Ken Griffey Jr. Retires

Posted on June 2, 2010

Ken Griffey Jr. of the Seattle Mariners smiles during a game against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California in 1997. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

After playing baseball for 22 years longtime Seattle Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement this afternoon. The 40-year-old Griffey ranks 5th the all-time home run list with 630. He trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Willie Mays (660), and ranks 3rd among left-handed hitters. He almost had to share the headlines with Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga, but the Tigers pitcher got screwed out of a perfect game with two outs in the 9th inning tonight on a horrendous call by first plate umpire Jim Joyce.

I first photographed Griffey in 1989 or 1990 and have shot him every season since then. Since he played so many years with the Mariners I had many times to shoot him here in Oakland because his club made three trips here every season. I also had the chance to shoot him in both parks in Seattle: the Kingdome and Safeco Field. Griffey always had such a beautiful left-handed swing to shoot, it was tough to make a bad picture of him. He could be surly around the batting cage at times when we tried to shoot candid portraits of him taking batting practice, but he seemed to mellow (a little bit) with age over the past few years.

I am glad he decided to call it quits today, because he was obviously done. He was done two years ago when he was with the Chicago White Sox and should have hung it up at the end of his farewell tour in Seattle last year. As a baseball fan I hate to see a guy like Griffey try and hang on when he obviously can’t pay up to the standards he set during the glory days of his career.

The Mariners are going through a pretty awful season and with Griffey retiring he takes tons of pressure off the club, since they will not have to deal with releasing him as they try and move forward with what might be a major rebuilding project.

Throughout his career Griffey was often compared to Barry Bonds. Bonds always got ripped for being a surly pain-in-the-ass, but Griffey was no walk in the park. His image was saved by always smiling in public and playing in such a small market for many years. Things got ugly up there in Seattle a few weeks ago when he was said to have been sleeping in the clubhouse and unable to pinch hit during a game at Safeco Field. The end was near, and thanks to this announcement today Griffey will be able to go on with a new chapter in his life and the Mariners will be able to move forward in their season.

I will miss the kinder, gentler Griffey who let me photograph him in the Mariners dugout in Oakland a few months ago. I am sorry I won’t have the chance to shoot that swing anymore, but right now I can only think about the mess that just happened in Detroit. Holy shit!

Ken Griffey Jr. Retires – Images by Brad Mangin