Thursday, April 16, 2009

Seattle Mariners Baseball.

Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro Suzuki. Two players who achieved a milestone in the same game. Griffey his 400th homerun with the Mariners and another Japanese record broken by Ichiro. Talk about two players that mean a lot to Seattle and its baseball team. These two players have basically kept Seattle with a team, unlike its Basketball franchise that moved to Oklahoma City before the 2009 season. This team, which became an expansion franchise before I was born, played in the KingDome, which was like a palace from the outside, but inside I am sure it was a horrible place to be for an oposing pitcher. That stadium did provide a lot of help in Randy Johnson closed out the Yankees in '95, and I would have loved to see the Mariners play the Braves in the World Series that year. -Huge Braves Fan by the way!- Truth be told, I loved Griffey. He meant a lot to the Mariners success in the '90's, but he didn't have the complete team around him needed to get to the final step in the World Series. The team around him was solid, no question in mind: Edgar Martinez. Jay Buhner, Dan Wilson (solid/cluth player). Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez (rookie years), Randy Johnson (how could I forget him?), Jamie Moyer. But a lot of great players did travel through Seatlle. The fact is, Junior was THE BEST. Hands down, Ken Griffey Jr. was the best baseball player to ever reach Seattle. And the great thing about the team he played on, was that he started playing with his dad, Ken Griffey Sr. He wanted to do what his dad did in his career, just in his own way. Started his career in Seattle, went to Cincinatti, then mid 2008 to the White Sox and signed as a free agent with the Mariners in the 09 offseason. This just goes to show, in the midst of the so-called "Steroid Era", that great okayers can be unquestioned. Jr. is just one of those players, and I truly do believe that he is a no-questions asked first ballot Hall of Famers.