It never should have ended this way. It didn't have to end this way. Unfortunately for Griffey, for the Reds, for the fans; it did end this way:
Ken Griffey Jr. approved a trade to the White Sox on Thursday, according to a source.
A 20-year veteran who was in his ninth season with the Reds, Griffey held 10-and-5 rights that gave him the power to veto any potential trade. Following a three-run homer on Wednesday at Houston, in what was his final game for Cincinnati, he is batting .245 with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. His 608 career home runs rank sixth on the all-time list.
The Reds will receive right-handed pitcher Nick Masset and second baseman Danny Richar, a source said.
Griffey, 38, is a likely free agent after the season. In the final year of a nine-year deal, the Reds held a $16.5 million club option for 2009, with a $4 million buyout.
The move comes less than a week after Junior vocalized a profanity and made a throat slashing gesture toward the radio broadcast booth after hitting a homerun this past Saturday. The FU and the slash were supposedly meant for Reds Radio Broadcaster Jeff Brantley, a former Red reliever who was critical of Griffey for lack of hustle on a fly ball hit to him earlier in the game.
This is very sad for me. Over the last few days, I, like Lance McAllister of 1530 HOMER AM radio, thought Junior should apologize for the act. Look, I don't care if Junior hates Brantley or walks up to him and does the stuff, but doing it in front of thousands of people, many children, as well as to a TV audience (cameras caught the stuff) is inexcusable. Also, Junior is 38, not 20, as the last time a gesture got him into trouble when he was with Seattle. Back then, former Big Red Machine manager Sparky Anderson refused to have Detroit's pitchers throw to the budding superstar, and when Griffey was walked and came around to score, he reportedly grabbed his crotch at Sparky Anderson. That could be forgiven as stupid youth. What Griffey did this past weekend was moronic and sad for a Hall of Famer. I could not imagine Willie Mays, to whom Jr. is often compared, ever doing such a thing. He should have issued an apology, not to Brantley, because that is personal, but to the fans.
Now, most Reds fans (not this one) are glad to see him go. I listened to talk radio, driving around from one of my jobs to another, listening to the bile and hate, some of it deserved for this latest run-in. However, the sad part was is that Junior has been a victim of others' lies, as have the fans of Cincinnati. It did not have to be this way.
When Jr. was brought here, he was told the Reds would spend money and build a team around him. The only real money they spent was on an aging captain (clubhouse cancer/captain Barry Larkin) who couldn't hack it at short anymore, and a questionable acquisition of Eric Milton. There was no opening of the pocketbooks. GM Jim Bowden continued to act more like a manic rotisserie baseball manager than a real major league gm, and decimated the Reds system as well as the spirit of the city. So, for those who say it is all Griff's fault, look a little further. Junior can't play left, pitch, field third, PITCH, as well as play his position, folks. We ALL were lied to. Unfortunately, because Junior had the weight of greatness and the hometown label, as well as the overinflated expectations ginned up by a caretaker owner just wanting to sell the team, he bore the brunt of it. And unfortunately, the fans never let him alone. They blamed him for all the struggles, quite unfairly.
Griff also was a victim of that which made him truly the greatest player of the 2nd half of the 20th century: he did it all natural; no chemical enhancements. He was able to hit so many homers and do so many death defying catches while still being clean. All that pounding on astroturf in Seattle's Kingdome, all those car crashes into the walls of outfields, that catches up with you. Unfortunately for all of us, it caught up with Junior in Cincinnati. Junior wanted to come home to win, as his dad had won with Cincy. He wanted to bring good things to the fans, who had clamored for his return since he became a star in Seattle. Freak, nightmarish injuries like a torn from the bone hamstring limited his abilities to produce. Quite likely, if he would have stayed unhurt, he would be eclipsing Bonds. Or, the dirty little things some of the more pathetic Reds fans say, if only he would have juiced, we would have a pennant. However, I return to the original argument--can Griffey pitch? Can he manage a game? Can he make the throw from third to first?
