The Year of the Pitcher or Baseball is Boring

Growing up in the steroid era of Major League Baseball started out awesome before, of course, we found out that everyone was cheating. We were treated to the summer of Sosa and McGwire and Bonds' 73 homers; records were being challenged and beaten, and we just assumed it was because they were that good. We didn't question the pulsating veins and tree-trunk sized biceps belonging to Mark McGwire, etc.

And then it all started unraveling. Sosa's corked bat, HGH became a household term, Canseco, Clemens, the Mitchell Report, and now Clemens again. The hitters had their heydey, but now will they pay for them in the record books?

This season is being called the "Year of the Pitcher," and maybe rightfully so. We've had two perfect games (er, 3. I will hereby refer to any terrible decision or outcome as being "Galarraga-ed" or "Armando-ed."), several no-hitters, and a plethora of 1 and 2 hitters. The pitchers are getting revenge for the steroid era, commentators have crooned. But is that really true? And if so, how has it affected baseball?

The great thing about baseball is you can break everything down by the numbers. In this so-called year of the pitcher, the league leader in ERA is Clay Buchholz with a 2.21 (whoa, on my fantasy team). In fact, the top 10 pitchers in the category have ERA's that are all well under 3: Buchholz (BOS, 2.21), Hudson (ATL, 2.24), Latos (SDG, 2.25), Halladay (PHI, fantasy, 2.27), Johnson (FLA, 2.28), Wainwright (STL, 2.30), Garcia (STL, 2.33), Hernandez (SEA, 2.38), Dickey (NYM, 2.57), Jimenez (COL, 2.69).

In 2009, however, it was much of the same: the leader was Zach Grienke (KC, 2.16, what the hell happened) and the number 10 spot was Matt Cain (SFG, 2.89) - not a big disparity. In the height of the steroid era, 2001, only Randy Johnson (ARI, 2.49) and Curt Schilling (ARI, 2.98) were under 3, but the 10th best was a 3.29 from Russell Ortiz (SFG). Side note: Arizona had the top two, Atlanta had the next two, and St. Louis had the 6th and 9th in the top 10 - Randy and Curt were co-MVP's for the World Series Champ Diamondbacks, i.e. pitching and defense wins championships... but I digress.

Okay, ERA is one stat, but how about strikeouts? In 2010, with roughly 30 games to go in the season, Felix Hernandez and Jered Weaver lead the majors with 200 strikeouts each. Last year, the league leader, Justin Verlander, had 269. In 2001? Randy Johnson had 372. Curt Schilling had 293. What about complete games and shutouts? 2010: Halladay, 8 and 3 respectively; 2009: Halladay 9 and 4; 2001: Steve Sparks (DET) 8 and Mark Mulder (OAK) 4. Mulder had 6 complete games. Of course, they don't make 'em like The Unit anymore, but does that mean we should lower our standards?

On the flip side, if pitchers are really dominating this year, we should see the dominance reflected in the offensive numbers as well. And, yes, we're going to have to take some of the 2001 numbers with a grain of salt... an asterisk sized grain.

Let's take a peek at batting averages, OPS numbers, and other categories and see if we can figure out what's going on. First of all, I find it interesting that in the "Year of the Pitcher," we are witnessing a legitimate Triple Crown race between Albert Pujols and Joey Votto. Pitchers aren't having a very good year against these guys. This season, Josh Hamilton is leading the league in batting average, hitting .361 through today. He has been mashing the ball all over the field, and it has been spectacular. Beyond Hamilton, the leader board has the likes of Miguel Cabrera (DET, .338), Carlos Gonzalez (COL, .329), Joe Mauer (MIN, .327), and Joey Votto (CIN, .325), to name a few.

In 2009, Mauer led the league with a .365, followed by Ichiro, Hanley Ramirez, Derek Jeter, and Pablo Sandoval with .352, .342, .334, and .330 respectively. In 2001, the league leaders were Larry Walker (COL, .350), Ichiro (SEA, .350), Jason Giambi (OAK, .342), Roberto Alomar (CLE, .336), and Todd Helton (COL, .336).

