Swan Song

Ken Griffey, Jr. retired from baseball yesterday. His swan song was not a soaring aria -- just the quiet strum of an announcement made almost as an afterthought. Late-career injuries prevented Griffey from fulfilling the complete measure of his considerable abilities, but they didn't stop him from clouting 630 career home runs (fifth all time) or from playing the most inspired center field of his era.

At his peak in the 90s, before injuries enervated his effectiveness, Griffey was that rarest of players: He possessed in extravagance the five coveted baseball tools of hitting, hitting for power, speed, fielding, and throwing. And, he was a center fielder in the bargain. A great defensive center fielder alone is a rarity; five-tool center fielders with the celestial talents of a Ken Griffey are nearly unheard of: Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Joe Jackson come to mind, but I can't think of any others.

Shorty after moving to Seattle, we went to a Mariners game. The next day, I called my brother in Texas to tell him that he had to see this guy Griffey play. At the time, he was 20. A year or so later, Griffey made the best catch (3:35 on the video below) I've ever seen a outfielder make. The film doesn't do the play justice. It doesn't show how hard Ruben Sierra hit the ball, nor does one get an appreciation for the perfect angle Griffey cut as he streaked across the outfield in a straight line, leapt at the last split second for a backhanded catch, then caught his cleats in the wall. You don't hear the crowd's voice gather in anticipation as it began to look like he had a chance. Nor do you see Ruben Sierra turning his head between second and third to shake it in disbelief.

I've seen a lot a of ballplayers since attending my first game in 1961. That doesn't include Mays or Mantle (who was pretty much past his prime by 1962), but none of the rest hold a candle to Ken Griffey, Jr. in his prime. I'll never see another ballplayer as good...

Old teammates Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez remember Griffey and wish him well. Martinez belongs in the Hall of Fame...

Tom Verducci writes that Griffey's game was sublime, the embodiment of how baseball should be played...

Here, Griffey talks about his five greatest catches as a Mariner. Number 1 is the catch I describe above:

Opening Day

Here's to the two best smiles in the major leagues! Of course, if you were Manny Ramirez or Ken Griffey, Jr., you'd be smiling, too...

The Red Sox and A's played the earliest opening day in major league history this morning, with the Sox prevailing 6-5 in 10 innings. Manny drove in four runs and rookie Brandon Moss tied the game in the ninth with a one-out homer. If Manny is feeling it from the get-go, look out world. A big reason why the Red Sox enter the season as favorites to repeat is because they won it all last year despite Manny having and off year while David Ortiz struggled in the early going. 

My quickie evaluation of the Sox and their main competition:

Boston Red Sox: The best balanced team in the American League and therefore major league baseball. An outstanding bullpen supports a strong rotation headed by bona fide ace Josh Beckett. Big If: They're depending on LHP John Lester to finally realize his promise after beating lymphoma and on the continued development of rookie RHP Clay Bucholz.

Cleveland Indians: These guys are good, giving the Red Sox all they could handle in the ALCS. C. C. Sabbathia and Fausto Carmona are the best 1-2 starters in the league. The lineup is solid, although it's short on guys who really scare you. Big If: Is the bottom of the rotation good enough to pick Sabbathia and Carmona?

Detroit Tigers: The acquisition of Miguel Cabrera gives them a fearsome lineup that should lead the league runs scored. The rotation is good but nothing special, and the bullpen is a question mark. Big If: Can Dontrelle Willis turn around his declining numbers now that he is with a new team and will have all the offensive support he can use?

Los Angeles Angels: They won their division last year, so you have to respect them. The additions of Jon Garland and Torii Hunter will help, but I just don't see them as being in a class with the above three teams. Big If: Is Hunter good enough to protect Vladimir Guerrero?

New York Yankees: The Yanks still have plenty of guys who can produce, but overall this is an aging lineup with holes. The Indians exposed them in last year's playoffs as a team good enough to run up its record by beating up on weak opponents, but not good enough to take on a talented team in a post-season series. Big If: Can young pitchers Phillip Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain all come through?

