by The GM on June 25 at 3:34AM
I've been laying here for the last half an hour thinking about the career of Ken Griffey Jr. Why? I don't really know. Maybe it is because I just got done playing MLB 08 The Show on my PS3, in which I have a franchise going with the Reds. I'm sure that has something to do with it, but I think it is mostly because he is one of the last athletes still playing from when I was a kid and it was easy to get attached to your sports "heroes." I know he is still a few years away from retiring from the great game of baseball, but I can't help but to think that the day he does retire, I will lose more than another hero. With each day passing us by, growing older, I slip further and further away from my past, from my childhood. Is there really anything more innocent than youth? How many of us out there "adopted" an athlete as our hero when we were growing up? Exactly how many of those heroes did I have? Well, there was Darryl Strawberry, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Miller, Barry Sanders, Ozzie Smith, Andre Dawson, and then there was "The Kid."I can remember my friends and I buzzing over Jr's 1989 Upper Deck rookie card. Which one of us would get it first? Would we strike it rich in a pack, or would we have to save up for it and buy it from the card shop? I honestly couldn't tell you which one of us wound up getting it first, but I can remember trying to contain my excitement when my dad brought home a box of Upper Deck baseball cards for my birthday. I just KNEW that I would find it in the box. IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! I HAD TO STRIKE GOLD ON THAT DAY! But, at the end of all my shredding open pack after pack looking for the elusive card, I walked away hurt, disappointed, and about as pissed as a 9 year old can really be in this world. I didn't cry and I didn't complain, because I still loved the fact that my dad bought me baseball cards. As a matter of fact, I was only 10 or so cards away from the set after that day. Eventually I got the card (begged Mom to buy it for me for Christmas) and I was official. I had THE CARD for my collection. To this day, I'm not sure if I even cared if Ken Griffey Jr turned out to be any good, I just wanted the card. Then, I saw him play.
As a 9 or 10 year old, watching him play was one of the most amazing things to me. Was there anyone more exciting on defense? Flying through the air, crashing into walls, robbing home runs, this was the kind of stuff kids wanted to do when they played little league. My brother and I would throw fly balls to each other just out of our reach so we could try and dive or slide for them. We would try and replay his swing when he hit home runs. Ken Griffey Jr gave us someone close to our age to root for. We watched Sportscenter constantly (that still hasn't changed) to see if he made a highlight catch the night before. Did he hit one of those towering Kingdome homers while we were asleep?Today, Griffey sits at 601 home runs for his career. A number that says so much about his ability, but that same number fails to indicate what could have been. If not for the time lost, there is no doubt in my mind that The Kid would be breaking the all time home run record very soon. Heck, he may have already had it by now and would just be adding to it. 601 times he has graced baseball fans with one of the most powerful, graceful, and sweetest swings in the history of the game. 601 times he has rounded the bases with fans applauding him, living vicariously through him.
We can't get back the days that have passed us by, but we can try to remember them as much as possible. I'll never forget trying to find that card, because without that, I would have missed out on one of my childhood heroes, and that in itself, would have been a shame.
So, for the next few years, I am going to enjoy watching Griffey play out the remainder of his career and hope that that game of baseball treats him as well as he treated it. I just don't know if I'll be ready to say goodbye to The Kid with the infectious smile, the highlight reel defense, the sweet swing....and my childhood.
|
