A Celebration of The Kid, Griffey Comes Home

There are few things on this earth more beautiful than Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing. I'd suppose the birth of your child, maybe your marriage could rank close. But, when it comes down to it, there isn't much I'd rather see than the Kid absolutely launch one into the right field seats.

Now, he's back with the Mariners, and that just feels right, doesn't it? Of course, if he could take his at-bats in a reconstructed King Dome, then all would be right in the world, but you don't always get what you want.

Highlights of Junior are hard to come by on YouTube, likely due to some sort of ownership over the video. If you'd like to catch some of Griffey's Seattle highlights, check this article out.

But, if you don't feel like leaving the page, here's something you can reminisce over. A time when Griffey was the Kid, when he was fun and young and marketable. Now, a bit older and heavier he might not be the same guy, but this commercial certainly reminds of a time when he was.

If only this were possible...

The Kid Back to Seattle?

The rumor that's seems to have circulated since Ken Griffey Jr.'s first injury in Cincinnati may come to fruition:  The Kid might be on his way back to Seattle.

I for one think the prospect of such a return is exciting.  Sure, Griffey's not nearly the player he was during his days in Seattle.  Not even close.  

A ridiculous string of injuries, death threats, and that unfortunate thing known as "growing up" have truly withered Junior down from the fun-loving, backwards-hat-wearing young kid that people my age loved and people my dad's age loved to hate. 

My dad:  Why does he have to wear his hat backwards?  Why can't he just wear it like everyone else?

Me:  Because he's awesome?  And he's not old, like you?

The conversations went something like that, though my dad holds some sort of resentment towards Griffey because he never wanted to come to New York because Billy Martin wouldn't let him play in the clubhouse when his dad played for the Yankees.  At least that's how my dad remembers it.  Anyway...

He's supposedly healthy after having post-season surgery to clean up his knee and after having dropped some extra poundage he'd acquired over the past few years.  

Granted, he's 39 years old and coming off a season where he looked like he was playing with cement his his shoes, but Griffey's only a year removed from his best season in Cincy:  .272/.372/30HR/93RBI.  Not bad at all.

The Mariners would be foolish to expect this sort of production, or even to expect a guy who can play a majority of the season.  However healthy they say he is, facts are facts, and Junior's only played more than 140 games twice since 2000.  

But, a return to the city that hasn't stopped loving him since he left, where he can prove to people that when healthy he can still contribute might be just what the doctor ordered. 

He's not the player he once was, but he could still be of value.  Not bad for a 39 year old Kid.