In 2010, an OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) of 1.072 is good for league best for Miguel Cabrera, followed by 1.050 and 1.027 from Josh Hamilton and Joey Votto. In 2009, Albert Pujols went for 1.101, Joe Mauer for 1.031, and Prince Fielder for 1.014. In 2001, OPS was dominated by (shocker) Barry Bonds with a ridiculous 1.379 followed by Sammy Sosa at 1.174, Giambi at 1.137, and Luis Gonzalez, from Arizona, with a 1.117.

We're comparing the best versus the best, which may not be fair, so let's look at the league as a whole. In 2010, the earned run average of the entire league through today is 4.12. In 2009, 4.32. In 2001, 4.42. The league's batting average in 2010 is .259, and its OPS is .733. In 2009: .262 and .751. In 2001: .264 and .759.

The point is this: the numbers are really close, and the major difference comes in OPS, which makes sense considering sluggers were hitting Mars on the wings of HGH during the 2001 season. But back then, baseball was wildly popular. We watched every Bonds game, craved the home run race, lived for the Sosa/McGwire summer, watched the home runs and numbers piled up, and we ate every bit of it right up.

This year? The MLB All-Star game had awful ratings and people routinely snide that "baseball is boring," and it doesn't help that reports are coming out that teams are actually making money from losing. I'm looking at you, Pittsburgh. I love a good pitching duel. I went to a Jon Lester gem earlier this year at Fenway Park, and I was at Clay Buchholz's no-hitter. Both incredible games. The people behind me at the no-no left in the 8th inning. WHAT!? They must have been bored by the fact that Clay had been knocking down Orioles like bowling pins, that his curveball was a work of art that night, that Nick Markakis is still wondering what happened on that last pitch. But for some reason, the general population can't get behind a great pitching performance. It's apparently not exciting.

Baseball's boring "Year of the Pitcher" (or kind-of sort-of YotP media created reality that we're clinging to in order to give people a reason to keep watching) has to be indicative of a cultural shift that has happened over the last 10 years. We are now a world of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube: instant gratification, need-to-know-now, big moments, decisive actions - home runs if you will. One swing and the game is changed. We don't want to work for 6-9 innings for a big victory - we want it now. Baseball games are getting longer, and fans are dropping like flies. Case in point: if Bud Selig started to let baseball highlights go to YouTube, we could have that instant gratification, but what would get more views: Barry Bonds' 73rd home run or Dallas Braden's perfect game?

La Furia Roja

The World Cup has come and gone, and man, will it be missed. Soccer is one of my favorite sports, but it is routinely put on the back burner here in the United States. But hopefully, after this edition of "La Copa," America will come around and realize how great this sport truly is. This tournament gave us the incredible, the horrible, the unfair, the hilarious, and the heart-wrenching. Let's recap.

Yes, Spain won. Yes, they were the favorites, but they didn't make it easy on themselves. They squeaked by in most of their games on the crunch-time heroics of David Villa, and losing the first game shocked the world, but that wasn't the only shock. The reining champion Azurri of Italy didn't make it to the elimination round, and even more bizarre, the French squad was such a disgrace, the country's president felt the need to intervene when they got home.


Nigeria's President banned the country from participating in international soccer for two years due to a "shameful" performance; they were one meter and a missed shot away from a chance at the elimination round.


There were beautiful goals all tournament: from Van Brockhurst of the Netherlands, Maicon of Brazil, and of course, Landon Donovan and "the goal." There were goals that weren't goals (*cough, Tevez*) and goals that were never called. I'm sorry Frank Lampard, but that's the way the cookie crumbles with FIFA.


As I said in my preview post, "This World Cup is chock full of great players and stories to be had." However, many of the biggest stars failed to shine. Just take a look at Nike's "Write the Future" advertisment and tell me how these guys did. (Hint: they didn't).

We all watched and were amazed as Germany scored goals seemingly at will with their furious counter-attack. We watched the heartbreak of Ghana as their World Cup hopes and dreams were taken away by a Suarez handball (oh, wait, actually it was a Gyan penalty kick...)