Toronto Blue Jays: Once again, a popular pick to disrupt Red Sox-Yankee dominance in the AL East. They are very good up the middle, and it will be interesting to see if Scott Rolen can revive his career in Toronto. He's 32, meaning that history says he won't. Rolen was awfully good in his prime, though. Big If: Are A.J. Burnett and B.J. Ryan really healthy? They have to be for Toronto to contend.

What Did He Say? "Akinori Iwamura (Tampa Bay) may have the biggest thighs of any second baseman in modern day, but he has looked like a very adequate defender at the position."

Peter Gammons, ESPN

The Five Best Baseball Novels:

The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop., Robert Coover

Bang The Drum Slowly, Mark Harris

You Know Me Al, Ring Lardner

The Natural, Bernard Malamud

The Great American Novel, Philip Roth

With honorable mention to Hoopla (Harry Stein) and Toot-Toot-Tootsie Good-bye (Ron Powers).

Three Nonfiction Books You Must Read To Understand The Game As It Is Today:

The Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball, John Helyar

A Whole Different Ball Game: The Inside Story of the Baseball Revolution, Marvin Miller

Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, Jules Tygiel

The Three Most Important Figures In The History Of Baseball:

Marvin Miller

Jackie Robinson

Babe Ruth

See you at the ballpark!

Apropos of Nothing...

What did he say? "My sole criterion is, whatever we do, it ought to be in the context of success." So said President Bush while explaining that no one should expect troop withdrawals from Iraq any time soon. "Iraq" and "success" aren't typically thought as being within the same context, but there's always a first time. Anyway, the "generals" -- ours -- "ought to be concerned about making sure there's enough of a presence so that the provincial elections [in October] can be carried off in such a way that democracy advances." I don't know about you, but voting with occupying troops looking over my shoulder doesn't exactly make me think of a healthy, democratic body politic.

Fred Kaplan, one of the most prescient, articulate, and persuasive critics of the war and the occupation writes that Bush's successor will face an Iraq in worse condition than at any time during the Bush presidency. For one thing, thanks to internal Iraqi politics, there may not be provincial elections. The supposed reconciliation between factions looks more and more illusory each day. Next, the vaunted "Sunni Awakening," where Sunni tribes and militias combat Al Qaeda in Iraq may have run its course, in part because of insufficient U. S. advocacy for Sunnis with the central government. Kaplan is always good and well worth reading. 

The United States is an increasingly irrelevant presence in the never ending quest for Mideast peace...Is there any doubt about who the real winners in Iraq are?...A terrific letter to the editor here. Keep it in mind the next time someone questions Barack Obama's patriotism because he sometimes doesn't put his hand over his heart during "The Star-Spangled Banner"...Greg Oden, the 20-year old center for the Portland Trailblazers, blogs w(ith more dignity than any of the elders of the Tennessee Republican party in urging other young people to support Barack Obama. More here from the Seattle Times' Garry Washburn...Oden has more dignity than either John McCain or Bill O'Reilly, too. No doubt Michelle Obama feels better knowing that O'Reilly isn't willing to lynch her without "evidence"...Speaking of sweet swings, has anyone ever made hitting a home run look more effortless than Ken Griffey, Jr.? This will be my 47th season attending baseball games and I've yet to see that hitter.

One man's Johnny Winter collection:

The Progressive Blues Experiment (1969)

Johnny Winter (1969)

Second Winter (Legacy Edition) (1969, 2004)

Johnny Winter And (1970)

Johnny Winter And Live (1970)

Still Alive and Well (1973)

Guitar Slinger (1984)

The Winter of '88 (1988)

Live in NYC '97 (1998)

The Best of Johnny Winter (2002)

Live Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 (2007)

If you want a place to start, go with Johnny Winter and Still Alive and Well.