Ken Griffey Jnr retires
There haven’t been many players who have been more special than Ken Griffey Jnr and on Wednesday his career came to an end retiring after 22 seasons in the Major Leagues.
Once thought to be the man who would surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time home-run leader, injuries took that chance from him, but at 630 he finishes fifth on the all-time home run list behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays.
This season, however, became a struggle for Griffey batting just .184 with no home runs and seven RBI in 98 at-bats. And after the sleep-gate scandal the end was nigh for Jnr, the only question was when would that come?
Through the Seattle Mariners, Griffey released a statement announcing his decision to quit baseball.
"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction," Griffey said.
"I feel that without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates and their success as a team is what the ultimate goal should be," he said.
This was season was supposed to be his farewell tour, sadly it didn’t happen and though his exit from the game wasn’t what it should have been, his status as one of the all-time greats is without question and a seat in Cooperstown assured.
"It's a sad day for the Mariners, our fans, for all the people in the community that have loved Ken, admired him as a tremendous baseball player and a great human being," Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said.
"It's always tough for great superstars like Ken or anyone else to make a decision to retire. This has been his life for so many years, but he has made his decision and will support it. We will honour him in every way possible."
Picked by the Mariners as the first overall pick 23 years ago, Griffey also played for his hometown Cincinnati Reds and had a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox. Griffey finishes his career hitting .284, 1836 RBI, 630 HR in 9801 at-bats.
But Seattle is where he made his name 1,685 games with the Mariners and hit .292 with 417 homers, , and 1,216 RBIs. He won the AL MVP in 1997 and is credited with saving the Mariners franchise. His last hit for the Mariners came on May 20 2010 hitting a game-winning pinch-hit single against Toronto.
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