Thanks, Junior

Unlike my obsession with naming off the best records, books, movies, etc. of all-time, despite my longtime love of baseball, I've had very few favorite players. As a kid, I'd latch on to a few here and there. I guess former Yankee third baseman Mike Pagliarulo was probably the player I followed the most - something about his gritty play. While in Minneapolis visiting family in the 80s, I bought a used "Pags" bat and looked at that thing every day for years. Following Pags, I moved on to Mattingly and maybe a few others, but when it came to sports, I was more into the team. I was thoroughly obsessed with the Knicks in the 90s, and I suppose Starks and Oakley were my favorites, but really, I just loved the Knicks.

When I first started watching the Yankees day in and day out, my brother's favorite player was Ken Griffey Sr. Senior spent four-plus years with the Yanks in the early-to-mid 80s and although his stats were mediocre, my brother loved him. And since he was my older brother, I kind of secretly loved Senior as well. But as brothers are, I had to choose my own player, and I went with Pags. But I'll still never forget that amazing catch Senior made at Yankee Stadium when he literally climbed up the left field fence to snag a certain home run out of what seemed like the third row. My brother recalled that "greatest play ever" for years.

And then in 1989 Junior arrived. Touted as one of the greatest prospects in baseball history, he quickly proved those predictions to be dead on. I desperately wanted him to head to New York, but his place was Seattle and he looked exactly right in a Mariners uniform. Making his MLB debut at the age of just 19, Griffey went on to play 21 years in the big leagues, amassing an astounding 630 home runs. By 2000, at the age of only 30, Griffey had already blasted 438 bombs. If not for numerous injury-plagued seasons, it seemed almost certain that Griffey, and not Bonds, would hold the all-time home run record. But despite the amazing numbers, injuries were a big part of Griffey's career.

In the end, Ken Griffey Jr. was one of the purest ballplayers ever to play the game. An absolutely natural talent, Junior played the game with grace, respect, and perhaps most importantly, almost a childlike love for the game. In his prime, he could cover ground in the outfield like almost no other and leap to grab balls just like his Pop did that one time at the Stadium. Playing in an era largely overshadowed by performance-enhancing drugs, as far as we know, Griffey didn't partake. I've actually said to friends and fellow baseball fans many times, "At least Junior wasn't doing them." This era has become such a haze that I suppose we'll never know, but I'm sticking with the belief that Griffey was an exception. And what an exception he was.

In the 1995 playoffs, Griffey broke my heart. I was watching game five of the Yankees/Mariners ALDS at a party at my college when Edgar nailed the double that drove in Griffey from first. When that ball jumped off Edgar's bat, I knew that my favorite player, Don Mattingly, would never make the World Series, but there was something special about watching Griffey glide around those bases and slide into home. For all that is wrong with professional sports, Ken Griffey Jr. was right. What a kid.