I can't let go.

[TRF]

I know Jay Bruce is the future of the Reds. I've always been ok with "the future". I wanted EE up a year earlier than he arrived. Same with Votto. I'm ready for Bailey and Thompson in the rotation to toe the rubber alongside Cueto and Volquez.

I'm ready for Jay Bruce. So why can't I let go of Griffey?

In another thread M2 stated the following:

The Reds need to stop caring about all of that stuff. None of it matters and it won't take long for a kid like Bruce to make Jr. nothing more than an afterthought.

An afterthought? Really? The greatest CF of my and arguably any generation an afterthought? Have we really reached that point that the trophy matters so much more that we can cast aside players of his stature? I rooted for the Reds not because they were from Cincinnati (I lived in Arizona when I "discovered" baseball and the Reds. I moved to Cincinnati when I was 11) But because of the players. I had two favorites: Morgan and Concepcion. Mom liked Rose, Grandma, Bench. I followed those players regardless of the uniform they wore.

Yes, I know his range is gone. He's a pale shadow of his former greatness. But let's examine that word, "greatness" for a moment. Is there any Reds player in the last decade that was truly great? Maybe Barry Larkin. But as good as he was, Larkin was not quite elite.

Griffey was elite. And I am selfish. I want to see him win. It killed me every time he got hurt. I devoured every word written about his rehab. None of us will probably ever go through anything like what Jr. endured. He came back when lesser men would have quit. And through all that he's never been linked to any controversy or scandal. No drugs. No women. No cheating. He's a role model in every sense of the word, and better yet, he KNOWS he's a role model. For all the feel good puff pieces about Josh Hamilton's amazing comeback from drugs, Griffey's return was no less amazing.

I'm about 3 years older than Griffey. I've heard or read about him my entire adult life, and like a lot of you was in High School in Cincinnati about the same time he was. He should be the face of Cincinnati, not Rose. He should be the ideal that our kids aspire to, not a degenerate gambler.

But now Cincinnati has drafted and developed Jay Bruce. He's been compared to Griffey by a guy that managed both of them at about the same age. He has nothing left to prove in AAA, as he's destroying that league. He needs to be in Cincinnati helping a good young nucleus on the road to the World Series.

My head knows this.

My heart wants to see Griffey and the sweetest swing God created, stay a Red forever.

So please forgive me if I have trouble reading about "dumping" Griffey. I'm sure there were discussions like this in the late 60's about Mays too. It's funny how we discard our baseball heroes.

I'm just not ready to let this one go just yet.

[AmarilloRed]

We all remember how great Griffey was when we traded for him. I wish he could have had a great career in Cincinnati, but the injuries did him in. It is time to wish Griffey the best, and see what Jay Bruce can do in RF.

[dabvu2498]

I know this won't be a very popular thing for me to say, but I have almost no "warm and fuzzy" memories of the Ken Griffey Jr. Era of the Cincinnati Reds.

That's just me.

[Joseph]

I'd wager many share the feelings in your heart TRF. I'd just also wager that for Cincinnati to finally get better, Junior must be part of the wound that is cleansed.

[fearofpopvol1]

I think your sentiments are what the majority of Reds fans (not posting at RZ) feel. And I think it's that exact emotional connection that is keeping KGJ around.

It's not so easy to trade the guy or sit him. It's just not. There just is not an easy answer to this one.

[membengal]

I really have not seen the Jr. you pine for since August of 2000 here. After that, it has been the long injury-riddled decline to what we see today.

I am ready for it to be over. I want better things for Kenny. I want him to go home to Seattle and finish it up with a fan-base that adores him and harbors nothing but great memories of him in his prime. Too many of our memories as Reds fans are shrouded by the injuries and relative disappointment of his years here.

It's time. Turn the page. Get Bruce up. Get Jr. home. Everyone wins. Time to move on.

PS: I am Jr.'s age. 37 turning 38 this year. Let him go home.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

After nine years, I can let go.

Very good post, though. I understand what you are feeling, but I want to win.

[westofyou]

Pete up and left the Reds in 1979.

Since then (for me) letting go has become extremely easy.

