Gregg Doyel has already taken his wrath out on Marvin Harrison in very spiteful fashion. That was, and still is, one of my favorite posts I have written (if I do say so myself). Gregg and I have love/hate relationship. I loved his column about how A-Rod should sue the government and generally hate it when he takes out vendettas he has on athletes. This time Ken Griffey Jr. has pissed Gregg off. What did he do? He chose the Mariners over the Braves. Not that it really matters which of these non-contender teams Griffey chooses but it still upsets Gregg.
Ken Griffey's quest for love will continue in Seattle, where one of the most naturally talented players in baseball history will seek the adoration of strangers at the expense of his family. Which makes no sense at all.
Ah yes, I remember the first two seasons of "Ken Griffey Jr.'s Quest for Love" on VH1.
Gregg thinks that Ken Griffey Jr. has a bizarre need to be loved and he doesn't appear to like him because of this. Gregg has an intense need to be hated, which is why he relishes receiving hate mail and has a sentence in pretty much every column asking everyone to hate him.
And the things he will do to satisfy that craving are equally shocking. And a little depressing. And ultimately, disappointing.
Does he make out in hot tubs with loads of skanky women hoping to find the one that is his true love? Does he hang around bars late at night asking everyone if they know who he is? I do remember that time he was supposed to sing the National Anthem at a basketball game in Seattle and ended up actually singing "You Must Love Me" from Evita. That was a little depressing and disappointing.
His most recent decision is his most bizarre decision yet, choosing Seattle over Atlanta for the 2009 season.
The audacity. He chose the team that he played with for 11 seasons where he could DH all the time over a team that was going to have him platoon in LF, which is a position he has limited experience at regardless of how many at-bats the team was willing to give him. Clearly this decision was completely about how much he hates his family though and not about an opportunity for one more farewell in the city that he has tons of fond memories about. It also clearly not about being able to DH anytime he wants and not having to play LF. That's what Gregg wants you to believe.
They like Junior in Seattle. After getting a taste of him during interleague play in 2007, they crave him. And nobody craves to be craved like Ken Griffey.
I don't know. A-Rod is pretty bad himself with needing to be liked. Even his eyes say, "please love me," which Madonna gladly does. (I still don't get why he shacks up with Madonna...this clearly scares me)
There are tons of other athletes that just have to be liked and I have never counted Griffey among them. Of course, I probably don't know him like Gregg knows Griffey.
The Braves' spring training site is 20 minutes from Griffey's home in Orlando.
According to this site, Ken Griffey Jr. has made about $147 million dollars in his baseball career, I think he is able to purchase a plane ticket, or perhaps an actual plane, so his family can come see him when he wants them to. When you are talking about millionaires, decisions about which team to play for is usually not a family decision because they can afford to have the family travel back and forth.
Seattle? That's a haul. That is quite literally the farthest MLB franchise from his family. With them in mind, Griffey couldn't have continued his professional career in a less convenient place than Seattle -- unless he wanted to be a Nippon Ham Fighter.
Again, he is very wealthy and this decision was not about his family, it was about where he wanted to play baseball next year.
If Griffey were all about loving his family, he'd be an Atlanta Brave.
Actually, if he really cared about loving his family and did not want to bitch slap them with his message of hate from Seattle, he would go play for the Tampa Bay Rays or the Florida Marlins. I would imagine those are closer to Orlando than Atlanta. So why Atlanta?
Griffey is all about getting love for himself. And so he's a Seattle Mariner. And they do love him in Seattle. Well, they love him now. They didn't love him in 1999 when he left the Mariners for Cincinnati, his first bizarrely insecure career move.
Generally when a franchise's best player forces that team to trade him while he is still one of the best players in the league and the team was building a great nucleus of young ball players, the fans tend to hate this. Then after a while they got over and it and they like him again.
Not to mention Seattle has a history of being cheap with their stars, so you really can't blame Griffey. Think of all the stars they let get away, Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr, and Alex Rodriguez, just to name a few. I realize it would have been expensive to sign all those players, plus it is always so rainy up there in Seattle, it has to be a little depressing, so I can see why players leave.
At the time, Griffey forced the Mariners to trade him by saying he'd leave -- for nothing in return -- as a free agent. So Seattle got what it could for him and sent him where he wanted to go all along, to the Reds. Griffey had said he wanted to be closer to his family in Orlando, but he helped engineer the trade not to Atlanta, which wanted him and which would have made the most sense from a family standpoint, but to Cincinnati.
Sure, Griffey should have just gotten himself traded to the Atlanta Braves who would have put him....where again? They had a centerfielder who was arguably better defensively in Andruw Jones and he was very much cheaper than Griffey. I am not sure if I ever recall the Braves ever being in serious talks to acquire Griffey. Regardless, Gregg's fascination with Griffey playing in Atlanta needed to be satisfied, and because it wasn't, Griffey hates his family.
Griffey could not force the Braves to acquire him.
