Ken Griffey Nears 600 Home Runs
Cincinnati Reds Slugger Approaches Rare Baseball Milestone
Jun 6, 2008
Ken Griffey, Jr., the man who was the best baseball player of the 1990s, is sitting on 599 home runs as of June 4, 2008. Unless something truly bizarre happens, Griffey will become just the sixth member of the 600 home run club.But one shouldn't rule out the bizarre when it comes to Ken Griffey. A series of injuries earlier in this decade derailed his chase for the all-time home run record. Although he probably doesn't have a shot to reach Barry Bonds's current mark of 762, Griffey's accomplishment should be appreciated.
Ken Griffey's Road to 600 Home Runs
Griffey's Home Run Number One. Griffey hits the first home run of his major league career on April 10, 1989. He was barely 19 years old. The shot came in the old Kingdome in Seattle when Griffey was a rookie for the Seattle Mariners. The pitcher was Eric King of the Chicago White Sox.
Griffey's Home Run Number 100. Griffey's 100th homer came more than 4 years later, on June 15, 1993, off Billy Brewer of the Kansas City Royals.
Griffey's Home Run Number 200. On May 21, 1996, Griffey connected off Boston's Vaughan Essleman in the top of the fourth inning at Fenway Park. The three-run homer landed well up in the grandstands behind the wall in right-centerfield, and ties the game 5-5.
Home Run Number 300 came on April 13, 1998 (you'll notice the time frames between milestone homers keeps getting shorter during Griffey's brilliant 1990s decade) of Jose Mesa of the Cleveland Indians. The two-run shot barely cleared the wall in right field. on April 10, 2000, jut a few days into his new career with the Reds and less than two years after he hit the tricentennial, Griffey slammed his 400th dinger, a solo shot, off Colorado Rockies pitcher Rolando Arrojo.
Griffey hit his 400th caeer Home Run in one of his first games as a Cincinnati Red. The shot came off Colorado Rockies' starter Rolando Arrojo.
At the time of his 400th blast, Griffey was barely 30 years old, healthy, and had averaged 52 homers per year from 1996-1999. He seemed all but guaranteed to approach the all-time record in the next 8 or 9 nine years. If he could average 40 homers per year over the next 9 seasons -- something that seemed quite possible given his track record -- Griffey could be the home run king by 2008 or 2009, which would still pre-date his 40th birthday.
Major Injuries Derail Griffey's Race For the Home Run Record
But then the injuries hit. Between 2001 and 2004, Griffey missed a total of 384 games while on the disabled list for a series of injuries including a torn hamstring, knee injuries, shoulder injuries and a broken bone.
One good thing did happen during that span, however. On June 20, 2004, Griffey hit a solo home run off Matt Morris of the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium. It was his 500th career shot. Now 34 years old, Junior's chance at the all-time record seemed impossible to reach, however.
During his four year injury-laden span, a period in which it would have been quite possible for Griffey to compile 45 home runs per year, or a total of 180, he instead hit just 63. One could therefore argue that if Griffey had been able to avoid injury, he would have in the neighborhood of 100-115 more homers than his current total of 599.
Griffey Returns to Good Health for 2005 through 2007 Seasons
But by 2005, Griffey returned to good health and had a strong season, batting .301 with 35 home runs and 92 RBI. He followed that up with another strong season in 2006, when he hit 27 homers and collected 72 RBI.
Last season, he hit another 30 dingers, which gave him a career mark of 593 coming into the 2008 season.
Although he has started slow, Junior finally hit the penultimate home run in his quest for 600 on May 31, 2008 off Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens. It was a two-run blast that put the Kid just one away from a very exclusive club.
Facts and Figures About Griffey's Approach to 600 Home Runs
1. He hit the most of his home runs in the old Seattle Kingdome (198).
2. Griffey has 487 games with one homer, 53 games with 2 dingers and 2 games with three home runs.
3. Junior has hit more home runs against David Wells (8) than any other pitcher.
4. He's homered against the following Hall of Fame (or future Hall of Fame) pitchers: Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Josh Becket, Billy Wagner and many, many others.
5. On the road, he's done his most home run damage in the Metrodomw against the Twins (22); at Yankee Stadium (18) and against the Angels (18).
By the time you read this article, Griffey Junior may have already hit his 600th home run. Here's hoping that he can stay healthy and maybe approach 700 in a few years. of course, without all of the injuries, he'd already be past that number. But, such is life. The good guys struggle and the bad guys succeed (for a while, at least).
