When I was a tyke, growing up during the final decade of the last millenium, I worshipped the Atlanta Braves. Nothing could convince me that they were lacking anything. Plenty of sportswriters and fans argued that as, brilliant as their pitching and fielding were, they lacked truly world-class offense. I would never buy it.
"Ron Gant," I'd say, "Dave Justice."
Even in my youth, at the far end of my mind, I knew that there was one thing the Braves lacked. That was Ken Griffey Jr. I barely considered non-Braves teams worth paying attention to; the lone exception was the Seattle Mariners. Griffey was the only player I loved as much as any on the Braves. I dreamed of us acquiring him one day.
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3 comments:
Ken Griffey, Jr?!
PLEASE!
Getting Junior now is like getting Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente in 1972...and I'm old enough to remember how Mays stumbled around in the outfield in the '73 World Series...
The Braves screwed up when they didn't sign Bobby Abreu.
Well, now that Mike Hampton and John Smoltz are gone from the team, Griffey can replace them on the DL...
Yup, exactly. It is a little late to sign one of the greatest players of the 1990s...in 2009.
Clemente died in 1972, so Griffey would be a definite upgrade at this point, but barely. As a baseball fan in the steroid era, Griffey and Jeter are our last great hope that there is still something pure about the National Pastime. I still think all the other guys should make it in the HOF, but it'd be nice to know a few actually put up all of their numbers cleanly.
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