All those years later, Cincinnati still loved him. Seattle, meanwhile, was falling out of love with Griffey, whose immaturity and insecurity were starting to become apparent. Griffey saw the writing on the wall, and bolted.
For his family.
I like how Gregg is criticizing Griffey for moving from Chicago to Seattle this past offseason where he is further away from his family, but still doesn't give him credit for moving from Seattle to Cincinnati to be closer to his family in 1999. He never said he wanted to play baseball in his family's backyard, he just wanted to be closer to his family and he was for almost 10 years when he played for Cincinnati. Now he is playing one more year where his career started, which is further away from his family, but I don't think they are going to have to purchase too many bus tickets to see him play.
Griffey is rich and can pretty much see his family any type he wants when he is not playing baseball...which will be after this year.
The Reds stunk, and Griffey was blamed. Not fair.
Do you know who should be blamed for the Reds stinking? The entire pitching staff and Jim Bowden. They both stunk almost the entire time Griffey was there. I wish Gregg would write a column hating on them. Instead he chooses Griffey in order to continue his tradition of hating athletes that seem pretty harmless to the general public.
I bet Gregg still burns ants with a magnifying glass just to watch them burn.
I had a radio show in 2007, and Griffey was a target. Hell, you know me -- everyone was a target. But Griffey had family and his agent in town, and they heard the things I would say, and they would tell Junior.
Knowing what I know about Gregg, which is pretty much what he writes, he was probably very mean to Griffey. I know he wrote this column in 2007 where he pretty much writes very similar things about Griffey as he did here.
So he knew who I was every time I walked into the clubhouse.
Yeah, you were probably the white guy with the mohawk. Not hard to find in a major league clubhouse. Also, Gregg was probably trying his hardest to make people hate him. He may have been calling the player's mothers mean names or carrying around kittens and throwing them against the wall. When they would purr, he would probably look at them, yell in Chinese and stuff one in a locker. You just never know with this guy. I just feel like he is unpredictable.
He threw a water bottle at me one day, not playfully, when my back was turned. He missed. (Gold Glove my ass.)
I don't remember talking about how Griffey had the most accurate arm in the world, I do remember he was awarded a Gold Glove or two for his acrobatic catches. Maybe if Gregg had thrown the water bottle near the top of the wall, Griffey could have climbed the wall and caught it, then thrown it at Gregg...of course Griffey would have pulled a hamstring but my point still stands that he got Gold Gloves for his catches and range in CF mostly.
Regardless, he has a history of throwing stuff at Gregg Doyel...which may be why Gregg does not like him that much.
He and his stooge Adam Dunn snickered at me.
Then they would snap Gregg with a towel, give him a wedgie, and finally Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn, and Aaron Harang gave Gregg a swirlie, while Ken Griffey Jr. was penning his autobiography, "Why I Hate My Entire Family and Want To Move to Seattle To Get the Hell Away From Them...Ouch My Hamstring."
And Griffey even would ask other reporters, friendlier reporters, what I wanted, what I was doing, why I was there.
It sounds to me like he hates you. Maybe he chose to play in Seattle instead of Cincinnati to get further away from you and his family understood this reasoning.
But when you're done with that, you silly little Griffey fanboy, answer me a question:
Riddle me this Doyel: Why do you love to be hated?
If Junior is all about his family, as he has said for years, why did he pick Seattle over Atlanta?
These are two mutually exclusive issues. Griffey can be all about his family and he still want to play the last year of his major league career in Seattle. He chose Seattle because he could be an everyday DH, did not have to learn a new position in the field, and because of his history in that city. Griffey is probably going to retire after this year and he will be with his family from that point until his death, I think the family will be able to suffer without his absence for one more year. Again, if Griffey really wanted to be close to his family he would sign with Florida or Tampa Bay and not the Atlanta Braves.
First, Gregg has unnecessary hate against Marvin Harrison for being a fraud and now he thinks Ken Griffey Jr. is all about wanting to get away from his family.
I wish Bill Simmons still worked on Fridays and then my fragile eyes would not be subjected to Gregg's hate.
couple of quotes without comment from Reilly's latest blog post:
ReplyDelete"(6) I really hate to write. Abhor it. I write at restaurants and bars, so I don't feel so abjectly alone. "
"(25) Person I'd most like to meet: Dave Barry."
Also the braves are not a non-contender this year. They have the best pitching staff (well maybe before they signed glavine they did) and the best defense in the NL East.
ReplyDeleteI can tell Reilly hates to write because even when he does write, he only puts down 500 words or so. Hmmm...I used to love Dave Barry when I was younger so I am not sure what I can say to that without insulting myself. That's not good for me I have something in common with Reilly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I am diehard Braves fan so I am aware they have upgraded their pitching staff, but (a) I don't want to get too excited or (b) become an uber fan where I trumpet all the great things my favorite teams have done. I tend to insult my favorite teams when I write on here more than compliment. I realize it is bizarre.
