Griffey nominated for Comeback Award

[Guest oldschooler]

Griffey nominated for Comeback Award

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com

Ken Griffey Jr. hit .295 with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs between May 1 and Aug. 1.


CINCINNATI -- His wife was waiting at home, as were the three kids he talks about so often with a wild gleam in his eye.
And that's not even mentioning the millions of dollars already in his bank account.

So why did Ken Griffey Jr. endure the most brutal yet of his many rehabs? Why did he let team doctors perform experimental surgery on his right hamstring? Why didn't he just hang it up and call it a Hall of Fame career?

Well, now we know why.

In this turn-back-the-clock 2005 season, Griffey has been a steady, inspiring presence on the field for the Reds.

He's shown he can still run down fly balls with poster-worthy basket catches, still nab runners at home plate with perfect, line-drive throws and, of course, still send balls hurtling into the seats with that sweet, smooth swing.

It's been a performance that could very well earn him the 2005 MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award Presented by Viagra, which fans can vote on via MLB.com/ComebackAward. Those who vote will be automatically entered into a sweepstakes with a chance to win prizes, such as game-used bases from the All-Star Game or the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a 2005 World Series Game.

Junior's comeback is no surprise to him.

"When I'm healthy, I can still play," he said. "I go out there and perform close to or equal to [the past]. I just haven't been able to do that the last four years."

Griffey's injury history is well-documented. But of all the various body breakdowns that have plagued him since he arrived to Cincinnati in 2000, none compares to the right hamstring tear he suffered last season.

He tore the tendon completely off the bone. It was an injury that just a few short years ago probably would have ended his career.

Instead, Griffey became a pioneer, of sorts.

Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek devised a plan in which the hamstring could be reattached with three titanium screws. It was given the Sci-Fi style title, "The Junior Operation," and it revived the career of one of the game's perennial All-Stars.

But first came the rehab. Month after month of painful, agonizing rehab.

For the first few weeks, Griffey ambled around with a sling holding his leg at a 90-degree angle. When he was finally able to move around on the leg in late October, he began doing basketball drills to work on his catching skills.

When Griffey took a trip to the Bahamas at Christmas, he brought a trainer alongside him. When he was at home in Orlando, Fla., he was working with team strength and conditioning coordinator Matt Krause.

It was rehab, rehab, rehab, and it would have driven a lesser man to give up.

That wasn't an option for Griffey, though.

"If I didn't think I'd be able to do anything, I just wouldn't have played," he said. "There's no reason to be a burden to the organization and my teammates. But going out and playing every day and doing what I'm able to do is rewarding."

So he kept seeking out that beautiful reward with the utmost patience. In the first few weeks of Spring Training, while his teammates were bonding in the Florida sun, Griffey was off on his own, doing agility drills, baserunning and shagging fly balls.

"It was about trying to get back to baseball speed," he said. "Taking my time and getting everything ready."

Skeptics wondered if Griffey would be ready for the everyday grind of the 162-game season. Some thought the Reds might rest him every day game after a night game or anytime rain was in the forecast.

As it turns out, Griffey's been a fixture in the lineup and in center field.

But that's not to say he made an immediate leap from rehabbing to raking. April was the cruelest of months to Griffey. He hit just .244, with a lone home run that didn't come until the last day of the month and only nine RBIs to his credit.

"It took me a couple weeks to get comfortable," he said. "A lot of it was just pressing. I still was able to hit the ball, but people were complaining, saying, 'Why doesn't he drive the ball?' I knew my career home runs come in bunches. I was more worried about my defense."

His defense was just fine. But Griffey was rather misleading when he said the homers come in bunches. Because ever since he got that first one out of the way, they've rolled off his bat with consistent, assembly-line precision.

Griffey's numbers between May 1 and Aug. 1 tell the story of a comeback within a comeback. In that three-month span, he hit .295 with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs.

"He never lost it, you know?" teammate Adam Dunn said. "You see what he's capable of doing when he's healthy. He's still a great player, and his numbers are showing it. As great an athlete as he is, there's nothing he does that surprises me."

Nor should it be a surprise that Griffey didn't call it quits when faced with another injury, another rehab and another comeback.

That wouldn't be his style.

"It's easier to give up," he said. "I'm not a very vocal player. I lead by example. I take the attitude that I've got to go out and do it. Because of who I am, I've got to give everything I've got to come back."

He's come back in a big way in '05.


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[The Scales]

where all my little haters at?

Numbers... a .300 Avg, 32 Jacks, 89 steaks uh! Tasty! And he still gets it done roaming center.

All these nice numbers after strugglin at the plate and goin taterless for the first month.


That's right bitches .

[Storm]

I've been in Griffeys corner for the duration

[The Scales]

correction make that 33 dingers and 90 steaks, this last one to tie the game.


KNEEL BEFORE ZOD.


Jr has been #1 in my book since I fell in love with the ol ballgame. Circa 92'


Damn were Dunn at? Looks like he fell off again. That boys streakier than web site promoter at a sporting event.


Gumpism of the day: Life is like a packed ipod on shuffle.