Anyone else get something in their eye when they had that celebration for him when he came back to the Safe last year?

/Doesn't care that he's washed up with no knees
//It's my childhood and I can remember it how I want to.

Oh man, I have to buy O's/M's tickets now.



/If you pass on seeing Ichiro and Griffey play, you're a fool.

Their plan is working. I'll make an extra effort to go to a couple more games this year.

Miss Stein: The Gentleman Caller: My childhood just smiled, and the so did the mariners ticket office. Thanks for everything man, its awesome to have you back.

/bring back Jay Buhner!!!
//what the hell, the big unit too!!
///ED-GAR!!

THIS! Little Joey Cora too!

All this jibber jabber makes me want to watch Little Big League.

/Griffey was such an asshole.
//LOU COLLINS FOR THE WIN

As a Braves fan I am not getting a kick out of this.

This has to be one of the worst off-seasons in recent memory. First Furcal flips the team off, then Smoltz gets the shaft, now this.

/Misses Glavine-Maddux-Smoltz
//Really misses David Justice
///Will always have slashies!!!

buk110: As a Braves fan I am not getting a kick out of this.

Griffey never really made sense for the Braves. His defense is poor enough that anything he might do on offense would be erased. At best, he'd start against righties only, and need to get pulled for defense late in each game. How much money is that worth? Any other option makes more sense for the Braves (including doing nothing). Personally, I'd like to see them trade for Swisher, but that's mostly because I don't like him being on the Yankees.

Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!

DeWayne Mann: Griffey never really made sense for the Braves

Nothing makes sense for Atlanta right now. Over the last 5-7 years they kept trading away youth for short deals. Vis-a-vis the fiasco with that jerk Sheffield, Texiera and others.

They haven't had a solid second basemen since the Lemmer. They haven't had a left-fielder since Klesko and have had horrible luck with pitchers.

The lack of a solid payroll doesn't help matters

buk110: Nothing makes sense for Atlanta right now. Over the last 5-7 years they kept trading away youth for short deals. Vis-a-vis the fiasco with that jerk Sheffield, Texiera and others.

Oh man, don't get me started on how little sense Teix made for them.

buk110: They haven't had a solid second basemen since the Lemmer.

I think a "solid" second baseman should probably do more than play decent defense. Lemke was a terrible hitter, by just about any measure. IMO, I'd rather have Kelly Johnson. Even if he plays slightly below average defense, his hitting more than makes up for it.

I_Approve_Of_This_Message: Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!

I approve of this message

I_Approve_Of_This_Message: Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!

My eyes get a little moist every time I see that highlight.

Thread over.

/My oh my!

I_Approve_Of_This_Message: Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!



Not impressed.

/"BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN!"
//"They're going to have to hospitalize Sid Bream!"

GimpyNip: Does anyone who has done less in the past 5 years get more ink than Griffey Jr?

Paris Hilton?

Man, the Braves are getting played like a fiddle this year. Hey, everybody, when it's time for a raise tell your boss you have an offer from Atlanta.

Cat Food Sandwiches: Man, the Braves are getting played like a fiddle this year. Hey, everybody, when it's time for a raise tell your boss you have an offer from Atlanta.

We still have a pretty damn good rotation lined up.

/it feels SO good to say that...

I love Griffey and hated to see him leave Cincy. But I hope he goes to Seattle and regains whatever it was he lost when he left there.

DeWayne Mann: DeWayne Mann: puffy999: Wow, gee. And Ken Griffey Jr, even in his WORST year in that span, had an OPS+ of 99. And by all rights, he was not that good in those years... certainly more hyped in the media than he deserved (though I don't think Griffey was as hyped as many average or broken players...). Sort-of the point both of us were replying about (hopefully the next argument doesn't go to how all well-pitched games were on his shoulders, and not those of the pitcher in any way...).
Maybe a benchmark of 100 isn't quite a great measure of talent anymore.

You realize that an OPS+ of 100 is much better for a catcher than for a CF/RF, right?

Besides, I wasn't the one who said Griffey didn't do much.

Let's put this another way. Fangraphs calculates wins over replacement. Let's compare Varitek to Griffey for each of the last 5 seasons:

2004: Varitek was worth 4.7 wins, Griffey was worth 1.0
2005: Varitek was worth 4.6 wins, Griffey was worth 3.2
2006: Varitek was worth 1.2 wins, Griffey was worth -0.6
2007: Varitek was worth 2.9 wins, Griffey was worth 0.2
2008: Varitek was worth 2.9 wins, Griffey was worth 0.2

Boy, Tek has done a lot worse. I stand corrected.

Now, in fairness, this assumes Varitek played average defense at catcher (but it correctly evaluates Griffey). I suppose if he played really really bad defense, Griffey might come out on top. But I think we would've noticed defense that bad.

I'll settle this debate. Who has gotten the most ink for doing the least over the last five years? Hank Aaron. Why, it seems like you hear that guy's name surfaces every time someone's career home run total is mentioned, and yet that bum hasn't done a damn thing on the field in the last five, maybe even ten years. Where's he even playing? I can't even remember seeing him in any games. Overrated loser.

