Ken Griffey Jr.: What Could Have Been

Somewhere in an alternate universe, where the Mitchell Report never appeared, Roger Clemens is in a quiet retirement, and Barry Bonds' career ended without dethroning Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr. is approaching the 700 home-run mark.

Snapping out of this perfect fantasy world, we come to a place where performance-enhancing drugs have tarnished the game, and the records that were so highly revered are now in doubt.

The noble Hank Aaron has lost his title to one of the most hated athletes in America, and Ken Griffey Jr., a man whose name has never been in the same sentence as steroids, is approaching 600 home runs.

Griffey is the type of athlete who seems to have you cheering for him, even if he has just hit a game winner against your favorite team. He plays the game with a smile on his face as though he realizes just how lucky he is to play America's past time as his career.

I had the great opportunity to sit in the first row in right field as the Atlanta Braves played the Cincinnati Reds this year, and I couldn't shake the thought from my mind that he, not Barry Bonds, should be the new home run king.

Looking at the numbers, Griffey averages 40 home runs a season. Since 2001, Griffey has been on the disabled list for 274 games, which equates to 1.8 full seasons, or 72 missed home runs placing him to this day at around 671 career home runs.

While it is very unlikely that over these seven seasons he would be completely injury free, the point is made that at the age of 38, Griffey would very likely have enough years left in him to claim the home run record.

Imagine the hype around Ken Griffey Jr. in the media. Instead of online polls about whether or not an asterisk should be next to Griffey's record, it would be a celebration of a great role model.

An athlete who stands with pride, as the American people crowd around their TVs to see if tonight is the night that "the kid" comes one home run closer to history. Who runs the bases with his head held high, knowing that he did it right, that it was done on a level playing field with those before him, and that he deserves everything he's worked for.

This was not meant to be. Instead, Griffey stands at the edge of the 600 home run club, a feat only accomplished by five men before him. I write this article not to diminish what Griffey has done in his amazing career, but more to mourn what could have, and in my mind should have, been.

It is with a heavy heart that I think of what seemed to be destiny for Griffey, but in the end was denied to him by injuries. 

Griffey is a champion, a hero of the sport when so few remain, and a man who should be not only remembered for what he did, but for the way he did it; cleanly and with pride.