The Netherlands went deeper than many had thought, though I can't imagine why. Their squad was solid and Robben's return in the second round only served to solidify an already potent attacking squad. Argentina had all of the circus and fanfare that comes when you pick Diego Maradona to be your coach, but the show failed to do anything against the Germans when their glaring lack of defense was painfully obvious. PS - where was Messi?

My Brazilians had an earlier exit than expected, thanks to the gifted (read: sarcasm) abilities of Felipe Melo. I can't even talk about this yet. I just hope Melo has a nice place to live other than Brazil, because I guarantee he's not very welcome there right now.

And now, we have to wait four more years for this magical month of sports to grace our televisions again. The next edition: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There is nothing that could prevent me from going. Ah, World Cup, you will be missed.

What was your favorite World Cup memory?

The Aftermath

There are no shortage of people talking about "The (infamous) Decision." It passed Bill Simmons' "Mom Test." It passed my "Dad that doesn't care about sports" test. And finally, it passed the "Female coworkers who REALLY don't care about sports" test. Everyone had something to say, an opinion, a thought, a comment, a suggestion. I do too.

LeBron James captivated a nation (and possibly the world) last Thursday night and held them captive for 28 agonizing minutes (let alone the previous week and a half, and after promising only 10) before announcing simply that he was "taking his talents to South Beach" and the Miami Heat.

Enough has been said about the "basketball" nature of the decision. Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and Cleveland all had their pros and cons, but Miami had friends, sunshine, and no income tax. Whatever, that aspect of the decision can only be analyzed retrospectively. We won't know the basketball ramifications until we see these teams on the court. There's been a lot of movement; many teams won't play anything like they do this year - the comparisons and match-ups will be very interesting to learn and watch develop across the league. But right now, it's all speculation.

The one thing we can analyze now is how this spectacle took place and how arguably one of the world's most popular athletes imploded his image faster than anyone since Tiger Woods... okay that was pretty recent, but you know what I mean. The backlash was immediate and sustained, turning "The Decision" into "The Catastrophe." A couple things stuck out to me -

1) The incredible lack of respect for the city of Cleveland, OH:

A friend (correctly) noted that LeBron James "does not owe Cleveland a damn thing." The Cavaliers got lucky with that draft pick, it's true. But he does owe the fans of Cleveland respect. And that respect demanded honesty and good faith, neither of which was exhibited in "The Decision." LeBron apparently failed to answer a single phone call or text message from Cavs ownership dating back to the end of the season. He left them hanging all the way to the end, and you can't convince me that he was entertaining going back. When Tom Izzo came to visit the Cavs, LBJ didn't even go to the meeting. During the announcement his comments regarding the fans back home was minimal, but he did manage to refer to himself in the 3rd person several times and indicate that he asked his mom what she thought would make him "happiest." C'mon son.

2) Immaturity isn't the right word, and I don't know what is, but Rick Reilly said it best in a short column today:

"James loves to have fun. He's not a killer, like Michael Jordan. He's not a harping-on-the-court-coach, pain-in-the-rear like Kobe... The fake camera shots, the dancing, the chalk. He was like that in high school and he's still like that. So why should anybody be surprised when he wants to play with his friends in a city that's 97 percent fun?... Wade can be the killer... James will just dunk, swat layups and do his Kid n' Play impressions."

Back in May I said, "Lebron couldn't will himself or his team to fight anymore, and that is a big question mark." Now he doesn't have to. He's got Wade now. Reilly continues, "You may want him to be something else, but he's not. What are you going to do, sue?"

The Alex Rodruigez/LeBron James analogies are fascinating. Phenomenal talent, can't do it by himself, goes somewhere else to be in the shadow of a city's giant for the purpose of winning a championship. Took A-Rod a while - let's see how LBJ does.

