Posted on 06/02/2010 7:00:43 PM PDT by llevrok
SEATTLE - Ken Griffey Jr. retired Wednesday night, ending one of the great careers in baseball history.
The 40-year-old Griffey told the Mariners that he was done playing, and manager Don Wakamatsu made the announcement before Seattle faced Minnesota.
"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction," Griffey said in a statement.
"I feel that without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates and their success as a team is what the ultimate goal should be," he said.
Griffey was hitting only .184 with no homers and seven RBIs this year and recently went a week without playing. There was a report earlier this season -- which Griffey denied -- that he'd fallen asleep in the clubhouse during a game.
Griffey was a perennial All-Star outfielder and ranks fifth on the career home run list with 630. He won an MVP award and was a Gold Glover. The only thing missing on his resume was a trip to the World Series.
A star from the get-go, he played 22 years in the majors with Seattle, his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. He hit .284 lifetime with 1,836 RBIs.
For a time in the 1990s, he was considered the best player in baseball. But then injuries began to take their toll and his production started to decline.
This is what happens if you never take steroids; you retire at a normal age.
See you in Cooperstown soon, Ken.
WA state ping
Thanks for the memories, Junior. You gave us a heck of a ride!!!
Lord how time flies, I can remember actually learning that the Reds had signed him by a post right here on Freerepublic.
What a monumental error as it turned out.
Odd, the original title seems to spell “Griffey” correctly.
Why do you think that is?
Back in his heyday, it would have been hard to imagine his retirement was going to be as low-key as this. He was on his way to being one of the true greats of the game.
Holy crap, I feel old!
I watched what was apparently his last at-bat Monday night against the Twins. He pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth and hit into a fielder’s choice. Then they sent in a pinch runner and he went to the dugout looking kind of dejected.
They lost the game and he didn’t appear at all last night.
I saw his first major league at-bat against the Oakland A’s....he doubled...enjoy your retirement Jr...
Too bad he couldn’t stay healthy. I would have liked to see him break the all time HR record, without steroids.
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