The Kid calls it quits

By Dan Rodgers

George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. is hanging up his very historic cleats. "The Kid" or "Junior", whichever you prefer, didn't show up to the ballpark today and informed the Mariners that he has decided to retire.

Griffey, one of the greatest players ever, could have held the all-time home run lead if not for devastating injuries in the middle to the end of his career. He played 22 seasons, however, 11 of those seasons he played less than 130 games and five with less than 100 games.

Even though Griffey had multiple hamstring and knee injuries which severely hurt his career numbers, his 630 home runs puts him in fifth on the all-time list. Many speculate that if he hadn't been injured so often players would be chasing him and not Barry Bonds for the all-time lead in home runs.

Griffey spent most of his career, 13 seasons, with the Seattle Mariners; the team that drafted him number one overall in the 1987 draft. He also spent eight and a half seasons with his father's old team, the Cincinnati Reds. The other half of the 2008 season he spent with the Chicago White Sox. Griffey was then brought back to Seattle for the 2009 season and then resigned for 2010.

He was a 13-time all-star and a 10-time gold glove recipient. He was also awarded the 1997 AL MVP (56 HR 147 RBI).

One of the greatest players that I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, and one of the all-time greats is calling it quits. I had the pleasure of seeing him play once because I was in Arizona and my father and I decided to go to a Diamondbacks game before we left. They happen to be playing the Reds that night, and I was given the great opportunity to witness one of his many home runs. This guy was awesome and I hope he stays in the game some way or another.