The Greatest CF Ever?
June 3rd, 2010 | by Ray Flowers |
The Kid always had that swagger. He had the smile, wore his hat backwards, and had one of the smoothest swings in the history of the game. He defined a generation of ballplayers, often being the yin to Barry Bonds yang, and the end result will be his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in five years. Of course, I’m talking about Ken Griffey Jr.
My first recollection of Griffey isn’t a homer or a catch to rob one, but going to the local ball card shop with my brother and friend in 1989. My brother and I each bought two Upper Deck Griffey cards, while our buddy bought 20 of them at $2 a piece (no joke). I’ve since lost touch with that friend, but hopefully he hung on to all those cards because he’d have made a pretty penny (at the lower end I think they go for $40-50). Why did my friend grab so many rookies of Griffey? He clearly knew what he was doing – slightly ahead of me and my cheapskate ways at the time (I think I bought two boxes of Score cards instead – and that wasn’t a great choice in retrospect).
However, my greatest memories of Griffey obviously emanate not from losing a small fortune, but from his work on the diamond. You’ll see the numbers listed everywhere you read about Griffey the next few days, so I’ll just list them quickly.
630 homers, 5th all-time
1,836 RBI, 14th all-time
1,662 runs, 31st all-time
1,192 extra base hits, 6th all-time
5,271 total bases, 12th all-time
* He was named to 13 All-Star teams including every year from 1990-2000 – the entire decade.
* He won the MVP award in 1997, unanimously. He was awarded 3.20 Career MVP Shares, 27th best of all-time.
* Here might be the most amazing part of the whole deal; Griffey wasn’t just a hitter, he was a sublime fielder who 10-straight Gold Gloves, one for each year of the decade of the 1990′s. Think about that. He won a Gold Glove ever year of the 90′s. Only Roberto Clemente (12) and Willie Mays (12) won more amongst outfielders.
Injuries curtailed Griffey’s career prematurely, and people who only remember the broken down player of the past few years are doing this man a disservice. Just how great was he during his prime? From 1996-1999, there wasn’t a finer player in the game. In that four year period of time he was the MVP once, finished fourth twice, and was 10th on the other occasion. As for the numbers, he never hit fewer than 48 homers, knocked in fewer than 134 runs, scored fewer than 120 or stole fewer than 15 bases in any of those four years. Griffey is therefore the only man in the history of the game to go 48-134-120-15 in 4-straight seasons – and he also won a Gold Glove every season to boot.
But beyond the greatness of his two-way play, beyond the childlike enthusiasm and beyond the fact that he was never embroiled in any off-field issues of any kind until the recent ludicrous story that he was sleeping during a game, there is one salient fact that sets him apart from everyone else he played against – not once has his name ever been linked to performance enhancing drugs.
Now I have no inside knowledge, I wasn’t in the locker room with any of these guys and I don’t share beers with them on a Friday night, so like the rest of you it’s all rumor and supposition about what went on behind closed doors. But as stated, what we do know is that Griffey’s name was never linked to PED’s. Therefore, he just might be the only slugger of his era whose exploits aren’t thought to have been chemically enhanced. Given that, there is nothing to stop Griffey from entering the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
So, was Griffey the best center fielder in the history of the game? It’s pretty difficult to think that Griffey was as good an all-around player as Willie Mays, and he clearly lacked the outward passion of Ty Cobb, and it’s not like there aren’t two all-time greats who roamed centerfield for the Yankees in Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. In the end the question will continue to be debated, but I feel completely comfortable in stating that Ken Griffey Jr. was the greatest all-around center fielder this scribe ever had the privilege of watching play the game of baseball, and while that might not mean a thing to Mr. Griffey, it means the world to me.
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Barry Bonds, Joe Dimaggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays
By Paul on Jun 3, 2010
I believe you can’t compare players from different eras, its fun to try but in the end the game has changed so much.
I graduated from high school in 95′, I used to be that speedy outfielder that was willing to sacrifice my body to make a catch, every time I pulled my body off the grass I would hear a teammate say something referring me to Griffey.
Just to show what an impression Griffey had made on us in the early 90′s, yet he went on to have a complete decade.
I think most of us have forgot how good he was overshadowed by Pujoles in the next decade.
By Eric on Jun 3, 2010
dont mean to be a homer but as far as best ever and center field a guy named ty cobb played center and put together a few good seasons
By Paul on Jun 4, 2010
This is what I mean when I said you can’t compare eras…
When Ty Cobb played the league batting average was about .340, today its about .260.
When Cobb played the game was mainly small ball, today there is a good mix with power.
A good way to jude a player in his era is to look at the leagues average during his time and see what the players plus/minus (above or below the average) in different categories.
This don’t take in account the era the player played in such pre 1940 players held a job outside of baseball, pre 1980 players workouts were without weights, if at all, there was a time players rode on bus or train all day and played all night.
The game has changed so much and has so much history, its what makes it the greatest game on earth!
By Ray Flowers on Jun 4, 2010
Paul-
I totally got your back on that one buddy. Did you know that Cobb has an era adjusted OPS of 168, the 10th best mark in baseball history!!! (it shows that his OPS+ was 68 percent better than the league average hitter).
However, the league average during Cobb’s career was about .272 which is pretty darn close to today’s average.
I’ve also written about this very fact many times. Here is one of those articles from years past.
http://baseballguys.com/2009/06/01/some-people-never-learn/
By Eric on Jun 5, 2010
thanks for the links to the past articles
By Paul on Jun 5, 2010
Ok, guess I was misinformed by another writer, I recently just saw that the league average during Cobbs/Honus Wagners years was about .340. I just went and did my own home work and seen league batting averages from 1905-1915 ranged from about .240-.270, thats what I get for reading another writer, eh Ray?…lol
But while looking through, I found a piece of history that was interesting, there used to be another baseball league called “Federal League” (FL), it was an independent baseball league that only lasted 3 years, then the MLB bought them out. Thought it was interesting enough to mention it, if your interested Wikipedia has info on the league.
By Ray Flowers on Jun 5, 2010
Paul-
The highest single season batting average for the majors is .309 in 1894. The modern day record is .296 in 1930. Don’t know who that other writer is, but you might want to move on. Oh, and the major league batting average from 1905-1915 was .252.
There were other professional leagues as well like The American Association, the Union Association and the Player’s League.
I’d recommend a terrific book by Thorn and Holway called THE PITCHER. Wondering history of pitching.
By Eric on Jun 5, 2010
Ray Any News on the rangers Sale? How is this going to affect the team as the trade deadline approaches? I here a report here and there but it seems mlb is keeping this messed up situation out of the press. Last I herd Texas was borrowing money to meet its payroll.