WRTN: "The Kid" aka "The Natural" aka "Junior"

As I woke up today, the TV was on watching me instead of me watching it and of course ESPN's Sports Center was on. Like every day of the past month, steroids was one of the lead stories. As more and more names are coming out about alleged use and positive tested players, it makes what Ken Griffey Jr did over most his great career even more remarkable. The numbers that he was able to put up in a era where field players and pitchers were using roids to get a added advantage seem to standout so much more now. The roids cut back recovery time as well as adding pure muscle without much effort. Now some people say that roids don't help hand and eye coordination which is true, but when the player does make enough contact where do you think that ball is going to land? Ding, ding, ding, you guessed correct; smashed out of the park. Baseball saw the rise in ticket sales and interest and didn't care about pointing out the dopers from the purest like Griffey.

In 1987 Griffrey was selected with the first overall pick of that year's amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners straight out of high school. He was up in the big leagues full time by the spring of 1989 and there was no looking back. Junior would go on to establish himself as arguably the best all around player of the 1990's. In his eleven seasons with Seattle, Griffey accumulated 1,752 hits, 398 home runs, 1,152 RBIs, and 167 stolen bases. He led the American League in home runs four seasons (1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999), was voted the A.L. MVP in 1997. As good as he was on offense, it was his play in center field that put him head and shoulders above his peers. With his impressive range, Griffey frequently made spectacular diving plays, and he often dazzled fans by making over-the-shoulder basket catches and by robbing opposing hitters of home runs at the wall—leaping up and pulling them back into the field of play. His remarkable play in the field got him 10 gold gloves over his career. Griffey had everything you could look for in a baseball player. His swing was poetry in motion, never looking rushed. He made playing baseball look effortless.

Junior is the son of former player Ken Griffery Sr, so he was raised in the clubhouse so he was able to handle the media from a early age. Because of his great play, boyish looks, and youthfulness, Griffery had many endorsement deals but none were bigger than his one with Nike. His signature shoe line is still one of the highest selling lines ever.

After the 1999 season Griffey asked for and was granted a trade to the Cincinnati Reds in a desire to live closer to his relatives in his hometown of Cincinnati. He was never the same on the Reds. Like so many great players before him, Griffey was plagued by a string of injuries, including season-ending injuries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. He showed signs of the old Griffey we all grew to love when he could stay healthy and even made the National League all-star teams in 2004 and 2007.

This off season as free agent he decided to return to his baseball roots and signed with the Mariners. I'm happy to see he is still able to play because he is the definition of what a baseball player is. He never caused any problems off the field and came to the park everyday to give his fans a show. That's all us fans ever ask for, and Griffey always gave us that plus more. If the injuries had never occurred it would be Griffey not Bonds who would be the all-time home run leader. One thing that we do know for certain is that when Griffey hangs up his cleats, he will be a first ballot Hall of Famers.

Related: Heaven Cent