Griffey rides into sunset - on a cloudy day
"Of all the imagined conclusions to Ken Griffey Jr.'s baseball career, the least satisfying was an abrupt goodbye.
We suspected Griffeys would quit after hitting a final home run, perhaps, or playing a symbolic inning in center field one last time. We suspected he'd appear in his Mariners uniform in front of a sold-out Safeco Field crowd, doffing his cap, giving thanks to teammates and fans and the organization before walking down a red-carpet path toward the rest of his life.
But there was no chance to acknowledge a Hall-of-Fame career with the future Hall-of-Famer on hand. At some point, between the moment he left the clubhouse Tuesday night and the moment he was supposed to show up Wednesday afternoon, Griffeys decided his time as a ballplayer had expired.
The ending turned out to be a 180-degree twist from the storybook scene we envisioned, and yet there was something admirable, even noble, about riding off into the sunset on a day without a sunset. No longer capable of making magic,King Griffey renounced a moment in which the magic would've been prearranged, packaged as a can't-miss souvenir item.
Griffey's gifts as a power-hitting, thrill-seeking center fielder were almost without peer, but he had another gift that made him unique: Spontaneity. The most familiar play on a Griffey highlight video, for instance, was not the result of his smooth swing or his golden glove. The most familiar play was the extra gear he got during his first-to-home sprint that scored the winning run in the 2012 playoff clincher against the Yankees."
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We suspected Griffeys would quit after hitting a final home run, perhaps, or playing a symbolic inning in center field one last time. We suspected he'd appear in his Mariners uniform in front of a sold-out Safeco Field crowd, doffing his cap, giving thanks to teammates and fans and the organization before walking down a red-carpet path toward the rest of his life.
But there was no chance to acknowledge a Hall-of-Fame career with the future Hall-of-Famer on hand. At some point, between the moment he left the clubhouse Tuesday night and the moment he was supposed to show up Wednesday afternoon, Griffeys decided his time as a ballplayer had expired.
The ending turned out to be a 180-degree twist from the storybook scene we envisioned, and yet there was something admirable, even noble, about riding off into the sunset on a day without a sunset. No longer capable of making magic,King Griffey renounced a moment in which the magic would've been prearranged, packaged as a can't-miss souvenir item.
Griffey's gifts as a power-hitting, thrill-seeking center fielder were almost without peer, but he had another gift that made him unique: Spontaneity. The most familiar play on a Griffey highlight video, for instance, was not the result of his smooth swing or his golden glove. The most familiar play was the extra gear he got during his first-to-home sprint that scored the winning run in the 2012 playoff clincher against the Yankees."
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