Ken Griffey Jr yesterday hit his 599th Career homerun against the Atlanta Braves, moving him one homerun away from joining the 600 club. While That was supposed to be the highlight of the day, it wasn't. Jay Bruce, the Uber-talented young outfielder for the Reds, hit his first career homerun, a Walkoff Homerun. Bruce said that was his first walkoff homerun...Ever!
Griffey Is About to reach the plateau of 600 homeruns, joining Sammy Sosa, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds as the only players with 600 homeruns. Why isn't there more attention being given to the milestone?
It's not like Griffey was involved in any thing steroid related. Griffey has battled injuries for years, for him to get to 600 homeruns, that should be a huge deal right now. The Reds have finally struck the jackpot with young talent, why isn't more attention being given to them?
As I Type this, the Reds are one game below .500 and 7.5 games behind the NL Central and Major League Leading Chicago Cubs. The Reds have a fantastic young pitching staff. Johnny Cueto is among the NL Leaders in Strikeouts. Edinson Volquez leads the Majors In Earned Run Average! And Let's remember this is in Great American Ballpark, not a Pitcher's Park by any stretch of the imagination!
The Reds have always been among the lead leaders in offense. They have old sluggers like Griffey Jr and Adam Dunn. They have new sluggers like Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce.
The Reds have a manager in Dusty Baker who was close to taking the San Francisco Giants to a World Series Titile in 2002. He was close again in 2003 as he managed the Chicago Cubs to an 89-73 record and had them five outs away from their first World Series Appearance Since 1945. It's not like Dusty's a bad manager. In 2005-2006 injuries to key stars kept the Cubs away from competing. Dusty was run out of The Windy City in 2007, was a broadcaster for ESPN for one season, before managing the Cincinnatti Reds this season.
It looks right now like Chicago is about to run away with the NL Central Title, but it's just June 1st. There's a whole lot of baseball left to be played. If there was one team in the NL Central that could make a huge surge after the All Star Break and make a run at the Cubbies, the Reds would be that team.
Every other team in the NL Central has flaws that are holding them back. The only thing holding the Reds back so far this season is Dusty Baker asking Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn to bunt with two strikes, only to hit walkoff homeruns!
I Don't get why the Reds and Griffey don't get more attention.
They're too good to be ignored.
