Legend Calls It A Career

Junior in his early years inside the Kingdome in Seattle with the Mariners.
(photo - espn.com)

His dad played in the majors and won a couple of world series in the 70's with Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine".
He started playing Major League Baseball at 19 years old. And his dad was on his team.

Matter of fact, he started playing with the Seattle Mariners the year before I was born. All my years following Major League Baseball, he has been playing. No more.

Ken Griffey Jr., or simply "Junior", retired from baseball on Wednesday. He had spent 20 years with the Mariners - his dad's last team - and the Reds - his dad's championship team - and a partial year with Chicago's White Sox. He amassed mind-boggling offensive numbers over those years. Many argue he could have been the greatest home run hitter of all time; possibly the best offensive player of all time, if not for a series of injuries that required him missing many games while still in his prime.

Junior burst on the scene in 1989 as a raw talent and became the city of Seattle's iconic sports figure. He bolted for his father's team when the Cincinnati Reds offered him big bucks as a free agent in 2000. When his swing was fading, and his career winding down, the Mariners and the city of Seattle forgave him, and welcomed him back "home" to play out his final games. Griffey announced yesterday that the time had come for him to step away from the game as a player.

This guy was absolutely absurd in his ability to hit a baseball. A natural talent who stayed away from all the steroid allegations of his peers during his career, Junior is one of the few who can be called a first ballot hall of famer. He never played in the big time markets of New York or Los Angeles. Never won a World Series. But his abilities on the baseball field were never ignored. Here's a look at his career numbers.

630 Home Runs
1,836 RBI
.284 Batting Average
.370 On Base Percentage
2,781 Hits
524 Doubles
1,312 walks
9,801 At Bats
1,662 runs
2,671 games played
5,271 total bases
42,851 total pitches faced

Thanks, Ken Griffey Jr. For all you did for the game of baseball and for it's fans.