Is the Kid Going to Ride Off into the Sunset?

If this ends up being the final season for the Kid, it will be the same way many stars end their careers, on the down slide. Junior returned to Seattle in hopes of regaining that effortless swing that bashed back to back 56 home run seasons in 97 and 98, and consistently played gold glove defense robbing homers regularly, but that wasn’t meant to be in this chapter of his career. Junior is hitting .221 with 14 homers and 43 RBI’s in his return season to the great northwest. His smile is still the same, and his body looks relatively the same, except maybe a extra spare tire around his gut that he didn’t have in his first tour with Seattle. He was my favorite non-A’s player growing up, and you couldn’t ask for a better role model. He showed us how dominating a game can be made to look easy from defense to that perfectly smooth swing.

If this is in fact his final season, why isn’t there more chatter about him? I find it odder than Rafael Nadal’s freakishly smaller right arm that Griffey, one of baseball’s golden boys in the steroid era, isn’t being paraded around like a hero during his last tour of duty. He is Pujols clean from a PED standpoint, so shouldn’t the MLB be kicking up a mini campaign to celebrate his career as it comes to a close. It’s not like he’s going to be like Barry Bonds, and be able to play three more seasons averaging 45 home runs a season. Which is a shame since we all were so sure he’d be past the all time and season home run records by now. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to continue to play as all stars like to hang on, unless you’re weird like Barry Sanders. His return to Seattle mirrored many stars that are past their prime trying to hang on. It may not have looked good numbers wise for The Kid this year, but Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times really believes his time there this year has been worthwhile. It’s good to see a player end their career where it started, even if he never had the chance to play in a world series. He’s going out like Hank Aaron going back to Milwakee and Willie Mays going back to New York. He is undeniably a first ballot hall of famer with his 625 home runs (and counting). It’s a shame, that not even The Kid can fight off the old age…