/makes as much sense as saying that about Griffey, anyway

I'm going to laugh when it comes out that he was a roid cheater.

antrat00: I'm going to laugh when it comes out that he was a roid cheater.

This is the only guy I'm 100% convinced wasn't on the roids...injured too much

went to 3 mariners games last season... every one of them sucked. Had no designs to repeat the experience this year... boy has that changed now :-)

Noting like a childhood hero for all the 20 somethings to put some butts in the seats at safeco!

Super Chronic: From the last Griffey thread:

JohnBigBootay: I knew it. M's fans shock me with their naivete. They continue to love the guy but anyone with a brain could have told you that if the money was in the same universe there's not a single team he'd have chosen the M's over. The guy hates Seattle.

*waiting for JBB to arrive for his serving of crow*

Munch. Oh well. I think it's a bad decision baseball-wise as I don;t think he has much left. But at least it's a logical move from the fiscal side of the fence. For some reason seattleites will pay to see they guy, despite the fact he sucks now. I LIVE in seattle and I'd love to see a playoff run.

It's going to be fun to see him in a Mariner uniform again. I'm not expecting much out of him. I wish they didn't make this move.

As a longtime Angels fan, I farking hate the M's.

That said, I moved to Seattle in 2004 and with the exception of the 2007 season where the M's wtfed everyone and were in the running until the Angels swept them in August, it's been depressing to see baseball suck so badly up here.

Keep this in mind M's fans, The angels had a GM named Bill Bavasi, and let him go in 1999. Three season later, the Angels won a World Series. 2011, anyone?

This might give the M's a 75 to 80 win season, we'll see.

Apparently he will be DHing 95% of the time and they are planning on platooning him against right handers.

The contract is $2M with $2.5M in incentives based on playing time and attendance.

That's pretty much the perfect way to handle Griffey. I'm quite impressed with the new Seattle FO, this has turned into a pretty good move for them.

Hau Ruck: This is great news. . . For Obama Cincinnati the White Sox.

Ecliptic: went to 3 mariners games last season... every one of them sucked. Had no designs to repeat the experience this year... boy has that changed now :-)

Noting like a childhood hero for all the 20 somethings to put some butts in the seats at safeco!

Yep, I was all "meh" about this year but now, I'm going for sure. Now let's see the Ms get Manny!!

/it could happen
//monkeys, my butt, etc...

This is good news...............for my baseball card collection!

buk110: As a Braves fan I am not getting a kick out of this.

This has to be one of the worst off-seasons in recent memory. First Furcal flips the team off, then Smoltz gets the shaft, now this.

/Misses Glavine-Maddux-Smoltz
//Really misses David Justice
///Will always have slashies!!!

What? You do realize justice was one of the main reasons we only had one championship, right? If he could have hit above .200 in the playoffs we may have more than one, he just disappeared in the post season, he wants to be remembered for his one HR instead of the fact he only hit 4 and was a terrible hitter in the WS.

buk110: Nothing makes sense for Atlanta right now. Over the last 5-7 years they kept trading away youth for short deals. Vis-a-vis the fiasco with that jerk Sheffield, Texiera and others.

They haven't had a solid second basemen since the Lemmer. They haven't had a left-fielder since Klesko and have had horrible luck with pitchers.

The lack of a solid payroll doesn't help matters

LOL, whut(part 2)????? You do realize klesko was not a left fielder and when they converted him he was terrible out there, right?

And again name one player that they have traded away that has become even a decent or solid player.

JohnBigBootay: Super Chronic: From the last Griffey thread:

JohnBigBootay: I knew it. M's fans shock me with their naivete. They continue to love the guy but anyone with a brain could have told you that if the money was in the same universe there's not a single team he'd have chosen the M's over. The guy hates Seattle.

*waiting for JBB to arrive for his serving of crow*

Munch. Oh well. I think it's a bad decision baseball-wise as I don;t think he has much left. But at least it's a logical move from the fiscal side of the fence. For some reason seattleites will pay to see they guy, despite the fact he sucks now. I LIVE in seattle and I'd love to see a playoff run.

Understand, I keed because I care. It's a sad but probably true statement about my fellow Seattle fans that they'll come out in droves based on sentiment. And if I were persuaded that the team would bank that extra revenue and use it to increase the payroll in 2010, I'd be thrilled with this move. My guess, though, is that it will just increase the Nintendo stock price. And if I see Griffey taking at-bats away from Jeff Clement or Wladimir Balentien, I'm gonna be real unhappy.

I think the guy who gets squeezed off the roster because of this move is young catcher Rob Johnson. The team had been thinking of carrying three catchers if Clement could play some lefty DH, but now that option is out. So Johnson goes to AAA Tacoma, and Adam Moore, who is one of the organization's better prospects, has to start the season at AA West Tennessee.

I_Approve_Of_This_Message: Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!

That made me get a little dust in my eye.

This news kinda gives me a grand salami...(at least I can hopefully get a #24 griffey jersey)

Memories, My oh my! (new window)

I_Approve_Of_This_Message: Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior's speed. The stretch... and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martínez swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE ... LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!

The double (pops)

/This moment was my redemption for all those years of being mocked for being an M's fan
//I seem to have something in my eye over here
///Back in '99, I wanted them to dump Griffey and keep A-Rod. Ironic?