Griffey Jr's Place

[the troop]

Alright, so yesterday, we probably saw the last at-bat of ken Griffey Jr, hitting a single.He has come a long way from being drafted out of high school. lets take a look.
-600+ homeruns
-2,000+ hits
-multi-time goldglove winner
-multi-time silver slugger awards
-1997 MVP award winner
-He was one of the greatest position players in an era riddled with alleged steroid users. As far as we know, he's clean.

that being said, lets get to the question at hand.
Where do you think is Jr's place in history in regards to greatest players?

In my opinion, Griffey is one of the greatest pure swingers. In a healthy year, he could put up nearly untouchable numbers. Unfortunately, he has had several full seasons worth of injuries. If he stayed relatively healthy throughout his entire career, who knows what kind of numbers he could have put up. I think he would be regarded as the greatest player ever.

So, what are your thoughts?

 

[CH David]

If Ken Griffey Jr didn't get injured throughout his career, we would be talking about how he broke Hank Aaron's home run record. I don't think anyone can dispute that fact. Even with missing a great portion of his time in Cincinatti, he still was able to hit over 600 home runs. He was a great center fielder, and definitely a 5-Tool player. He could run, hit, field, throw, he did it all.

His swing was arguably the prettiest and easiest swings in the game for the past 20 years, and the only one that I think is as easy is Joe Mauer's, and that is some good company as Mauer is a great hitter. He is definitely going to go down as one of the greats of the 90s. He played his ass off, I think breaking an ankle or wrist making a play against the wall, I don't recall which.

But he has, according to Wikipedia, 2,724 hits, 630 home runs, 1,798 RBI. Those aren't slouch numbers. Had he stayed healthy, he could be put into the top 50 of all time, but right now, I don't know where he can be placed. People may consider him the greatest that couldn't stay healthy for a good portion of his career.

 

[The Brain]

I think if Griffey didn't have all those injuries in Cincinnati he would have close to 800 home runs, well over 2000 RBI, over 3000 hits, and would have gone down as the greatest player of all time. He was the face of baseball throughout the 90's. The numbers he has are amazing even with all the injuries. Junior was the man. Next stop Cooperstown.

By the way baseballreference.com has him at 1829 RBI and 2763 hits.

 

[Shocky]

Ken Griffey Jr. is simply the best player I have watched in my life, no ifs ands or buts. In an era filled with steroid abusers, Ken Griffey Jr. is clean, at least in my book. You take guys like Sosa, McGwire, Bonds, Man Ram, A-Fraud, and standing on top of all of them, is Griffey.

Ken Griffey Jr. was the best player of the 1990's, no if's ands or buts. It's just a shame that his amazing style of baseball ended up catching up with him with injuries in Cincinnati, and an ungrateful fanbase to add to it as well. The man has the sweetest swing I have ever seen, the ability to go deep, and amazing speed on defense.

Thank You Junior, truley the best ball players I'll ever watch.

 

[People's Champ]

Agree with eveyone here about the fact that he had just an incredible swing and was a huge player in the 90's. Of course the injuries hurt him and his career as far as his ranking.
However as Shocky said, there hs not been that steroid scandel around him the way it has been around a lot of great players. And that has to account for something. I believe he is a sure Hall of Famer. And has to be considered one of the top 25.

 

[KillBill]

I started a thread a while back about him being the greatest player of our time, maybe ever. Where were you guys then? Everybody kept saying Manny was much better, I disagreed, but nobody really supported me on it. Its kinda sad, had he been healthy, no one would care about Bonds or A-Rod goin for the record. Bonds may not have even attempted for it. After everything he went through, he still put up rediculous numbers. Its just a shame he never got close to a championship. He's the Grant Hill of MLB. The great player, the good guy ambassador with greatness all over him, cut short with injuries. Their careers parallel so closely, its rediculous.

 

[bealzer1010]

Its sad has career is always going to have the " what if " when people talk about it, even though the man hit 630 hr's and is about 250 hits shy of 3000. His swing in his prime was one of the prettiest ever, especially when he was connecting for a jack!! Its just hard to say where people will place him with all the injuries, I think its close to 3 full seasons added up of time he missed with injuries.
I wouldnt be surprised if he didnt call it a career, an A.L. team could call him next year for dh, or he can play enough games towards the end of a season to be eligible for playoffs, his avg. wasnt the best but in 117 games he hit 19 hr's and had 57 rbi's, I hope his body is up to it to stick it out for a few more years, it be awesome to see him get 700, I know its a long shot 70 more, but in reality his legs probably couldnt hold up to get there. He doesnt cost much either since this year he only played for 2 mill, so I at least hope he will sign with someone and continue playing.