In short, I blame the media for allowing this television debacle happen. I blame every public relations profession in LeBron's camp who knew this was a bad idea and didn't speak up and say "Hey guys, have you ever considered that this may be a bad idea?"And if that person doesn't exist then I blame LeBron James' camp. I also blame the state of American sports and the perils of "fan-dom." We care too much, as evidenced by silly blogs like this, and the American sports industry feeds off of it.

When it really comes down to it, I really don't know what to think. I completely understand LBJ's decision. He's going to have a helluva time playing his game with his friends in South Beach, but the pressure is on. He has got to win and win soon. I simply cannot comprehend the methodology. Nothing indicates that he "made the decision" that morning - everything points to premeditation.

Let's assume for a moment that the LBJ/Bosh/Wade trifecta was concocted way back at the 2008 Summer Olympics as put forth by some writers. Let's imagine then that LeBron, knowing this was the plan, actually did quit in the Boston series, an idea put forth by many, including Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and myself. Now put "The Decision" in that perspective, and it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It would be as if the NBA were turning into the WWE. Conspiracy theory, I know, but what if?

Side note: while Dan Gilbert was more than likely out of line in the above-linked letter, let he without the sin of overreacting after feeling extremely betrayed and cheated throw the first stone. I don't agree, but I can't judge.

As sports media agonize over this "LeBacle," David Ortiz won the Home Run Derby last night and had this to say afterwards (paraphrased): "I wanted to do this for the fans, that's why we're here. They come to see us, and I'm happy we were able to put on a good show." Wow, now that's what I'm looking for! A stark contrast to "LeBron's gotta do what LeBron's gotta do." We care so much for no discernible reason whatsoever, and that just feels good. Alas, maybe I'm asking too much.

I Am A Witness

I've been looking forward to NBA free agency for a while now - it's been building up ever since one of my roommates in college who spent exorbitant amounts of time on ESPN found an article in the 38th page of NBA news that quickly noted that the most talented and widespread group of free agents were becoming available on July 1, 2010.

That date has come and gone, and teams are now doing their best to convince the best to come to their town. Whether it's the fans, the prospect of winning, the city life, or the money, all free agents this year have a lot to consider, because frankly, the 2010-2011 season hangs in the balance.

First up, we have the Atlanta Hawks who decided that a guy who isn't in the same league or breath as the headliners (we'll get to them in a minute) and who's miserable play forced an early playoff exit via sweep by the Orlando Magic was worth the maximum amount of money that they could offer him. Joe Johnson handed the Hawks 12.3 pts/gm during that series as the "leader" on the team, and the Hawks handed him $119 million dollars. Huh?

Of course, the big news today is Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade uniting in Miami. Speculation continues that they will bring on Lebron James on as well, but I don't see it happening (more on this later). This will be a force to be reckoned with, especially if some of the other halfway decent players on this team can pull their weight: see Exhibit A, 2010 NBA Playoffs. With a legitimate post presence in Bosh and a ruthless, determined Dwayne Wade leading the charge, look out Eastern Conference, basketball is back in Miami.

Amare Stoudemire ran out of Phoenix faster than Lindsay Lohan went back into prison (too soon?). This was disappointing for me - a lot was said about the team chemistry and poise that the Phoenix Suns showed in last year's playoffs, gritting it out against a hated rival (Spurs), and taking the Lakers to their limit. And true to everything we've ever thought about Amare, he bolted. Now he's back with Mike D'Antoni and praying for LeBron James to come to New York. But he's not going to... not yet.

LeBron James has always been an on the fence kind of guy for me. I respect his talent, unquestionably. Anyone who is 6'8" and 275lbs. and still the fastest guy from the arc to the basket is clearly gifted. He drives the lane better than anyone in the NBA. But he's clearly lacking in maturity in areas and that clutch gene hasn't made enough appearances. One shot against the Magic (in a series the Cavs lost) does not make him a clutch shooter. And then there's the off-the-court stuff.

He is a larger than life person; his marketing/branding/PR people are very good at what they do. The question is what trumps in the mind of LBJ: the basketball player or the icon? We are all witnesses, the commercial tells us so. But of what? An incredible player leading a mediocre team to varying levels of the NBA Playoffs and winning no championships? He's very fun to watch, but it's tough to reconcile the notion that he doesn't have what made Jordan and Bill Russell special: a certain "I don't care what it takes, I'm not letting you beat me" attitude, day in and day out. As the free agency season drags on, we are getting closer to understanding the truth.

