Fan Gauge: Ken Griffey Jr.

We wouldn’t even have a team in Seattle anymore if it wasn’t for him, remember.

If it weren’t for the Ichiro factor and occasional funny moment I would hate him sooooooo much.

there’s a bit of a problem with these polls because how I feel about players as players can be very different from how I feel about them as Mariners. For example, I love Erik Bedard the player, but I only like Erik Bedard the Mariner (I don’t mean the last couple years, I mean now). Eric Byrnes I find amusing, so I like him as a player, but hate him as a Mariner. And so on.

Griffey is a special case, in that his status in the history of baseball, and the Mariners in particular, overshadows my current frustrations with him. I hate Griffdawg the starting DH. But it’s only one year, and it’s not like this is a championship team and he’s our one problem.

Jr. isn’t my favorite player and never has been, but I genuinely like the guy and think he’s been great for baseball in Seattle. But holy shit keep him away from the bat. And the field.

No matter how immature he was, or how he hamstrung the team in trade negotiations, he’s the reason why I’m a baseball fan. So I love the guy…but I also hate what he’s doing in 2010. I guess I gotta go with no opinion…it’s the closest to balancing out both thoughts….

You are ruining your legacy everyday you are on the roster.

Saw the whole ‘Ken Grumpey Jr.’ stage and his ensuing shipment out of town, saw injuries wreck his career in Cincinnati and now back here. No emotional ties to him whatsoever, wasn’t here for any of the good. Needless to say, definitely in the minority of people who despise Griffey.

….but that was 20 years ago (wow! ? !). Yes, there is some loyalty to the myth of Jr, but not now. We have seen how many quality pitching performances squandered this year by not having flexibility on the bench or in the field?
It “felt” great having Griff around last year, but like so many aging stars…..he just needs to hang it up.
Do i hear a hamstring snapping while trying to stretch that single into a double anyone?

He was my favorite Mariner for a long time (up until I truly started to appreciate Edgar). But he’s costing this team right now, so I had to vote that I don’t like him. I guess it’s more of a vote for the situation. Eh, whatever.

Yes, he sucks right now, and I hate that he is ruining the memories of his picture perfect swing every time he goes up and feebly whiffs at another 94 mph fastball. But I still love him no matter what. It’s kind of like a parent with a child who acts up. You hate the moments when “the Kid” acts up, but you still love him no matter what.

I still love him as a person and for what he did before he left to the Reds (and he wasn’t terrible last year either). It’s just a shame to have to watch him try to keep playing when he obviously doesn’t have it anymore.

I still love and have deep amounts of respect for him, but not like those who were actually there during his glory years. I can’t hate him- I just can’t. But I’m not very fond of him right now. I’ll like him more once he retires.

He sucks big donkey dong as a player right now, but he was a big part of some of my all-time favorite sports memories. He was a trancsendent talent! I wouldn’t vote for him to continue to occupy a roster spot, but I will vote without hesitation that I love him.

When he left, I would’ve voted hate him, but his own demise and the Mariners success helped change that. Also, I think the biggest factor for my change in feelings towards him after the demanded trade stem from his motivations for leaving.

He didn’t leave for money. He left because he is emotionally screwy. I think he was depressed and made bad decisions to try and alleviate that. For me, this is far more excusable than leaving for greed.

I have never been one to jump on a player for hanging on too long. I jump on players who can play professionally, but don’t seem to care. I am not going to bash someone that continues to play for nothing but the love of the game.

That being said…just hit a fucking homerun and then retire already.

I don’t see how anyone who was around for ‘95 can’t.

I also don’t like what he brings to the table (Read: Nothing) in 2010, and my vote reflects that.

Of course, I had no real affinity for the Mariners in the 1990s, having abandoned baseball after the strike ruined the Expos. I only returned in 2001 when I heard about Ichiro coming to America (man, what a great season to start with), and suddenly I was a Mariners fan.

So any affection I have for Griffey stems from how much Ichiro likes Griffey, but Griffey also makes Ichiro lose, which makes me sad.

