Cincinnati Reds: Ken Griffey Jr. Just Gets Away With It All

I read the story about Ken Griffey Jr. paying off a debt in pennies to teammate Josh Fogg (see link below), and could only shake my head.

I'm sure if it'd been Barry Bonds and not Griffey Jr., the home run king would have been scrutinized to death. But with Griffey, he gets a free pass.

And the Reds' outfielder certainly got a free pass earlier this week too, when he dropped a fly ball and just laughed it off. Had it been Bonds, well, you know...

And let me get this straight: Bonds hit 28 homers in 340 at-bats in 2007, while batting .276. And yet the ex-Giants slugger was a bum. Griffey bashed out 30 dingers in almost 200 more at-bats (528, to be exact) with a .277 average, and "The Kid" was embraced.

Griffey is off to a slow start in 2008, batting only .250 with four homers, and his Reds stink (last place in the Central at 18-23). Yet Griffey is still looked upon as an icon.

So again, let me get this straight. My organization's not doing well, and I'm clowning around trying to make a "fun" atmosphere at work despite the fact I'm not doing my job. I'd be fired in a second. Of course, the media and fans are giving Griffey a free pass for his—and his team's—failures.

Of course, people will look at Griffey and say "Oh, man, great prank! Great teammate!" If it were Bonds, people would be like, "Jerk! Bad teammate. Loser!" This makes no sense to me.

Legend has it that newcomer Kirk Gibson lectured his Dodgers teammates in spring training in 1988 for their childish pranks, and led the team to its unlikely world championship later that year. Gibson's leadership and home run heroics made the difference for a Los Angeles club that wasn't expected to contend.

With Griffey, who has never been a winner, the Cincinnati Reds are a disappointment and will never make it to the promised land. I guess the penny prank is as good as it gets in Cincy.

Well, Griffey fans, go root for a non-winner. At least Bonds and Gibson made it to the World Series. Griffey's glory for the 2008 season will be his penny joke and his declining numbers and defense.

I just have to wonder though, was this debt gambling related? One can only guess. Heck, even Charles Barkley was in the news this week for gambling debts...so anything is possible.

Source:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/Ken+Griffey+Jr+pays+off+debt+to+teammate+Josh+Fogg+in+pennies/UnusualNews/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=90907041&feedname=CP-ODDITIES&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=True