Seattle Mariners: Imagining Ken Griffey Jr. minus the injuries
By Manny Gómez
Today, we imagine a world in which Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. never got injured.
You may not know it, but last night MLB Network aired a documentary about Seattle Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. In watching the film, I was left in awe at the greatness that “The Kid” displayed on the baseball field.
At times, the film even drew comparisons between him and Michael Jordan, which left me wondering… Is Griffey the greatest MLB player of all time?
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Statistically speaking, as it stands, Griffey isn’t. Throughout his career, he battled too many injuries.
In fact, in his 22-years in MLB (1989-2010), Griffey had 9 seasons in which he played fewer than 125 games. This prevented him from reaching the level of heights never seen on the ballfield.
Luckily, baseball is a game of numbers. So, I’ve gone ahead and recreated the type of career “The Kid” would have had had he not been so injury-prone.
To do this, I took every season in which he played 125 or more games; there are 13 of them. Then, I averaged out how many runs, hits, doubles, home runs, and RBI he had in those years. in those 13 seasons, Griffey averaged…
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- 96 R
- 161 H
- 30 2B
- 36 HR
- 107 RBI
Next, I took those averages and extrapolated them over 22-seasons, the length of Griffey’s career. What I found is that over 22 seasons, with these averages, Griffey would have…
- Ranked 7th all-time with 2110 R,
- Ranked 5th all-time with 3540 H,
- Ranked 5th all-time with 668 2B,
- Ranked 1st all-time with 785 HR,
- Ranked 1st all-time with 2359 RBI.
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In essence, Ken Griffey Jr. would have been without a doubt the greatest MLB player of all time. Take into account the fact that he was an elite outfielder, and you’re left with the truest 5-tool player ever. Willie Mays 2.0, if you will.