On Griffey Jr. and Retiring

Ken Griffey Jr. is not a young man at this stage of his playing career. No longer is he the best player in the game. He's quite the opposite. A .214 average and most of the year spent as a DH in their age 39 season would make any image and stat concerned player tell the world thanks for coming out to see him before running for the hills.

But not The Kid.

And rightfully so.

Griffey has earned the right to do basically whatever he wants. 600 home runs and being the face of baseball for practically an entire decade gives you that right. If he wants to keep playing, then we should be ecstatic. We get just a few more looks at not only one of the greatest players ever to put on a pair of cleats, but one of the true class acts. (Honestly, name one person who has ever said something bad about Junior. You can't.)

And yet, his return for the 2010 season has drawn the ire of several writers and bloggers.

But why?

Is it the fear of possibly peeking through your fingers when watching him play because he is embarrassing himself? Is it the thought that the images from your childhood of Griffey covering more ground in Center than an F-22 Raptor being replaced with watching him Kirk Gibson-it up to the plate (minus the dramatic home run and fantastic Vin Scully call) on a daily basis too much to stomach? All of the home runs robbed and the massive moon shots hit being nothing more than an afterthought?

Blech.

So what if some still hold the memory of Junior racing around the bases in what seemed to be 1.5 seconds when Edgar hit "The Double" as their lasting impression of him and want it to remain that way. When Griffey goes into the Hall with Eleventy Billion percent of the vote, that video will be shown so much that your unborn children will be have that as their first documented memory. It's simple osmosis, really.

It's understandable to think that the Mariners could find a better player to fill that DH slot. It's understandable that his return is possibly not in the best interest of the team winning.

But let's face it. The Mariners are several big contracts coming off the books away before being legitimate AL West contenders. They are still in the building process of having a stable and winning franchise. Having the player most associated with your team in the dugout for one last go round is nothing to be ashamed of when you still have a 3rd place team.

Having Griffey around is good for the fan base. Had Griffey not been around in 2008, the total ticket sales for Mariners game would have been far less than they were. The economy caused a drop off from 2007 to 2008, and yet, some of that was alleviated thanks to his presence. The difference from 07' to 08' would have been quite a drastic difference sans Junior.

Fans who wouldn't even regularly watch a Mariners/Royals game on TV would gladly drive 300 miles to Kansas City just to see Griffey take a few swings. Is that a bad thing?

Is his clubhouse presence a bad thing? Franklin Gutierrez has become the best defensive Centerfielder in baseball. Think Griffey hasn't helped him, or possibly can make him even better?

His contract is not huge and unfavorable. He's not a high maintenance player. He's great for the youth movement that is happening in Seattle. The fans will always come to see The Kid one last time before he hangs em' up. Can you spot the problem there?

Ahh yes. His performance. 19 home runs say there still is a little juice in his bat. A little bit of luck from the baseball God's in staying healthy, and Griffey still can be (kind of) productive with the bat. But everything else he brings offsets what he doesn't do at the plate.

Just enjoy the ride baseball fans. You get one more season of watching Ken Griffey Jr. play baseball. That is a treat regardless of how he's playing. Not to mention that when he retires, that officially means an entire generation of fans has gotten old. Some aren't ready to accept that yet.

Some still want to watch the man who mesmerized them as a child on the field and in his Hall of Fame video game. Some still want to feel like they did many moons ago while they are now watching The Kid give it one last hurrah.

There is no shame in that.