He wants to be an icon.

LeBron has scheduled an event on ESPN for this Thursday (7/8/2010) at 9PM to tell everyone what his decision is. It will be a 1 hour special to raise money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. LBJ will probably wait until 9:59PM before saying quickly into the screen, "I've chosen... the New Jersey Nets. Thanks for coming tonight, everyone." Jay-Z will stand up from his front row seat and give him a Nets #6 jersey, Mikhail Pokhorov will give him his first year salary in seperate suticases held by beautiful women, a la "Deal or No Deal." All will be right in the world of LBJ... and then in two years, the Nets move to Brooklyn.

If he wants to win championships, he will prove me wrong and go to the Chicago Bulls and live with the fact that he will never be Michael Jordan but will constantly be compared to him for the rest of his life, more so then than ever. Regardless, free agency continues on, and tomorrow night, I can't wait to be a witness.

NBA Finals Wrap-Up

Basketball season is over, and as I told my significant other, "Thanks to Ron Artest, Sasha Vujicic, and Danny Crawford, you can have your boyfriend back now."

I've been neglecting this web space and I apologize. It was part denial, two parts depression; a cocktail of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol; a frozen blend of Kendrick Perkins' knee, Kevin Garnett's lost step, and 5 out of 7 Ray Allen's that kept me away. But now I'm back, and here are my best and worst memories from this year's version of the NBA Finals.

Game 1: The Celtics had no idea what to do about the Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. The pair combined for 53 of the Lakers 102 points and 21 of the teams 42 rebounds. The Celtics didn't have their edge and tenacity on defense. I was worried after this game because the Lakers looked like they simply wanted it more.

Game 2: The Ray Allen/Rajon Rondo game. Ray Ray came out of the gate absolutely scorching hot, beating a few NBA records for 3's in a Finals half and game. Rondo helped the Celtics push past the Lakers with an aggressive 2nd half, picking up the slack from the rest of the team. The officials tried really hard to give this one to the Lakers, as they took 41 free throws to Boston's 26. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum alone took 25, one less than the entire Celtics team. But alas, the series goes on.

Game 3: After the short break from Sunday to Tuesday and traveling from LA to Boston, the Lakers took this one to win home court advantage back. This was a tough loss because the Celtics lost this game more than the Lakers won it. Kobe had 29 pts, but shot an abysmal 34% from the field, going 1-7 from 3. But the Lakers won all of the 50/50 plays and the hustle points. Kevin Garnett finally showed up in the NBA Finals but didn't have enough support from his teammates. Oh yeah, and after being a one-man highlight, Ray Allen went 0-13. The Celtics lost by 7.

Game 4: The first of two "must wins" for Boston, and it came from the Celtics bench.While the starters contributed to a team-effort that led to victory, the spark came from Glen Davis and Nate Robinson, the duo now affectionately known as "Shrek and the Donkey." I was still worried after this one, because Gasol and Bryant scored a combined 54 points (of the Lakers 89). In other words, the rest of the Lakers didn't show up, and that might have more to do with the Boston victory that the Celtics would have liked to admit.

Game 5: This was Kobe's statement game... except he ran out of gas. At one point he made 23 straight Laker points. There were full stretches where no Laker touched the ball except for Kobe. He took over the 3rd quarter in such a way that at one point I tweeted, "Kobe Bryant is absolutely terrifying right now." But it wasn't enough. The Celtics shot well top to bottom, and it was the starters' turn to take over. Dominant performances from the Garnett, Pierce, and Rondo helped the C's take this one. PS - Ray Allen hasn't hit a three since Game 2 of this series.

