Griffey Jr Traded to the White Sox

[jmcclain19]

It's sad the way Griffey left. WLW is classless and a joke. They must have had 3 or 4 Griffey-bashing promo's running yesterday. One went something like "Baseball is a game filled with memories, like the first time Griffey half-assed it down to first base, or when he watched strike three through glide over the plate, or a time when he popped up with a runner on second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth." Absolutely trash...

That's awesome coming from the official Reds station - great face they are putting on Reds baseball.

[KittyDuran]

McCoy: Griffey deserves applause as he leaves Cincinnati

By Hal McCoy

the Dayton Daily News

Friday, August 01, 2008

In 1979, Joe Morgan stuck a finger in my face and said, "Don't ever try to talk to me again." I haven't.

Morgan was in his free-agent year, and I wrote a column saying it was time for Joe to go, that the Reds were reloading and had no need for him.

And now I'm saying the same thing about Ken Griffey Jr. It was time for him to go, and I know he won't stick a finger in my face.

He has too much class.

It is a sad time in Cincinnati, but perhaps it is the dawn of the Walt Jocketty Era. He was brought in as general manager to turn around seven straight years of losing.

Trading Griffey to the Chicago White Sox is the beginning. Younger players are the future, not a 38-year-old outfielder whose skills are eroding fast due to age and enough injuries to use as a living model for a medical school.

And it is sad to say that. In 36 years of covering the Reds, I have not met a classier man, a man who loves the game and loves his family and loves charitable work with deep devotion.

Some believed he loafed, didn't run out ground balls, didn't chase down balls in the outfield.

He didn't loaf. He couldn't run any harder. There is nothing left in his knees from a half dozen surgeries, nothing left in his shoulders and elbows from surgeries.

And yet he has hit 608 home runs and has done it the right way. No steroids. No growth hormones. Just the sweetest swing ever seen and a beaming, infectious smile.

Some fans blame him for the seven losing seasons because he arrived in 2000, the year before the losing began. One man does not make a team a loser. He wasn't surrounded by enough talent, especially pitching.

Some fans thought he was a cancer in the clubhouse, but they never saw him talking to young players, giving them equipment as well as advice, buying food for all the players and being the No. 1 clubhouse prankster.

Not only did they congregate around him, many were in awe — as they should have been. Leadership? He was a leader by example in many ways, not just how to play baseball, but how to cope with life's roadblocks.

Many Cincinnati fans don't realize it, but they were fortunate to see him in a Reds uniform, even when he was diminished by injuries. He played every day, and when his name wasn't in the lineup, he invariably lobbied managers to put him in.

He need make no apologies for his nearly nine years in Cincinnati. He came to Cincinnati from Seattle for a discount and, yes, $116.5 million is more money than the majority of us can dream about, but it was less than he could have obtained elsewhere, and there were no guns pointed at general manager Jim Bowden's head when he offered that contract.

Yes, sadly it was time to go. The Reds, in the words of Jocketty, "are re-tooling, getting younger."

Griffey doesn't fit the pattern.

At least the Reds traded him to a first-place team. Griffey often referred to the World Series rings flashed at him by his father, Ken Griffey Sr., and said, "All I want is one."

Now he has that chance. He deserves it.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/con...08spmccoy.html

Thanks for posting this - a great article by Hal. He doesn't get too much love here on RZ and I'm sure someone will find fault with this article (probably a Morgan fan).

[redsmetz]

That's awesome coming from the official Reds station - great face they are putting on Reds baseball.

The shame is that the Reds have no viable alternative when their agreement ends with WLW. It's the only 50K Watt station in town, not to mention how many more of the stations are Clear Channel stations as it is. I've said this multiple times, but as soon as I heard the one ad, I knew Griffey would go (and from a baseball standpoint, for everyone involved, it was the right decision), but I thought why would he stay?

[RedsBaron]

That is one of the best articles Hal has ever written.

[savafan]

That's awesome coming from the official Reds station - great face they are putting on Reds baseball.

And we wonder why the fans in this town don't respect the players on the field.

[wally post]

And no doubt, the players don't respect the fans in the stands either.

