Last night, my wife and I were watching the end of the Reds game and the Reds were down 4-2 in the bottom of the 11th. They had two guys on base and Griffey was up. I made a comment like "here comes another ground ball to the second baseman." My wife says, "if he hits a home run here and wins the game, you should promise not to say anything bad about him for a month." I said, "sure, if Mr. Pulled Hamstring" manages to actually hit a walk-off home run here, I will sing his praises for an entire month." The words had barely left my mouth when he smacks a three-run homer to win the game!

If you can't tell, I am normally not a big Griffey fan, but I am happy to report that he is the best player EVER (at least for another month)!!!!!!

i have to streak naked with only a sparkler singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" ("root, root, root for the Cubbies" is required) while running from our cabin to the lake (about 500 yards) and return with a handful of sand to prove i made it all the way to the lake (beach)... should be fun

fuckin Cub fans!

(i swear, sometimes it's just easier losing a hundred bucks)


ps... you should change the title to "betting on sports sans cash" or something... bet we could get some interesting tales in here

i have Griffey's Upper Deck rookie card... a few, i believe... anyone know how much it is worth?... im willing to bet it's probably worth less than when i last checked... about 15 or 16 years ago.

i bet my roommate on the patriots-broncos playoff game this year, he had the patriots, and i had the broncos. the loser had to grow a mustache, and keep it for a week.
Admittedly it was an unfair bet considering that i cant even grow a mustache, and my roommate was a reporter for the local/universtity news, so he was on tv.
Needless to say i won

pffffffft... i grow mustaches for fun

The Kid is the best player I've ever seen play in person, and if not for his injuries he would give a run to the likes of Mays, Aaron, etc etc etc, as best ever.

Pujols & Bonds are better hitters to be sure, but if you talk about Griffey's bat AND the magic he used to display out in Centerfield....he could give anyone a run for their money. For an entire decade he was THE premier player in all of MLB...then the injuries hit, and he's still damn good when healthy.

Please give me the years where he was the premier player in MLB. I don't see 10 years in a row for this.

With your description of him you'd sure think he would've won more than 1 MVP.

our office bets are simple.

your team beats the other guy's 2 out of 3 = six pack

if your team sweeps the series = 12 pack.

NFL games are a case of beer to the winner, but you can only bet on your team. same with baseball, only your team.

we have a bunch on NLers here so my Dodgers can win/lose me some brew when they play the Mets, Braves, Phills, and in 2004 Yanks/sox.

As we all know, in baseball ONE player can't make that big of a difference (for the most part). Grif played on some SHITTY teams and MVP awards tend to go to players on winning teams.

not these days, its all stat based. see the 2005 AL mvp for proof.

2005 AL MVP = A-Rod
Yankees = AL East champions

How is that proof that MVP awards don't go to players on winning teams? True, the Yanks didn't win the Series, but the awards are voted on after the regular season and before the playoffs.

great post.

Wasn't it like 9 straight seasons where Griffey was the #1 vote getter in the all star game? Granted the all star voting is a bit of a popularity contest but during that run he deserved it in every year but his last I believe. He definitely was the best player of the 90's and if there was one better I'd like to know who it was. Also, like you said, he was an absolute thrill to watch in center field. Can't remember watching a better player growing up.

Just thought of this.

Does anyone remember when Will Ferrell did his Harry Carey impression on the Espy's (97 or 98 I think) and he was like, "That Ken Griffey Jr. kid...yea you're not half the player your dad was but that's ok...keep tryin'!"

there's 3.

and maybe

Wow you put a lot of effort into this post w/ all the little pictures. That's cute.

I wasn't throwing pitchers into the mix when saying Griffey was the best player of the 90's. As important as pitchers are they only play every 5 days and contribute little to nothing at the plate. Not to mention their defensive ability pales in comparison to Griffey unless you are of course Greg Maddux.

Bonds is your only argument here. I'm sure if you stacked their #'s side by side (which I'm sure you'll do) then they'd be pretty similar.

Your logic is laughable. Maddux and Clemens were better players in the 90s than Griffey.

This just in: pitchers are players also

Hey Mitch, you forgot to add this to your post.

And sweetie, I realize pitchers are players. I was rating everyday players who are out there every game grinding out wins for their team. But ok, say you do throw pitchers into the mix. So what's that make Griffey? 3rd or 4th best of the 90's? Not too fucking bad if you ask me.

brain, your insane if you think Griffey was the best player of the 1990s. after all, dont you know just how amazing Clemens WHIP was during that decade??

Griffey didnt even have a high OPS!!! and forget his OBP. man, Griffey sucked dick now that I think about it.

that's exactly what i said. you're sooo funny!!!

and dont forget about his ERAIPQZJJUDV.... it was unbelievable, i tell ya!