Game 6: Celtics fans had to brace for a loss, but hope for a win going back to LA. What they got was absolutely shoddy, embarrassing play from what was supposed to be one of the top two teams in the NBA. The C's only scored 69 points in this game. That's only 15 more than what Kobe/Gasol scored by themselves in Game 4. There's not much else to say about this one than, if there was one way I didn't want to lose this game, it was like this. I was going into Game 7 without any idea what to expect from this series.

Game 7: This could have been one of the most titanic and epic Game 7's ever. The stage was set for an incredible ending to a Finals that had some interesting stories but no truly magical moments except for Kobe's eruption in Game 5 and Ray Allen's shooting in Game 2. What happened was quite the let down, and not only because the Celtics lost. Both teams played sloppy, inconsistent basketball for a majority of the game. The defense was pretty good on both sides, but the Lakers shot 32.5% from the floor (Kobe: 6-24, 25%). The Celtics were out-rebounded 53-40 (offensive rebounds 23-8!!!). That was the Celtics' game to lose and they did a handy job at it in the end. Of course, we won't mention that the Lakers took 37 free throws to Boston's 17, but we will mention that LA shot 67.6% from the charity stripe and that's another reason this game was close. Boston's bench failed to show up at the Staples Center last Thursday, contributing only 6 points, all from Big Baby.

The suprise of the series, of course was who actually made the difference for the Lakers in the end: Ron Artest (20pts, 5 reb, 5 stl, 1 "there's no way Ron Ron hits this of all 3's" shot). Without Artest in this game, the Celtics were bringing Banner 18 back to Beantown. Pau Gasol had a great game as well, with 19pts and 18reb (5 of which happened on one play in the 1st quarter).

So now I will be treated to watching "Hey Lakers' fans, your team just won..." commercials for another year. The Lakers will be on the SportsCenter intro montage for one more year. But at least we're one step closer to deciding that Kobe is better than Lebron... right?

It's Finally Here

The World Cup is one of the most exciting, moving, inspirational, and downright awesome sporting events. The Olympics are awesome, don't get me wrong, but I like the World Cup more. I know there are less countries, I know it's only one sport. But it's the World's most popular sport, and the stories from this uniting event are incredible in their own right, on and off the field.

South Africa is the first African nation to host a World Cup - in and of itself a historic event. We've all seen the commercials about the African prisoners that clung to the game of soccer to give them hope in prison camps of despair. This game meant everything to them. Of course, it is just a game, but when the World Cup comes around it means so much more.

The World Cup is the most peaceful kind of war that man can wage. There are rivalries and bitter histories, upstart newcomers and established giants. And we, the fans, get to watch the story unfold before our very eyes.



I won't bore you with a group by group breakdown of the 1st stage. Go to ESPN if you want to learn about who is going to advance. I'll tell you now that projections mean nothing in the World Cup. Playing for one's country can motivate the deepest passion and flame in any athlete, bringing out the absolute best in them. I will regale you with my fondest and most painful memories. I was about to turn 7 years old in 1994 when the World Cup was played here in the United States. I played soccer for my school at the time, and my favorite player was Romario. He was the best striker on a loaded Brazil squad that powered its way to the Finals against powerhouse Italy, led by 1993 FIFA Player of the Year, Roberto Baggio. What followed was one of the most intense, physical, and remarkable soccer matches I have ever seen. The final score was 0-0.

People who don't understand or appreciate soccer hate that. Sports are about scoring points! No, not soccer. Of course, you have to score goals to win games, and the most exciting part of the game is scoring goals, but soccer is an art form; the whole game makes up the painting, and the goals are the most important brush strokes. In 1994, Roberto Baggio's foot held the brush at the end of regulation to win the World Cup for the Azzuri. I'll never forget that penalty kick.

In 1998, I was in Brazil with my family when the Seleçao played against France in France and lost 3-0. I don't think I ate for 2 days, left my house for 4, or was able to talk about it for at least 2 months. France had to have cheated. In fact, a small (i.e. decent) part of me still believes they did. Ronaldo woke up with a siezure, foaming at the mouth on the day of the Final. The French found out where the Brazilians were staying and rioted at their hotel all night. Forget it, I can't even talk about this anymore.

