Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey, Jr.
Before Ichiro was the most famous player on the Mariners, there was Ken Griffey, Jr. Griffey reached the big leagues with the M’s as a 19-year-old in 1989. History will show that he finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting that season, but neither Gregg Olson nor Tom Gordon, who finished first and second, would come close to the heights that Griffey reached.
“The Kid” ran off 10 straight all-star seasons with the Mariners from 1990 to 1999, while averaging 38 homers and 109 RBI per season. He led the league in home runs four times and was the AL MVP in 1997. Despite playing in the Pacific Northwest, Griffey was the face of baseball in the 1990s, famous for his youthful smile and the backward cap on his head.
Then came the trade to the Cincinnati Reds before the 2000 season. Griffey wanted out of Seattle, so he could play for the team he’d grown up watching his father play for. He was traded to the Reds for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Perez, and Jake Meyer. The Mariners got the last laugh on this deal. Cameron was a much better player for the M’s over the next four years (averaging 5.0 WAR per year) than Griffey was for the Reds (averaging 2.2 WAR per year) and cost about $26 million less than Junior.
Griffey spent the next eight-and-a-half seasons with the Reds and a half-season with the White Sox. The Mariners brought him back as a free agent in 2009, but he was a shadow of his former self. He played in 117 games, almost all as a DH, but was a below average hitter (.214/.324/.411, 97 wRC+) and finished precisely at replacement level. It wasn’t a good year for Griffey, but at least the team won a respectable 85 games. It would have been an excellent time to walk away.
Instead, Griffey was back for the 2010 season, and it was ugly. He hit .184/.250/.204 in 33 games. In May, it was reported that he fell asleep in the clubhouse during one game, which caused him to miss a pinch-hitting opportunity (he denies this). One player on the club said, “He doesn’t sleep well at night, he’s away from his family, he’s comfortable in the clubhouse. They could have awakened him.”
Not long after, Griffey abruptly retired by releasing a statement through the team. No press conference, no farewell tour. He just slipped away before a game against the Minnesota Twins. Ichiro was his teammate at the time and said, “To play with him is a treasure I will keep deep in my heart. I have played 19 years in professional baseball, and I can say he was one of my best teammates and my best friend.”