The Griffey Apology Letter

It just has not worked out. That is the first thing that you have to come to terms with. The staunchest Griffey supporter would admit that. He was the name player, the star power, the difference that was going to take a 96-win team in 1999 to a perennial World Series factor.

8 years have gone by. 7 of those were losing. Almost a decade of Griffey? Is that true? I have lived in Cincinnati during that tenure, and the accrued years are a shock.

Can you name your favorite Griffey moment? Do you even have one? I know, through video, the inside-the-park-home run he finished to win a meaningless game. I remember his 500th home run on father's day, because I was standing next to mine own dad at the time. But that's about it. And that's the point.

Griffey was supposed to deliver transcendent sports moments to Reds fans. If a ball was hurtling towards the 5th row, Griffey would elevate and bring it back. If a runner dared break for home on a fly ball to center, Junior would dispatch him with a javelin to the catcher. And the 56 home runs he hit in 1997 and 1998? They would come, and at all the right times.

Majestic plays happened, but not remembered. And they just were not enough. The Reds won 85 games in 2000, and the tally was deemed a failure. Playoffs were scheduled and played and Cincinnati was a spectator, not a participant. Again. How does a team go from 96 wins to 85, after the addition of an all-century player named Ken Griffey Jr.? Doubt. Resent. The off season settled in and the balanced fan reviewed a statistic line of 40 home runs, 118 RBIs and 100 runs scored. Not a lot of Reds, in the 90s, could sniff those numbers. Maybe better days were to come for Griffey and the Reds.

6 losing seasons, and one in progress, followed. The Reds had a habit of winning early, then folding come mid-August. Their tune has changed in 2007, as the Reds lost relevance in late May when they dumped 6 in a row against the forgettable Nationals and Pirates. May 28, the season was over. It is safe to say that the Griffey acquisition has not worked.

Like any murder trial, or a losing baseball season, the goal is to assign blame. Who ruined a Cincinnati Reds World Series run? I guess you could blame the owner, or management, or the coach. But that is not fun (unless it is Jim Bowden). So you have to blame the big guy. The star with the salary. And he is a sweet target because he is aloof, distant and not like us.

Injuries did not help. From 2002-04, Griffey played in an average 69 game. The season runs 162, if you forgot. His injuries were an assortment of tears and rips and strains and ultimately, to a Reds fan, excuses. He was absent. And when he was playing, he was coming back from something. An injury. A layoff. Whatever. What were supposed to be gasps of wonder, as Griffey scaled a wall to erase a home run, became gasps of fear as we expected his legs to fail as he ran across manicured grass.

The criticism widened. The little things burn when losses outweigh the wins. Griffey would jog with disdain down to first when he dribbled ground balls. We knew, with all the certainty a fan has sitting on their couch, that Griffey caused double plays by his apathy. He was surly and short with the media. He did not engage. He did not connect.

Cincinnati is a town that worships Pete Rose because he played with an angry recklessness. Winning was essential. Ryan Freel is a town favorite, despite being an undisciplined hitter with an embarrassing steal-to-caught steel ratio. While he does possess an impressive collection of defensive classics, he does not start on any other major league team. Yet he is beloved. He hustles.

Griffey does not hustle. He does not charm the media. He seems bored. He is. Griffey's father was a major league player. He grew up in a professional locker room. He has always been the best player, on every field, in every situation. He's not impressed. If I got a microphone in my face from the local news I would blubber and fawn and try to be witty and call all my friends so they could see me at 6pm. Griffey is not me. A camera has been lurking near him his entire life. And he knows the more you give to the media the more they have to hang you with.

All the unreasonable (see: me) Reds fan sees is a fragile, spoiled, lazy player that is apathetic about the success of the team. This horrible man… how does he live with himself? Why would he drag down our beloved Red Stockings while pocketing a billion dollars?

The truth. It is so inconvenient. Ken Griffey Jr.'s 2007 salary is 8.5 million. In this era, for a man hitting .270 with 26 HRs and 71 RBI, that is a massive steal. Reds fans have wailed that his salary has hamstrung the team – forbidden them from making moves. This is false. His salary is not only manageable, it is laughable. 8.5? Eric Milton makes 9. (2007 line – 6 starts, 0-4, 5.17 ERA, 18 SOs – that is half a million per K)

Griffey, despite the losing that became common, despite a franchise in perpetual rebuild mode, has NEVER talked ill of his teammates or management. Not once. He has never demanded a trade. He never challenged the leadership of the team. He just showed up.

He is a pure player in a steroid tainted era. This FACT cannot be understated. He was and is brilliant on his own. He never pointed a finger at anyone. Griffey never discounted or dismissed the McGuire/Sosa/Bonds four-bag bonanza. He just played, while peers overindulged in synthetic drugs and glory. He kept playing. He even called Bonds to congratulate him on 755 & 6. And still his ropes to the outfield remain majestic, and stunning, and most of all clean.

It's a thing now when an athlete escapes the police blotter. Griffey did not have to adjust to avoid it. He is just a decent human. Decency eliminates the need to understand probation rules or court proceedings. He lives his life, and like most people, does not interact with law enforcement.

I am the quintessential Griffey hater. He is washed up. He is the problem. He mortgaged the Reds future. How dare he not hustle out those ground balls? If Cincy could just purge themselves of his presence, a championship would be imminent. It was Griffey, and his smug looks, that pushed the losses above wins on the scale.

I still do not like Griffey. I never will. But he is not to blame for the Reds apathetic existence. He is a pure pro. And in 2007, being a Ken Griffey Jr. is an anomaly. We will remember his grace and how blessed we were to have him. But he will be long gone with that happens. I'm just getting a jump on the apology letter.