In 2002, I watched every World Cup game with a bunch (read: 50) of Brazilians at a family friend's house. The World Cup being in Korea, all of the games were between 3AM-5AM, and we didn't care. Led by a dazzling array of stars, including established footballer Ronaldo and young Ronaldinho yet to be become 3-time FIFA Player of the Year, the Brazilian squad stormed through the Copa, beating the "invincible" Oliver Kahn, German keeper, in the Final, 2-0.

Highlight from this World Cup: "unproven" Ronaldinho, who took the roster spot of established Brazilian soccer giant Romario on the roster, assured the country and the world he was here to stay with a gem of a free kick against England.

Every four years, we are guaranteed to experience something incredible. There is something special about the best 32 teams in the world getting together to play a game. This World Cup is chock full of great players and stories to be had, and I will be sure to follow them all. This only happens once every four years, so you better believe there's more where this came from. It begins today.

Joga bonito.

There Goes My Hero

On my birthday in 1999, I received two gifts that changed my life forever. The first was the "Californication" - Red Hot Chili Peppers album. The second was Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest for Nintendo 64. The only game that I logged more hours with were The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Tennis, and GoldenEye 007. Californication is still in my 6-disc CD changer in my car.

Ken Griffey Jr. was and is my favorite baseball player. His first major league game was April 3, 1989. I wasn't even 2 years old. His first Major League home run came just seven days later on April 10, also the first time the Seattle Mariners won a game with Griffey on the field.

My first baseball memory is a hazy, unclear shot of a tiny television showing the Cincinnati Reds winning the World Series in 1990. My next memory is of Joe Carter crushing a 2-2 pitch from Mitch Williams way over the left field wall in Toronto to win the World Series in 1993. The only other thing I remember about the 1993 MLB season was constant coverage of this 5th year center fielder in Seattle everyone kept calling "Junior" or "the Kid."

By all accounts, 1993 was Griffey's breakout year. He blasted 45 home runs, 1 shy of the leaders in both American and National Leagues (Juan Gonzalez, TEX; Barry Bonds, SF; 46 home runs each). He played for his 4th straight (out of a total 13, 11 straight) All-Star team, won his 4th Gold Glove award and won his second Silver Slugger award. Griffey was the complete player.

He then rattled off consecutive seasons of 40, 49, 56, 56, 48, and 40 home runs; four of those season were AL-HR leading seasons (and 1995 doesn't count). That last season, my dream came true. After the 1999 season, the Cincinnati Reds acquired Ken Griffey Jr. and I immediately started begging for season tickets. He had the most beautiful swing in baseball, you'll never convince me otherwise. A Griffey home run was a piece of art.

One day during high school, I was driving in downtown Cincinnati near the ballpark with two friends. We were stopped at a red light, and a gleaming silver Dodge Viper pulled up next to us. In the driver's seat, wearing a white t-shirt, sunglasses, and a backwards fitted Reds cap was Ken Griffey Jr. We froze. The light went green, and he took off, leaving us looking at his license plate: "GRIFFEY."

He will always be remembered as the guy who produced on both sides of the ball, playing rock-solid defense and crushing home runs for so many years. I repeat, in case you haven't noticed, Junior was and is my favorite baseball player of all time. In an era that featured wide-spread scandal and rampant use of steroids, there was never a question about Griffey's integrity. He will always be "the guy who did it right."

Injuries and age set him back late in his career, but he was still great to watch. In the summer of 2008, I took my girlfriend (a Yankees fan - I know, don't get me started) to a game during the last year of the old Yankees Stadium. Luckily for me, the AL East was playing the NL Central that year in inter-league play. Reds-Yankees in NYC on June 21, 2008 - the last time I saw Ken Griffey Jr. play live. He went 2 for 4 in a Reds shutout of the Yanks, 6-0.

I will always remember playing backyard baseball and pretending to be Griffey, trying to get my swing just right; I will always remember watching him hit his 500th and 600th home runs; and I will always remember almost choking up the day he retired.

Ken Griffey Jr., thanks for the memories.