Ken Griffey Jr Best Ever?

Question

Injuries aside, do you believe he is the best ever? I believe he is and hopefully the media starts showing more attention to him than Bonds. Griffey played the game right and we may never see someone like him again, Hank Aaron would have been proud to have this guy break his record.

Answer 1

I think he has the sweetest swing ever. He's great, and he's not done yet!

Answer 2

I would pick Griffey Jr over Bonds or anyone playing right now for the reason you mentioned, he did it the right way. But I think Babe Ruth was the greatest of all time. Go take a look at his states. For the first 5 years of his career he was a pitcher and he won 94 games and only lost 46. He also was 3-0 in world series starts. Lets see any of the players that came ofter him hit 700+ homers and win 90+ games as a pitcher. Also, if he would have been a position player for the first 5 years of his career and had all the at bats he would have hit well over 800 hr and we would not be talking about Bonds breaking the HR record this year.

Answer 3

Even with injuries aside, I do not think that Junior could be considered the best ever. While he did put up great power numbers the last few years in Seattle, his average started to drop when he turned 28 and he strikes out too much. I will say that if he hadn't missed so many games since coming to the Reds that he would have about 725 HR.

If you figure that he would play 150 games per year, he as already missed 300 games since coming to Cincinnati. He also only played 180 combined for 1994-95, so that is another 120 games. During the period of 1996-2000 he averaged a HR every 3 games. So take the 420 he missed due to injury and that is 140 HR.

Answer 4

Jr. Griffey was the best player in baseball for years..then he gets traded and gets hurt and that ruined any chance he had to catch Aaron. All the media deemed him the guy that would catch Aaron, at one point in his carrer he had more homers than Bonds and was on pace to blow by Aaron. He still has the sweetest swing in baseball and he will get to 600 this year but he may not go much more past it unless he all of a sudden channels is youth and goes nuts. To bad were talkin about bonds as the guy to break the greatest record in sports and not jr. griffey

Answer 5

Good call. Right now, Griffey is one of the most underrated players in the game. If he could stay healthy for another 3 years (don't get your hopes up) he is getting to 3000 hits. In my book, he got into the Hall of Fame a while ago. 5 tools in one package. It is too bad they are up-scaling Bonds and the whole business about weather or not Selig should be there, and Griffey just kind of sits there. If he is in the top 5 for homeruns (for this season) and the Reds can come back and take the Wildcard (don't get your hopes up), Griffey is the 06-07 MVP.

Nosoop4u

Answer 6

Greatest player of all time? Check the record books. There never was nor will there ever be a player like Babe Ruth. No one combines power for average like Ruth did. Forget for a moment that he still holds the record for the most home runs hit by an American League player. He also had a career batting average of .342. In addition, from 1914 to 1918, Babe Ruth was one of the most dominent left handed pitchers in baseball, and he held the record for the most consecutive scoreless innings pitched in the World Series for about 50 years. He won over 20 games twice, pitched nine shutouts in 1916, and had a career ERA of 2.28.

Great hitter. Great pitcher. No other player can boast that combination.

Answer 7

It was def disheartining to see him go down due to injury in back to back seasons. IMO, I never got comfortable to seeing him in the NL or in a Reds uni. He seems a better fit in the AL.
Junior is def a classy guy and it would have been even more exciting if these two guys would have been locked in a foot race to the record.
As far as best ever? Injuries aside, I would say its a toss-up between Griff and ARod and Ichiro is a name that will be entering that equation in the next couple of years. But if you're talking about class acts, then it's Ripken Jr all the way.

Answer 8

Babe Ruth is without question the greatest ballplayer of all time. Not only was he the greatest hitter of any era, he was the greatest left handed pitcher for five years. Those five years represent about three thousand at bats. If Babe Ruth had those at bats, he would have hit a thousand home runs. He hit for a higher average, hit more home runs, had more RBI and beats Griffey in all offensive categories. Tack on a stellar pitching career, and you have your answer without question. And for Griffey's era, Barry Bonds is clearly the better player. At least pre streroids.

Answer 9

No, he's not the best ever. He's not even the best of his era. Among centerfielders alone he rates behind Mays, Mantle, Cobb, Speaker and DiMaggio. A Hall of Famer? Without question. Seemingly a nice guy? Yes, although he has gotten grumpy since leaving Seattle. But he doesn't belong in the conversation as the best player ever.

Answer 10

That's crazy I thought the same thing last night when ESPN read his stats. I say, as he stands, no. But maybe after a few more semi-productive season, and if he can somehow get to 700, then he'd definitely be in the argument. Top 3 for sure.

Answer 11

I don't know if it would be fair to say the best ever. It would be fair to place him in an elite group of players to ever play the game. And maybe more important, in a very select group of the "nice guys club" as a teammate, friend, and person.