Well, it was good while it lasted, wasn’t it? Great, actually.
.301 – 35 HR – 92 RBI
And with that, in just 128 games, 491 at-bats, Ken Griffey Jr. proved to the baseball world that he still matters. The Reds may not, but Junior certainly does. Griffey’s rejuvenation came to an end on September 4, when he sprained his foot while running the bases against Atlanta. The injury wasn’t believed to be serious, and in truth it may not be, but with the Reds out of contention (were they really ever in contention?), the team decided to let Junior rest for the remainder of the season while also sending him in for surgery to clean out his left knee and the scar tissue surrounding his right hamstring.
The 128 games are the most Griffey’s played since 2000, his first season with the Reds. Not so coincindentally, the 35 homers and 92 RBI also mark his highest end-of-year totals since 2000, while Junior hadn’t hit above .300 since his MVP campaign in 1997.
Of course, just because Griffey was healthy for the majority of the season doesn’t mean he’ll be healthy next year or the year after that. But his production this year does prove that, as long as he’s out there, he’s still dangerous. His .576 slugging percentage ranked fifth in the NL, behind Carlos Delgado and MVP candidates Derrek Lee, Albert Pujols and Andruw Jones, and his .946 OPS (on-base + slugging) ranked seventh in the league. He may not run anymore (0-1 in stolen base attempts) and he’s certainly not the picture of health, but he’s still got that picture-perfect swing and when he’s out there, he can still mash.
Let’s also not forget that now Junior is tied with Mickey Mantle for 12th on the all-time home run list with 536 career dingers. Two more seasons like this one (he’s still just 34), and Junior would sit behind just Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Barry Bonds (707, as of today) and Willie Mays (660) on the sport’s most revered list. Take into account his 12 All-Star games, 10 Gold Gloves (might another be on its way?) and his MVP award, and you wonder how anybody can argue that Ken Griffey Jr. is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
