Griffey hits 600th homerun

MIAMI – Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run Monday with a blast off Florida Marlins left-hander Mark Hendrickson, becoming the sixth player in major league history to reach the milestone.

Griffey’s 600th home run, a two-run shot, came on a 3-1 pitch in the first inning of the Cincinnati Reds’ 9-4 win over the Marlins. There was no doubt from the second he made contact. Estimated distance: 413 feet.

The ball landed about a dozen rows into the right-field seats. It was the second home run Griffey has hit off Hendrickson, the Washington State University product, who is one of 383 pitchers to allow a Griffey home run. Griffey’s blast drove in shortstop Jerry Hairston from third.

The small crowd at Dolphin Stadium gave Griffey a warm reception and extended standing ovation. He responded with a curtain call.

His wife, Melissa, and three children were at the game. His father, Ken Sr., also was there.

The ultimate import of Griffey’s feat will be determined by historians, but it is significant given that it was accomplished in what is regarded as Baseball’s “Steroid Era.”

The two players who immediately preceded Griffey into the 600 club – Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa – are under clouds because of admitted or suspected steroid use.

The other three members of the club would have a place on Baseball’s Mount Rushmore, if such a monument existed. They are Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.

“There’s so much difference in what he accomplished and what he will continue to accomplish than what Barry Bonds did,” said Reds radio man Marty Brennaman.

“Barry Bonds will forever be tainted, long after he’s gone. I don’t think people truly cared that he hit 756 home runs.

“I think baseball fans will look at what Junior did and be quick to point out that he did it the right way, as opposed to some other guys who didn’t.”

In a video tribute that was produced by the Reds, Aaron passed along his congratulations to Griffey.

“Congratulations on hitting your 600th home run,” Aaron said, according to a transcript of the video that was released by the team. “I got a chance to see you at the boys and girls club function just recently, you and your lovely wife, and you know you’ve always been a favorite of mine.

“I played with your dad, I know him very well, but you know I’ve always said that if anybody was going to reach 700, with no punt intended to anybody, I thought you had an excellent chance. Of course we can’t, we don’t know how injuries played a very big part, but congratulations to reaching 600.”

Griffey’s place in Baseball’s Hall of Fame is secure. His stature among baseball’s legends is still growing.

“(Griffey will) be seen as a guy who accomplished things honestly,” said Kevin Grace, author, teacher and archivist at the University of Cincinnati, “and will probably be compared to Aaron.”

At one time in his career, Griffey was expected to challenge the previous record of 715 home runs, which was held by Aaron until Bonds broke it in August 2007.

Griffey, 38, had 398 career home runs at age 30, when he was traded to the Reds after the 1999 season, following 11 seasons with the Seattle Mariners.

Griffey left Seattle to play in a city that was closer to his wife and children. The family lives in Orlando, Fla.

“Sometimes,” Griffey said of the move, “it’s more important to be a dad than a professional ball player.”

In his first season with the Reds, Griffey hit 40 home runs. A series of serious injuries, however, limited his playing time in the ensuing seasons, especially 2002-2004, when he played 206 games. Among Griffey’s ailments were a torn tendon in his right knee and torn right hamstring in 2002, an ankle injury that required surgery in 2003, and a torn right hamstring in 2004.

During those years he hit 41 home runs, including No. 500 on June 20, 2004, at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.

Griffey never publicly complained about the setbacks, saying in 2004 he didn’t worry about the time he missed.

“When you play hard and get hurt that’s one thing,” he said then. “If I had done it doing something else then I could say, ‘What if?’ But I go out there with one goal and that’s to play as hard as I can.”

Fittingly, Griffey’s 500th home run came on Father’s Day and Griffey’s father and children were there to see it.

On the day Griffey hit 500, Ken Griffey Sr. said, “If he stays healthy the next six or seven years, there’s no telling (what he can do).”

Since then, Griffey’s enjoyed better health, likely helped by a move to right field before the 2007 season, when he played in 144 games – his most since 2000 – and had 30 home runs and 93 RBIs. He led the National League that year with nearly 3 million All-Star votes. It was the 13th time he’d been voted into the All-Star Game starting lineup.

The December 2007 release of baseball’s Mitchell Report, which detailed the alleged pervasive use of performance-enhancing drug use in the sport, only heightened Griffey’s stature.

“I don’t think that people give him enough credit, to be honest about it,” Brennaman said.

“People are so jaded by this whole steroid human growth hormone thing that it’s easy to overlook someone like him where there’s never, ever been a hint of anything out of line with the way you should conduct yourself as professional athlete.”

Of the top 10 players of his era on baseball’s all-time home run list, Griffey was the only one not mentioned in the report.

In a statement released by his agent, Griffey said, “We need to do everything possible to restore and maintain the fans’ confidence in the game and the player.”

In 2005, Griffey told The Cincinnati Enquirer he never felt tempted to use performance-enhancing drugs for an edge.

“I take a lot of pride in what I do,” Griffey said in that interview. “I wouldn’t do that to my team or my family. That’s the big thing. I’m not going to cheat them or myself.”

Aaron is said to hold Griffey in high regard. In February, Reds manager Dusty Baker said that Griffey was one of the few people Aaron would go out of his way to compliment.

“Hank said what a pleasure it was to be around Junior and his wife,” Baker said. “Hank doesn’t give compliments too often. That meant a lot to me. Hank’s met the superstars in this game, and that’s the first time he’s raved about someone to me – ever.”

The Reds have an option to bring Griffey back next season for $16.5 million. It is not clear what the club’s plans are, or whether Griffey will retire as a Red.

Last year Griffey told a group of young fans that he wanted to hit 700 home runs. Two players have hit that mark: Aaron and Bonds.

Mays is also a Griffey fan. Mays hit 660 home runs.

“Great kid,” Mays said. “What else is there to say?”

In the days and weeks leading up to 600, Griffey generally avoided talking about the milestone, but during a road trip in Philadelphia earlier this month he took a few moments to reflect on the impending achievement.

“It’s just weird. It’s overwhelming at some points. Embarrassing. I would have never dreamed I’d be in this position,” he said.

“My dad was the guy I wanted to be like. If you look at his career – he had a pretty good career – that’s the guy who looked like me, acted like me, took care of me. I didn’t think I’d be better than him. He said I would be. I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ I was 14 when he said it. Sometimes dad does know best.”