The staff looks really good this year, so I agree with you, though I would have felt better if they had not signed Glavine and just given one of the 5 younger guys a chance at the 5th spot. I think they will give the spot to Glavine, even if he does not deserve it. I do think the offense is a mess though, when (not if) Chipper gets hurt the lineup is going to lack a lot of power.
Thanks for commenting.
I jsut don't see the Braves as having enough of everything to overcome the Mets and the Phillies. One, but not both. They need another stick in that lineup.
ReplyDeleteYep, that is exactly where I am at as well. Not to mention the Nationals and the Marlins will be improved as well. I think the Braves will be third place still because they don't have the offense and they really don't have the shutdown pitcher the Phils and Mets have in Hamels and Santana. At least not unless Tommy Hanson comes up to the majors and becomes what everyone hypes him to be. They need another bat in the lineup and even if everything works out for them, I think their ceiling is second place in the East and an outside shot at the Wild Card. They have done nothing to improve the offense really.
ReplyDeleteApparently the Braves signed Garret Anderson to at least platoon in LF. The funny thing to me is the second paragraph that says the deal hasn't been finalized yet. Tomorrow we'll probably see a story saying that he signed with someone else.
ReplyDeleteI too think the Braves don't have enough offense. I didn't understand why it never seemed like they were looking at Adam Dunn. They need someone to hit cleanup. Chipper seems to be hitting more for average now than power, and I wonder how important having the highest career average for a switch-hitter is to him. Francoeur is a question mark, as is CF. I know their pitching staff should be better, I'm just not enamored with their offense.
Also, there was some talk about Griffey coming to Atlanta when he went to Cincinnati, but I don't know what of that was serious and what was the media. I remember Terrence Murphy writing that Griffey was worth 10 wins a year over Andruw, but didn't give numbers to back it up.
I guess I don’t get it, why does he compare where Atlanta plays their SPRING TRAINING games to where Seattle plays their REGULAR SEASON games? Atlanta still plays their regular season games in Atlanta and other cities. I don’t know, the city of Atlanta is further away than 20 mins away then Griffey’s home (I don’t know, I didn’t major in geography, but I did pass the 2nd grade). I also know that Griffey’s wife knew that he was a professional baseball player when they got married, and that being a professional baseball player comes with the knowing that their job isn’t located in any specific city. I mean they only play 82 games in Seattle, that’s really not the much considering he is a baseball player and is not in the normal workforce of this country. And something tells me supplying millions and millions of dollars to his family is showing he cares more about them than anything else.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I think his family has more than enough time off in the summer to travel around with him. And I’m sure they don’t complain much about that, considering they get to go to all these different cities and not have to worry about how they are going to afford it. It’s just as if he has something personal against Griffey cause there is no other reason to call someone out on how they are affecting their family by doing exactly what they have done for years and years and are not divorced. Did he talk to his wife and kids before this article? Does he know for a fact how this is affecting him family? Did it ever come to his mind that maybe his family enjoys the travel, enjoy watching their dad or husband play baseball, or maybe enjoy the life they have because their dad is talented enough to earn a living playing a game???
I just think if you have something personal against a certain person that maybe you as a professional writer shouldn’t really write about them past anything they do on the field.
I think the Braves have actually managed to sign Garrett Anderson. They deserve some credit for not allowing him to back out.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like every OF I wanted the Braves to sign if it were 1999 is getting a look from them now. Abreu, Griffey, and now Anderson. They have Anderson at cleanup right now against RH pitchers, I am not kidding. Frenchy is more than a question mark in RF, he is an offensive liability. He was beyond awful last year and CF is up for grabs with three different guys. I actually think of one of them will pan out, but I still think you can't win baseball games with Garrett Anderson in the cleanup spot but maybe I am wrong. The pitching staff has gotten deeper, but they don't have that ace pitcher they need in the NL East.
AJ, those were my thoughts exactly. It's not like Griffey decided to become a MLB player five years ago, his kids are used to him not being at home and his wife knows how this goes. Doyel tends to take out vendettas against some of the athletes he doesn't like, much in the same way Mariotti does, except Doyel lies in wait for that athlete to screw up and then rights a column, rather than just taking shots at them like Mariotti.
It is much easier to write a column without quotes from the family, than to actually see if the presumption you are making is true or not. I do wish Doyel would take out his vendettas more often though, they are my favorite to write about.
No, you are right, they can't win games with him hitting 4th. He is like a 6th hitter if anything. Someone that has a little pop and hits for a decent average and will drive in runs. That doesnt sound like a 4 hitter or 5 hitter to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't know, to me thats an ok signing depending on how much they paid him. It's going to be a tough division to contend in though.
I know, it is a good problem to have but the Braves best hitter is probably Brian McCann and he is a catcher so you can't always put him in the cleanup spot, plus he is better at the 5th spot. I really wish they had given the money up for Adam Dunn, but they did not want to actually get better on offense it sounds like, they just wanted to fill the spot as cheaply as possible.
ReplyDeleteAnderson is fine at the 6th spot but I am also afraid some of the younger guys on the roster would be able to give the same production for less money.