Ken Griffey Jr.

Today marks the end of the career of one of most prolific hitters in the history of professional baseball as Ken Griffey, Jr. announced his retirement today after 22 years.

In an official statement, the 40 year-old Griffey stated:

We didn’t want it to end this way. We wanted "Junior," "The Kid," "The Man Who Saved Baseball in Seattle."

We wanted one more laser-fast whip of the bat. We wanted one more smooth shot into the right field seats. We wanted one more ear-to-ear smile. We wanted one more moment to treasure.

We wanted the player of our youth, the stuff of legends.

We didn’t get it. What we got was Joe Namath as a Ram, Willie Mays as a Met, and Franco Harris as a Seahawk.

The Seattle Mariners have certainly had their struggles thus far this season, as high expectations heading into the year haven't amounted to much.

The lack of production at the designated hitter slot has been a major issue, and Ken Griffey Jr. finally took action Wednesday, when he officially announced his retirement after a 22-season career that should make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. 

Griffey's career has been one for the ages. His 630 home runs are fifth on the all time list, none of which came this season, as he hit a meager .184 with only seven RBI. 

The words Frank Sinatra made famous, "I did it my way," are being sung up in the rainy city as longtime Seattle Mariner, Ken Griffey Jr., decided to call it a career after 22 seasons in the big leagues ending with 630 career home runs.

I remember watching him so many years ago when he first broke into the league. He was the sweet swinging left-hander that made it look so easy. His stroke seemed effortless, yet he could send a ball 500 feet with one swing of the bat.

One of the game's all-time greats called it a career on Wednesday. Ken Griffey Jr. officially announced his retirement, according to MLB.com, after 22 years in the game. Junior exits the game ranked fifth all time with 630 home runs, sitting behind only Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays.

Griffey, who's father Ken played 19 seasons himself, was drafted with the first overall pick in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft. Since then, he's become an instant legend. He's a 10-time Gold Glove winner and has won seven Silver Slugger awards.

Ken Griffey Jr will always be known to myself and many others as "The Kid." As of June 2, 2010, The Kid is retired until Cooperstown calls his number.

He gave a statement that read

"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction.”

There were many baseball fans, myself included, who thought that the Mariner's were the real day. Who wouldn't? They showed vast improvements in 2009 and they made a bunch of moves to get even better. The fact that the Angels looked pretty weak only help the Mariners' chances. Oh were we wrong.

This team can't hit, can't score, and can't hit home runs. It doesn't even matter that they can't hit home runs because there's no one on the stadium to catch them.

Baseball is a sport unlike others when it comes to age. If you're 40 and a basketball player, you're done unless you have extreme ability or are just playing a few minutes a game. If you're 40 and a football player, you're either retired, a kicker/punter, or Brett Favre.

Regularly though, ballplayers will play well into their 40s, and play well at that. Julio Franco hung around forever, as did Nolan Ryan.

There are currently ten ballplayers over 40 who have been active this season.

Thank you ESPN. Thank you Seattle newspapers. Thank you Mariners fans. Thank you radio talk shows. Thank you sports world. Oh yeah, and thank you Kevin Gregg.

I say thank you to all of the above because you have awoken one of the greatest baseball players of all time from his slumber.

Throughout this season, Griffey had been criticized day in and day out on how he should retire. People have said he's too old, doesn't have the same bat anymore, and simply cannot perform at the Major League level.

The big story of the start of the baseball season would be the great starts by Tampa Bay, San Diego, Cincinnati and Washington.

The other big stories are off the field tales of Hall of Fame players napping and teens getting tasered.

The big debate is about parity. As of right now, there are fifteen teams that are .500 or better. That is great news for those who argue that parity does exist.