800 isnt out of the question. He missed well over 500 games to injury.... many in the prime of his career.Grizalltheway wrote:Here's to one of the best of all time.
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Glad he came home to retire as a Mariner, but I wish he hadn't spent so much time on the DL throughout his career. No doubt in my mind he'd be atop the all time home run list.
It pains me like no other that he played for the White Sox.isumatt wrote:And Chicago will remember Jr for throwing out Michael Cuddyer at home in the 5th inning of the playoff 'Game 163' the 1-0 Jim Thome HR game in 2008.
So by retiring during the 2010 season, he is elligible in 2015 right??
SHould have called it before the season started so he and Frank Thomas could join together as they were the best 2 of their time!!
Agreed, but not for the same reason.isumatt wrote:And Chicago will remember Jr for throwing out Michael Cuddyer at home in the 5th inning of the playoff 'Game 163' the 1-0 Jim Thome HR game in 2008.
So by retiring during the 2010 season, he is elligible in 2015 right??
SHould have called it before the season started so he and Frank Thomas could join together as they were the best 2 of their time!!
His career was unfulfilled due to injuries. The roid guys have nothing to do with that.GannonFan wrote:Yeah, shame that a guy that was clean like this ends up having his career be called "unfulfilled" probably only because guys with steroid numbers (Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, ARod) ended up eclipsing him in terms of numbers and in terms of media attention.
But he still ended up hitting 600+ HR's - if we didn't have the steroid era where guys like Bonds and ARod have and will end up over 700, we'd be saying what an incredible career he had, even with the injuries. Mantle had injuries galore that kept his numbers down, but those numbers were still incredible by the time he retired.93henfan wrote:His career was unfulfilled due to injuries. The roid guys have nothing to do with that.GannonFan wrote:Yeah, shame that a guy that was clean like this ends up having his career be called "unfulfilled" probably only because guys with steroid numbers (Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, ARod) ended up eclipsing him in terms of numbers and in terms of media attention.
You are both right - injuries AND the roided players kept Griffey from recieving the proper accolades/attentionGannonFan wrote:But he still ended up hitting 600+ HR's - if we didn't have the steroid era where guys like Bonds and ARod have and will end up over 700, we'd be saying what an incredible career he had, even with the injuries. Mantle had injuries galore that kept his numbers down, but those numbers were still incredible by the time he retired.93henfan wrote:
His career was unfulfilled due to injuries. The roid guys have nothing to do with that.
Same here, and his decline is the main reason I'm not as into baseball as I once was. My fondest memory associated with the game was watching him knock one out of the park at one of the first games after Safeco opened in '99.clenz wrote:On a side note Griffey is the reason I love baseball like I do. He is, always was, and always will be my favorite player all time. I was born in 1988 so all I know about baseball is because of Junior. I would put good money on it that without Griffey being there while I was growing up I don't fall in love with baseball like I did.
SuperHornet wrote:My comment was NOT intended to say that I think Jr is horrible. He's far from it. I agree that he should be first-ballot HOF. But I'm old-fashioned. I'd STILL take his old man over him. The same goes for the Bonds family and the Manning family.
So he could go in with the Big Unit?Grizalltheway wrote:Agreed, but not for the same reason.isumatt wrote:And Chicago will remember Jr for throwing out Michael Cuddyer at home in the 5th inning of the playoff 'Game 163' the 1-0 Jim Thome HR game in 2008.
So by retiring during the 2010 season, he is elligible in 2015 right??
SHould have called it before the season started so he and Frank Thomas could join together as they were the best 2 of their time!!
Not really, it just wasn't right seeing him riding the pine for two months of this season. If you're not even good enough to make the Mariner's starting lineup anymore, it's time to call it quits.dbackjon wrote:So he could go in with the Big Unit?Grizalltheway wrote:
Agreed, but not for the same reason.
The most direct comparison to Griffey is Mickey Mantle. Injuries curtailed their overall career numbers, but when you look carefully at the full resume, you conclude that each was the best player of his era.clenz wrote:Injuries or not look at his stats and awards.
1989 Rookie of the Year
13 All-Star Games
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
MVP vote finishes (finish in the vote that year) - this really shows how undervalued he was even during his early years
1990 AL (19)
1991 AL (9)
1992 AL (17)
1993 AL (5)
1994 AL (2)
1996 AL (4
1997 AL (1, 100%)
1998 AL (4)
1999 AL (10)
2005 NL (24)
1 MVP
10 Gold Gloves
90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99
6 Silver Sluggers
1991, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99
On-Base Plus Slugging (league finish)
1990 AL .847 (8th)
1991 AL .926 (4th)
1992 AL .896 (5th)
1993 AL 1.025 (3rd)
1994 AL 1.076 (3rd)
1996 AL 1.020 (8th)
1997 AL 1.028 (2nd)
1998 AL .977 (8th)
2005 NL .946 (7th)
Home runs
630 (5th all time)
Runs Batted in
1836 (14th all time) - was most among active players until his retirement
Extra Base Hits
1192 (6th all time) - was most among active players
Times on Base
4174 (31st all time) - was most among active players
IBB
246 (4th all time) was most among active players
Hell, lets go with is 162 game average. That puts him at 836 home runs, 3,718 hits, and 2442 RBI's. That put's Griffey as the all time HR leader, 4th in career hits, and first in RBI's for a career. He would also be top 2 or 3 in career runs scored at 2,222 I believe.