[Tommyjohn25]

I really do understand where you are coming from TRF. However like others here, I don't have too many glossy eyed memories of Junior sans 2000. I've never really had that hard of a time when players leave honestly, I just kind of move on and root for the replacement wearing the wishbone C. Now, when they lose....that's when I can't let go.

[RedsManRick]

It's funny, I have the exact opposite feelings. I feel like Junior becoming a Red ruined his career. I know the injuries and whatnot would likely have occurred wherever. But after everything, I just associate Junior with disappointment and pain. He's the embodiment of unfulfilled promise for the franchise. His status as a Red went straight from surreal good to surreal bad in the course of a few years.

Let me put in this way. In the early 90's I was a pre-teen in State College, PA. Penn State Football was huge. Ki-Jana Carter was the best player on our team. In 1995, in the midst my formative sports years, my favorite football team traded up to the #1 pick to draft MY Ki-Jana Carter. About 74 knee surgeries later, Ki-Jana goes down as one of the, if not the, worst #1 picks of all times and the Bengals have made the playoffs just once since.

Griffey is that all over again, only over a longer period of time and with a team I care even more about. I don't even care about 600 at this point. The crawl to 600 is just be a reminder that it's not 700. I wish him the very best, but he can't be traded fast enough for me.

I think he's a great human being. He's clearly a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest players of this generation. But he's a Mariner, not a Red. Maybe it's callous, but I can't get past that and I won't miss Griffey Jr. the Red.

[TRF]

I really have not seen the Jr. you pine for since August of 2000 here. After that, it has been the long injury-riddled decline to what we see today.

I am ready for it to be over. I want better things for Kenny. I want him to go home to Seattle and finish it up with a fan-base that adores him and harbors nothing but great memories of him in his prime. Too many of our memories as Reds fans are shrouded by the injuries and relative disappointment of his years here.

It's time. Turn the page. Get Bruce up. Get Jr. home. Everyone wins. Time to move on.

PS: I am Jr.'s age. 37 turning 38 this year. Let him go home.

I've followed him his entire career. It isn't just about the 9 years with the Reds at all. To me, Griffey is baseball.

Pete up and left the Reds in 1979.

Since then (for me) letting go has become extremely easy.

I was 11. Read his boxscores with Philadelphia, shook my head when I saw him with le Expos. It was like the prodigal son had returned when he came back as player-manager. He should have been so much more. But I still read anything with his name attatched to it, even PJ Rose articles garner my attention.

[M2]

TRF, great post. I empathize with you, though I'd add Jr.'s never been great with the Reds. He lost his range in 2001 and his bat, while often very good, has never been great while wearing the wishbone C. In the future, when I picture the guy in my mind, at the height of his game, it'll be in a Mariners uniform.

I respect the hell out of the guy. Like you said, he's a player I can point to and tell my son, "Be like him." I value that, but I also recognize he's been the wrong fit for this franchise for at least five years. He and the Reds deserve better.

[Highlifeman21]

Good Stuff TRF.

Unfortunately, Griffey is now this generation's Mays (no, not Joe Mays, but Willie Mays). My Dad made a comment to me the other that watching Griffey now reminds him of watching Mays at the end of Mays' career. While I wasn't around to see Mays, I'm wondering if there are some parallels here.

I'd love for Griffey to remain a Red for the rest of his career (at a reasonable price, and playing 1B, mind you), but right now Griffey is the biggest thing hurting the future of the Reds. I don't like thinking that, much less typing that, but I honestly believe it.

[membengal]

I've followed him his entire career. It isn't just about the 9 years with the Reds at all. To me, Griffey is baseball.

I was 11. Read his boxscores with Philadelphia, shook my head when I saw him with le Expos. It was like the prodigal son had returned when he came back as player-manager. He should have been so much more. But I still read anything with his name attatched to it, even PJ Rose articles garner my attention.

TRF...I know you have. I have too. That's why I want him to go back to Seattle, to the fanbase that most easily recalls those memories of him in his glory.

[TRF]

I'd love for Griffey to remain a Red for the rest of his career (at a reasonable price, and playing 1B, mind you), but right now Griffey is the biggest thing hurting the future of the Reds. I don't like thinking that, much less typing that, but I honestly believe it.

I know. me too.