I was listening to some sports talk show here in Chicago yesterday. The host, who is a baseball guy and old enough to remember people like Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Banks and others from that generation claimed that at the beginning of his career that Griffey was bar-none the greatest baseball player he had ever seen, and it got me thinking who would be better from those I have seen play. I couldn't come up with a name. Some will point to Griffey's highest HR totals coincide with the height of the steroid era from 1996 to 1999, but if you look at his age, those were and should have been his prime years and I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and partially due to that he is not a jackwad as a person, but also due to serious allegations never surfacing about Griffey in regards to steroids. Personally I don't think a list of the to 25 players of all time is complete without him on that list and I would like to ask of you what you think of him as a player, as a person, and what he means to the game.
For me, I think it is a damn shame that his legacy will be grouped with McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Palmeiro. I think those names diminish the meaning of 600 HRs. Griffey has earned every right to be alongside Aaron, Ruth and Mays in my estimation, those others have not. While the vast majority of the population will not be able to separate the two, I would at least hope that lifelong baseball fans would be able to tell and note the difference.
