Junior?

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Elflocko' post='746456' date='Feb 14 2009, 03:04 PM']I dunno.

Eric Davis in his prime was pretty damn exciting.

Griffey's still the best I've ever personally seen in his prime though...[/quote]
agreed on both counts

[quote name='Bunghole' post='746457' date='Feb 14 2009, 03:28 PM']Hooky's got a point even though he shouldn't have threashitted when your title clearly asks that "haters" not come shit on your thread.

Griffey coming here in retrospect was certainly a mixed bag. He did get injured a lot, and he generally suffered those injuries on "hustle" plays, but...he was too nonchalant about his position on the team, and his offseason workout regimen.

I'll never forget years ago a reporter in a local rag asked him (after he'd already sustained a couple major injuries) if he stretched before games.

His response was something to the effect of "Does a cheetah stretch before it gets it's prey"?

I'll never forget that, I don't like that attitude, and I think Griffey's entiltlement attitude affected the team and it's players.[/quote]
I'll admit, his refusal to learn to take care of his body, and instead relying only on his natural ability, is the biggest disappointment I have looking back at his career.

But I still prefer that to the steroid takers. Thanks to Big Head Bonds and the gang, Junior still comes off smelling like a rose, even though he ultimately let himself, and his team down by not learning to keep in top shape. But then, if I was in his shoes, and had perhaps the most successful decade of play in the history of the game without having to do anything more than just showing up 162 times a year, I'm not sure I'd wake up one day and become a workout warrior. When the game had come so easily to him, for so long, it's hard to expect that he would simply re-invent himself.

Whether you feel he ultimately underachieved or not, he still was the greatest player I've ever seen in my lifetime. Seeing him in a Reds uni was something I dreamed about for a long time. It might not have ended the way I'd hoped, but his lack of success in Cincy is not enough for me to forget what he did when he was healthy. It's just too damn bad he wasn't wearing a Reds uni during those years.

[BengalBacker]

Looks like the Braves have interest.





ATLANTA – Still seeking a proven bat for the outfield, the Atlanta Braves say they're interested in acquiring Ken Griffey Jr.

Braves general manager Frank Wren told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday the team is interested in "several available outfielders, including Griffey."

Atlanta has been looking for more offense from its outfielders, who combined for a major league-low 27 home runs last season. Griffey has 611 career home runs, including 18 last year with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

Recent speculation has suggested Griffey would return to Seattle, where he was a perennial All-Star until he was traded to Cincinnati in 2000. But this week at a California golf tournament, Griffey downplayed reports of his possible return to Seattle as "rumors."

[url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbn_braves_griffey;_ylt=AhuG7AsBZCfVft9tL6lE5wELMxIF"]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090215/ap_on_...t9tL6lE5wELMxIF[/url]

[|Bengal Migration|]

I could live with that. I used to live in West Palm Beach when the Braves used that as their base for spring training, and we went to their A-ball games their every so often when I was a kid. If he were to go to an NL team, that would be the one other one I could stomach.

Ironically, the first time I ever saw Griffey at a ball park was the '99 World Series in Atlanta, when he was out there for the All-Century team. We screamed like mad for him and Pete.

And then left the stadium disgusted when the Yankees won game one.

(btw, if anyone ever sees a clip of that game, when Chipper Jones hits his HR, take a look in the first row of the upper deck right below where the ball ended up, and you'll see me distraught that the damn ball came up short. When it left his bat, I'd have bet $100 that I was going to catch that ball. The first of many disappointments of that world series. Fucking Yankees )

[Hooky]

[quote name='Bengal Migration' post='746441' date='Feb 13 2009, 09:36 PM']No worries. It's all in good fun.[/quote]

Cool. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go fuck off now.

[BengalBacker]

[url="http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/pro/2009/02/17/ddn021709griffeyweb.html"]Griffey picks Braves[/url]


[b]Griffey picks Braves over Mariners [/b]
By David O'Brien and Terence Moore

Cox News Service

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Ken Griffey Jr. has chosen to sign with the Atlanta Braves, according to a person close to the veteran star and familiar with the ongoing negotiations. Griffey and Braves general manager Frank Wren met Monday in Orlando, and Wren and Griffey's agent were scheduled to meet today, Tuesday, Feb. 17, in an effort to finalize a deal.