Griffey also was a victim of his own personality. For all the adoration and the endorsements, and all the media perception of him as some gregarious overgrown kid, Junior was and is a very private man. He wants to be a good dad. He wants to go out and have fun. He wants to do what he wants and be left alone. I don't think, even growing up in the shadow of the Big Red Machine, that he ever understood that is not what athletes can do anymore. Those days are long gone. However, Junior tried to do things for the community. He didn't want press. He just wanted to do it out of his own heart. He forged great relationships with MAKE A WISH kids, with soldiers returning from the War on Terror, as well as other donations for causes we will never know. He wanted it out of the press, because it was "his business." However, this also soured fans on him. While guys like Barry Larkin, who are self serving press whores, did charitable causes and had them played on the media outlets over and over; endearing them to some, Junior just did his thing. Unfortunately, for the fans in Cincy, they never saw this side of Junior.
The fans are victims too. We were lied to by Bowden and Lindner, and we are continuing to be lied to by Castellini. This team stinks. There is no real commitment to winning because there is no plan. There has been no plan, but to make money. Have all the bobblehead days you want, have all the giveaways and dollar dog nights. You want to know why Reds tickets were hard to come by from the mid to late 80s until about 1995? They were winners! They were in contention! They worked hard and played hard. They didn't have the most talent, but they had a plan. They wanted to win. The ownership since the iconoclastic Marge Schott has been a pathetic display of multiple personality, delusional disorder. They give lip service to winning, but have no idea how. And rather than look hard at what they need to do, they go for publicity moves and quick fixes. Larkin should have never been signed. Dusty Baker should never have been made manager. However, some idiot on talk radio says its a good idea, or the fans momentarily whine that Larkin deserves whatever, and you all cave. Where is the leadership?
I was disappointed in Junior, but I am still a fan. I know in his heart Junior probably regrets what he did. Having met him at Redsfest this past year and seeing how he genuinely interacted with people young and old, you got a glimpse of the real Ken Griffey Jr., without the false blame put on him and the weight of others expectations. He was just a ballplayer, signing and talking with fans. It was great. He looked relaxed and just soaked it up. That is how Junior should have left Cincinnati, soaking up the praise of a town that understood--he was shafted as much as they were. However, the Reds, and their cronies, always made sure to mention Junior when the team was suffering. Somehow, it went from being about needing pitching to Junior isn't doing enough. I never understood that about Cincy fans and never will. Adam Dunn gets so many free passes it is pathetic. He hustles far less than Junior and will never be close to the player that Junior is now, even at 38. Yet, people here give the big, dumb, slow lummox the benefit of the doubt that Junior never got. Makes me wonder sometimes about the baseball IQ in this town.
Junior, I wish you the very best of luck with the Sox and the pursuit of a ring. I hope you win it all. I am sorry your stay here was punctuated with false promises, injury, and not enough understanding and appreciation by the fans. I am sorry that your leaving comes on the heels of such a stupid and sad event. To the fans of Cincinnati, maybe now you will actually have to take a hard look at the b.s. that has been thrown at you and me for the past decade and realize, Junior didn't make the moves. He was lied to, too. The past two owners of this team have fed us a line, and we need to stand up and say no more. Maybe without Griffey to kick around, more fans will realize that maybe the change needs to come from the top down. Maybe, the fans will realize it wasn't all about Griffey. Maybe, but who knows? This town is funny sometimes. I, for one, will not pay for another Reds ticket until there is A REAL PLAN in place. I, for one, will not pay for another Reds ticket until we have players who actually know how blessed they are to be playing pro ball. I, for one, will not pay for another Reds ticket until there is a new culture with this team. The Griffey move should not be the end, but the beginning. And fans have to come together and wake up and quit drinking the Castellini Kool Aid. This team and organization, quite simply, suck.
Now, Junior will become a hired gun. The Reds get two guys who will be players to be named later in a future deal, who will never sniff the bigs. Junior will go on and retire and be ushered into the Hall of a Fame as a Mariner, as he should be. However, I doubt he will ever deign to return to his childhood home again, or view us with the love some of us still have for him. I doubt we will see him return for a Griffey Day, or his enshrinement in the Reds Hall of Fame (he has the numbers, esp. when you factor in his injuries, related to other Reds inductees). No, Jim Bowden, Carl Lindner, and Bob Castellini all let him be the scapegoat and continue to play us off against the players. And some of us still fall for it.
It could have been so different. If only the Reds would have tried. If only the fans would have held those who were in control accountable. If only Junior would have let us in a little more. If only we could have understood his greatness and appreciated it a little more. If only we had a decent pitching staff and defenseive fundamentals. If only....
