He's Fallen, and He Can't Get Up

His swing was a lesson in mechanics. His hips swiveled at just the right time. His hands stayed up, and when they came down, they came up again with immense speed. His head always stayed down, right until the flourish that let fans know what they already knew before he started his trip around the bases: walking, not trotting, towards first, dropping his bat just as he was following through. And it was the same beautiful swing every single time.

Ken Griffey Jr., the pride and joy of a baseball father who was one of the cogs in the Big Red Machine in the 1970s, was voted The Players Choice Player of the Decade for the 1990s, and was one of the great sluggers of his generation... until the day he engineered a trade to the Cincinnati Reds. After 11 unbelievable seasons with the Seattle Mariners, Junior Griffey's career became a tragedy worthy of Euripides or Sophocles. Did the gods of baseball curse him because of his hubris, thinking that he would be happier with a team with which his father had found success (and was a coach, no less)? What was it that soured his relationship with fans and caused some supernatural hex? Griffey's body somehow shut down after playing most of his days in Seattle injury-free (only a broken wrist in 1995 kept him out for an extended period of time). Knee injuries, hamstring problems, and a dislocated shoulder started Junior on a slow, four-season decline while attempting to take the Reds to the playoffs. And now Griffey's awe-inspiring career has come to a halt.

With a strained tendon in his ankle causing him to miss the rest of this season, Griffey is now a 32-year-old walking Disabled List candidate who has played a total of 123 games in his last two years, with a total of 21 home runs. Talk of his run at Homerin' Hank Aaron's magic number, the sacred 755, is now replaced by whispers that Griffey has lost more than a step with his various injuries. While Barry Bonds has proved that age is just a number with his late power surge, Griffey looks more like a 38-year-old limping outfielder than an athlete who was supposed to keep up his amazingly impressive numbers. This story is baseball's modern tragedy: The Man Who Would be King is now possibly one ACL tear away from the permanent DL.

Every tragic storyline has to start with a success. Griffey, drafted 1st overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, brought Bill Gates' favorite team out of the cellar and into a decade of excitement. Though the team made only two playoff appearances (1995 and 1997), fans watched as a kid who broke into the league at the age of 19 began one of baseball's most consistent careers: disregarding his injury-shortened season in 1995, from 1993 to 1999 Griffey averaged 49 homers, for an amazing total of 294 over a six year span. He became the youngest player to hit 350 homers during that time. Together with shortstop Alex Rodriguez, the Mariners thought they had both of baseball's stars for a very long time, especially with the attraction of a new stadium, Safeco Field, and one of the most prolific southpaws in the game, Randy Johnson. But when the payroll hit Seattle General Manager Pat Gillick's desk, he knew that the three stars would demand maximum contracts or leave town. If anyone thought they were about to have a tragic fall, it was the Mariners, since all three chose the latter by engineering trades or, in the case of A-Rod, signing the most expensive contract in the history of the game.

While the Mariners have picked up the pieces of trades for two of those three players and made a formidable team out of three lost stars, Griffey pleaded for a trade, preferably to Cincinnati, where his father coached. By then, he was Major League Baseball's best marketing tool. Here was a goodwill ambassador for the game with the biggest grin in the universe as he produced consistent numbers, including 11 All-Star appearances and 10 Gold Gloves. He was clean-cut, smart, and a human highlight reel in centerfield. He even was blessed with his own video game. So when he began causing a rift in Seattle, critics accused Griffey of being greedy. When he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, he signed a lucrative nine-year, $116.5 million contract with the club and was all smiles for cameras. The next Big Red Machine had arrived in Cincinnati.

Ignore the fact that Cincinnati hasn't made the playoffs since Griffey Jr. has arrived. With a highly inconsistent pitching staff that has tried bringing both its closers into starting roles and failing miserably, Cincinnati has to find a few arms in order to benefit from the run support that young sluggers like Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns are producing. However, the team was built around Griffey and his constant output, along with 10-time Gold Glove defense in center field that current starter Reggie Taylor doesn't exactly have. Now that Junior's season has been cut short once again, it's time for the team to start wondering what to do with his heavy contract. If the Reds were winning without him, then they might be more patient with an injury-prone superstar. But they're stuck with his bloated contract that has become more of a burden with Griffey's brittle status, though they tried to deal him for San Diego Padres third baseman, Phil Nevin. If that is any indication that the Reds think he's over the hill, then you can add that to fan frustration that included Griffey getting booed when he limped into second last week with the aforementioned ankle ailment. Ouch.

So should we say goodbye to Junior yet? He'll be only 33 when he returns to Florida for spring training next year. But with his injuries taking years off of his career and a massive contract, the better question to ask is where he'll be when March rolls around. The Reds have found a surprise in minor-leaguer-for-life Jose Guillen, and American League teams might look at Griffey as a possible Designated Hitter to reduce some of the injury risk (not to mention his 11 years of experience in the AL). While we can speculate on Junior's cloudy future, one thing is certain: the decline of Griffey in the past four years has been crushing to watch from a fan's standpoint, as we hope he'll recover enough to regain that beautiful swing and make a late run at baseball's home run tote board.