[Caveat Emperor]

5 - If I were running the Reds, Chris Dickerson would now become my CF for the rest of the season.

Yup -- but it seems like they're hell bent on getting everything out of Jerry Hairston's career year.

[M2]

Are we sure that Griffey would have approved a trade if Krivsky made it a year ago or if O'Brien made it 5 years ago?

We'll never know. All we know is the first time the Reds brought him a trade offer, he approved it.

I always thought Jr.'s supposed refusal to move was a strawman. It assumed he had no ambition. Plus, we've all seen Jr.'s demeanor when he's enjoying the game. During the last four seasons since his no trade kicked in, he's looked like a guy who treats baseball like it's a job (in fact he's said as much). I can't imagine a chance to move to a winning team and away from the Cincinnati media would have seemed to him like anything but deliverance.

[cumberlandreds]

The shame is that the Reds have no viable alternative when their agreement ends with WLW. It's the only 50K Watt station in town, not to mention how many more of the stations are Clear Channel stations as it is. I've said this multiple times, but as soon as I heard the one ad, I knew Griffey would go (and from a baseball standpoint, for everyone involved, it was the right decision), but I thought why would he stay?

With the advent of satellite radio and the Internet MLB teams really don't need 50K stations anymore. I live in the DC area and I can listen to the Reds anytime I want to. A few years ago I couldn't. Teams have already started going away from them. The Cardinals dropped KMOX a couple of years ago and I think there have been others too. What WLW was doing yesterday was complete and utter trash. I turned over to them on the Internet hoping to get the latest news on if Griffey had accepted the trade or not. All I got was trash. Sorry Matt but I doubt I will ever listen to them again.

[M2]

That is one of the best articles Hal has ever written.

What has Hal McCoy done with Hal McCoy?

[corkedbat]

Great article by Hal. I think yesterday was a good move for the Reds and probably Junior, but I'll always remember hinm as a class act.

[VR]

Aug. 4, 2003

Kremchek repairs Griffey's right shoulder, which he dislocated on April 5 while diving for a ball against Chicago. He was expected to miss 6-to-10 weeks with the shoulder injury earlier in the season, but missed just 37 days and returned May 12.

The curse of Paul Bako, who hit the gapper. We should have know he was evil then, before he was allowed to be a millstone on Cincy's payroll.

[Nugget]

How so? JR was paid 100 million dollars to spend half of his time on the DL. Was it Cincinnati's fault that he wouldn't condition himself properly in the off season?

JR got a ton more than he deserved from the Reds. Not that I blame him for that......it was just an owner and GM that got so taken with the idea of ONE star that they ruined the organization for a decade.....and maybe beyond (we will have to wait and see).

:thumbdown

Another crock of crap who knows nothing about Junior's injuries and conditioning. Junior worked harder than anyone to get back from his injuries. Worked with the trainer during the offseason and even had a gym in his home. Those injuries are from going full out to play for the REDS - conditioning has nothing to do with it.

[princeton]

I think that Jr would be better off doing the DH thing. ChiSox aren't the best place-- they're full of DHs already. Jr should feel right at home.

Jr trade was pure luck. Kenny Williams is surely the only GM in baseball having interest. and ChiSox don't even need him-- they need somebody different, really.

that said, during Jocketty's first years in St Louis, I often thought that he was the luckiest GM around because deals that I liked seemed to fall into his lap. nobody wanted McGwire, nobody wanted Edmonds, and Jocketty seemed to get them by default-- it's not like he ever paid a dime. eventually, it occurred to me that it's probably not coincidence. Walt kept money available to land these deals, and was patient enough to eschew other lesser players that cost just enough.

either that, or Jocketty is lucky that few GMs in the league have any common sense.

[WVRedsFan]

This thread is almost like an obituary. I'm willing to bet that Junior will shine in Chicago and play another year somewhere. He's not through, as we've seen over the last few weeks. I hope he goes on one of his hot streaks and makes SportsCenter evey night.

I also fear for what the Reds offense will become without Griffey in the lineup. Maybe Dunn and others will step up. Lord knows we need them to do just that.