The Braves would be adding a 13-time former All-Star who's one of six players to hit 600 or more home runs.

The 39-year-old erstwhile "Kid" — also known as "Junior" — decided to sign with the Braves over an offer to return to Seattle, where he played his first 11 seasons with the Mariners and was the American League MVP in 1997.

The two teams made similar offers, believed to be in the range of $2 million guaranteed, with incentives tied to staying healthy and getting a lot of plate appearances.

Griffey, who lives in Orlando, is nearly a decade removed from his years as a Gold Glove center fielder — he won 10 of those fielding awards in a row in the '90s — but is still at least a serviceable outfielder and a formidable hitter against right-handed pitching.

He's expected to play primarily in left field for the Braves, probably in a platoon role right-handed hitter Matt Diaz, though Griffey could also play against some lefty pitchers.

He could also serve as a backup center fielder for the Braves, who only got 27 home runs from their outfield last season, the lowest total in the majors.

Griffey had offseason knee surgery to repair a problem that plagued him last season, when he hit .249 with 18 homers and 71 RBIs for the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. Against right-handers, he hit a solid .272 with 14 homers, .372 on-base percentage and .462 slugging percentage.

Before 2008, Griffey had slugged over .500 against right-handers for 15 consecutive seasons.

Diaz has a .328 career average against lefties, with 18 homers and a robust .869 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) in 478 at-bats.

Griffey's dad, Ken Griffey Sr., played left field for the Braves when Tom Glavine made his debut 22 years ago. Now, the son could soon be teammates with Glavine, who's expected to re-sign with the Braves soon.

[BengalRep85-9]

[u][b]Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to Seattle[/b][/u].

The future Hall of Famer informed the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday that he's returning to the city where he carved out a Hall of Fame career as a perennial All-Star in the 1990s.

Two baseball sources said that Griffey made his decision after two days of debating between Atlanta, which is close to his home in Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, where he's been a fan favorite since breaking in with the Mariners as a 19-year-old phenom in 1989.

The contract is for one year and $2 million guaranteed and includes incentives that could bring the total value of the deal to $4.5 million, a source said.

As of late last week, it appeared a virtual certainty that Griffey would return to Seattle. But Griffey reached out to the Braves and received a warm reception from manager Bobby Cox and third baseman Chipper Jones, among others.

The Braves were hoping to sign Griffey as a platoon partner for Matt Diaz in left field, and Griffey appeared energized by the prospect of playing so close to home and spending spring training in Orlando.

But the Griffey-to-Atlanta momentum hit the skids Tuesday afternoon, when the sentimental lure of Seattle apparently began to tug at him. One person close to Griffey said he had an "agonizing'' 24 hours trying to decide between the Braves and Mariners.

Griffey is extremely close to Mariners president Chuck Armstrong and chairman Howard Lincoln from his previous tenure with Seattle from 1989 through 2000. He made the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove with the Mariners every year during the 1990s, and received a hero's welcome when he returned to the city with the Cincinnati Reds in 2007.

It's believed that the Mariners would like to continue their association with Griffey in some fashion when he retires -- although it's uncertain in what role.

Griffey is likely to spend time in left field in Seattle, where Endy Chavez is currently the starter, and could also be a DH for new manager Don Wakamatsu. He turned 39 in November, and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in the offseason.

The loss of Griffey to Seattle marked another setback in a challenging offseason for the Braves, who traded for starter Javier Vazquez and signed free agents Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami, but failed to complete a trade for Jake Peavy and fell short in the pursuit of free agents A.J. Burnett and Rafael Furcal.

Braves general manager Frank Wren also took some heat when longtime Atlanta mainstay John Smoltz signed with the Boston Red Sox.

It's likely that Atlanta will have an acquisition to announce shortly, however. A source said the Braves are moving closer to bringing back pitcher Tom Glavine on a one-year contract, and a deal could be announced as soon as Thursday.



[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3917214"]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3917214[/url]

[|Bengal Migration|]

Now I have to go find out which story is accurate!