An Open Letter to Ken Griffey, Jr.

Dear Mr. Griffey:

Ever since I first played Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball on my Super Nintendo, you have been one of my favorite players. I've always liked you because of your skill, your class, and the fact that, as far as I can tell, you've been clean your whole career.

I was disappointed when you left Seattle for Cincinnati, and even more so when you began to succumb to injuries after that move.

I had always hoped that you would be the one to set all of the prestigious offensive records, rather than your juiced-up and dumb contemporaries. You were the good guy, and I hoped for the best from you.

It didn't happen. But you can make one last-ditch effort at awesomeness and close the loop.

You can go back to Seattle.


Reports have stated that you're currently deciding between the Atlanta Braves and the Seattle Mariners. I would like to beg you, on behalf of everyone who grew up on Super Nintendo baseball games in the 1990s, to go back to the Mariners, and to finish out your career there

There are plenty of reasons to go to the Braves—namely, they're a lot better than the Mariners—but for once, I think that going to the winning team is the wrong choice.

You came up with Seattle. You had basically all of your best years there. And the city is in sports hell right now. The Seahawks are terrible, the Mariners were horrifyingly disappointing last year, and the Sonics left.

The people there need something good to happen. And you would be that thing.

And you would be doing a service to baseball. Like I already said, you were the clean one during the steroid age. In fact, your injuries might have been prevented had you caved in and used like everyone else.

In the face of the recent resurfacing of that dirty era, it would do everyone some good to see you back in a Mariners uniform as a reminder that not everyone in baseball was a cheater.

And besides, who knows? Maybe going back to Seattle will send some good karma your way. Maybe you have one more 56 home run season in you.

So please, sign with the Mariners. It would make everyone who doesn't live in Atlanta happy. And it would probably be good for you too.

Love,
Thomas

P.S. Please never test positive for anything. It would kill me.

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