openentrance – What's Really Going OnWhat's Really Going On

I was out having some wings last night and Hoggy’s had the Reds versus the marlins game on one of the sets. I was lucky enough to catch Ken Griffey Jr. hitting his 600^th home run. I am a professed baseball fan. It was my first sport, and my father was understandably distressed when I decided to give it up my junior year in HS. After all, two year prior I’d had a try-out wit the KC Royals as a pitcher. He thought it was my best sport, but my heart was into basketball. Nevertheless, I have continued to enjoy watching the sport being played.

No one plays the sport with more enthusiasm, passion and God-given ability than “The Kid.” Griffey has the sweetest swing I have ever witnessed. He is a joy to watch swing the bat. Any true baseball fan loves to watch people who just have a seemingly effortless stroke at the plate. Griffey has one; Barry Bonds – love him or hate him—has one; Willie Mays had one, and to hear my father tell it, none had a better swing than Ted Williams.

What struck me as I watched Griffey blast the 3-1 hanging curve ball over the right field wall was that Griffey is now amongst a very exclusive club– Bonds, Aaron, Ruth, Mays, Sosa and now Griffey. What also struck me was that all of the members of Baseballs 600 Homer Club are of color, save Ruth. Another interesting fact is that two of those six men came from the Negro League—Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

Griffey plays the game the “right” way. He respects it, and pays homage to the men who came before him. He exudes a genuine joy while playing the game that lends itself to his being liked throughout baseball. He has never been caught up in a scandal of any sort , and is the only member of the 6000 Home Run Club from the so-called “steroid era” – Bonds and Sosa being the other two—against whom no allegations, insinuations, or findings of guilt have been made. “Junior,” as he is affectionately called, is a testament to how you play America’s Game.

Yesterday was special. History was made, but what made the image of Griffey hitting number 600 and rounding the bases was not what happened during the celebration in his honor. It wasn’t the hug he received from his manager Dusty Baker. It wasn’t the celebratory head and butt slaps given to Griffey by proud teammates. It was the hug he received from his teenaged son who is a ball boy for the Reds. It was the image of him smiling and talking with his dad on the bench in the club house. It was the pride Griffey seemed to have from having his son next to him after having accomplished this milestone. Finally it was the subtle yet striking picture of Griffey’s son sitting next to his dad, and spitting out sunflower seeds just like his dad does and was doing at the time. It was son modeling the behavior of a father.

Griffey’s son may never play the game like his father and his grandfather did before him. He will however, be able to tell the story of being there with his dad when he made history. He will be able to relay the lessons taught to him by his father while sitting next to him I the dugout over the years. He will be able to apply those baseball lessons to life lessons, and pass them on to his own child or children. He will be able to talk about how his dad worked hard, played hard , achieved greatness, did it the right way, and was there for him just being dad, all the while!

Written by Bombay Stories