee Fans toward Mantle at various points of their respective careers.

[starsky]

if jr wasnt injured so much, he woulda had a decent shot at passing aaron.

[saildog]

if jr wasnt injured so much, he woulda had a decent shot at passing aaron.

True...

But, that doesn't take anything away from Hank Aaron. That guy was a helluva ball player. He is the only player to hit 30+ Home Runs in Season at least 15 times. That is freaking remarkable.

[TEXASFETT]

He was one of my faves in the 90's as well....I didn't even know that he was still in the league. Good for him and hope he has a good life.

[toys2cool]

if jr wasnt injured so much, he woulda had a decent shot at passing aaron.

That definitely would've happened had he not gotten injured so much with the reds

now only A-Rod and Pujols have a shot

[saildog]

Today?

Better bats, better balls that are purposely made to go farther and faster...better equipment...more pampering done to players, better medical attention such as modern surgical procedures...much higher salaries...and STEROIDS.

Mantle still holds the record for longest Home Run and fastest time from Home to First. (That was from the left side of the plate. Mantle was a switch hitter and his time from the right side of the plate was STILL faster than most players to this day...just not the fastest from that side.)

Amazing.

[saildog]

That definitely would've happened had he not gotten injured so much with the reds

now only A-Rod and Pujols have a shot

A-Rod would have an asterisk. When it all shakes out, that asterisk is going to be a big deal. That's too bad because in A-Rod's case, it was very unnecessary, but we will never know how good he really was because he chose to "get an edge" even if he probably didn't need to.

Pujols is amazing. His batting average is phenomenal.

[toys2cool]

A-Rod would have an asterisk. When it all shakes out, that asterisk is going to be a big deal. That's too bad because in A-Rod's case, it was very unnecessary, but we will never know how good he really was because he chose to "get an edge" even if he probably didn't need to.

Pujols is amazing. His batting average is phenomenal.

Yeah Pujols use to train in the gym that I was a trainer in very nice guy, way smaller then he looks on TV though

[toys2cool]

Mantle still holds the record for longest Home Run and fastest time from Home to First. (That was from the left side of the plate. Mantle was a switch hitter and his time from the right side of the plate was STILL faster than most players to this day...just not the fastest from that side.)

Amazing.

yeah 660

[wayne foundation 07]

The only bad thing is hes leaving in a slump.Would have liked to see him go on a high note.He was / is a classy player.Baseball needs more like him.

[EMCE Hammer]

His general distaste for off-season conditioning took a toll on his career after Seattle. He was great, but everything just came too naturally for him IMO and he took it for granted. Every year when he came to camp he was a little farther gone than the last, until he didn't have anything left. 22 years and 630 homers are nothing to sneeze at, don't get me wrong, I just wish he'd been a little hungrier. If he'd had a work ethic like Jerry Rice I think he had a shot at 800 homers.

[toys2cool]

His general distaste for off-season conditioning took a toll on his career after Seattle. He was great, but everything just came too naturally for him IMO and he took it for granted. Every year when he came to camp he was a little farther gone than the last, until he didn't have anything left. 22 years and 630 homers are nothing to sneeze at, don't get me wrong, I just wish he'd been a little hungrier. If he'd had a work ethic like Jerry Rice I think he had a shot at 800 homers.

I agree