I’ll only be able to make 1, maybe 2 trips to Safeco this year. When it gets closer to the time to plan the 6 hour drive, my main criteria for which games I get tickets for will be that Griffey is in the lineup. Planning a week or more ahead, usually that just means looking at the opposing teams rotation schedule and going to a game where they are starting a righty, then hope for the best.

The reason I’m doing that is not because I expect to be wowed by Ken Griffey Jr hitting a game winning home run into the upper decks. The reason is, I want to savor having the opportunity to watch a true living legend. 30 years from now, we’ll still be talking about seeing Ken Griffey Jr play the game.

Every time you gripe about one of his weak grounders to 2B, just remember that you are lucky to be watching one of the all time greats. I take pleasure watching Griffey step into the batters box wearing a Mariners uniform, regardless of the result.

For most players, nostalgia wears off pretty quick if the results are no longer there. For me, Griffey is the exception to that rule. As mentioned by others here, I think if we were “one solid DH away” from a legitimate World Series run, maybe my patience would have run out by now.

for me and nothing else. I enjoy players, but I have met too many over the years to say I love them. Most of them are not the type of person I would hang out with. Plus, the reason I go to games is too see players at the highest level of competition. Griffey would get cut from and independent league team right now.

So I guess I am saying I never loved Griffey. I appreciated his talents because more than once he did something to make the price of the ticket worth paying. Now he is wasting my money and time and I dislike anyone who does that.

No memories. Can appreciate his legacy, but all I’ve seen is the shell. Dislike.

Notice how this is trending and take the fucking bullet.

I was never a huge Griffey fan but I’m not holding the fact that he’s fucking up the M’s now against him.

and somewhat enjoyed his tenure last year, but I was mortified when he signed on for an extra year instead of hanging up the cleats. His awfulness this season is destroying my fond memories of him :(

I enjoyed him in the late 90s as a kid, but after the “trade me to Cinci” garbage, I lost any interest/desire to see him succeed. Yes, we did come out like bandits on the trade—but that was in spite of Griffey, not because of him.

Yes, I know that he was instrumental in keeping the M’s around in ‘95—but as with so many things, it’s the bad stuff that sticks in one’s memory.

He’s always been an arrogant toolbag…now he’s a washed-up creaky old arrogant toolbag that needs to pack it in and hobble his giant butt off the field. Which leads me to one final point—in what universe does a responsible professional athlete drink 10-12 sodas a day and claim with a straight face to be making a good effort to stay in shape/ contribute to the team?

Now I am voting like. At some point, 1995 Ken Griffey Jr is going to turn into 2010 Ken Griffey Jr in my mind. The more I see him, the closer it gets.

My girlfriend became a Mariner fan two years ago from the influence of me. All she has ever seen is shitty Griffey, that sucks. If you weren’t a Mariner fan during the Grifffey era, you have every right to hate him, and I blame absolutely no one for feeling that way. In fact, come September, I might begrudgingly jump on your bandwagon.

He brought joy to my early fanhood by being amazing and producing a couple of the best baseball games I remember playing. But he left on poor terms and has been bad or injured for almost a decade. How much he sucks now is clouding my judgment into how much I like him. If you asked in 2 years? i would probably still like him. But right now he is actively making the team worse. Do I like Ken Griffey Jr. as a whole for his entire Mariner career? Hell yes. Do I like Ken Griffey Jr the person, at least how he’s portrayed now? Hell yes. Do I like Ken Griffey Jr the inspiration for an N64 game? Yes sir. Do I like Ken Griffey Jr the black hole 40-year-old DH? Fuck no.

But if the choice this season was between missing the playoffs with Griffey and missing the playoffs without him, I’d have always opted for another year with my childhood hero on the team (and I’m 24, since everyone seems to be giving their ages). Even if it was “lose in the ALDS without him, miss the playoffs with him” it wouldn’t have been a no-brainer for me. I probably wouldn’t even be a Mariners fan if not for ‘95 and The Double (I don’t go in for this “oh, they’re the local team” crap. Give me a reason to actually like you). Being a nine year old kid and going through that season, even while not fully appreciating the Mariners’ prior tradition of extreme futility, literally changed my life. So, yes, I’m looking through rose-colored glasses to vote love, but I can’t really see the man any other way.

Will always be my favorite player.