Junior

After getting somewhat lost amidst the absurd numbers from the last 2 decades by players who weren't half the player he was, let's hope that a few years of perspective remind us of how great Junior really was. Hell, we've already forgotten that he might have been the greatest center fielder ever ("might" = "he isn't Willie Mays.")

I'll always have a special place for him - Griffey's career beginning and end has some sort of strange sense of mileposts for guys my age. And he played in the first big league game I ever went to, where he hit two out and, as I said HERE, had the biggest ass I've ever seen in my life that I didn't find in my bed after a kegger.

Here's A-Rod on his former teammate:

“He could literally be playing Nintendo at 6:45 or 6:50, and at 7:06 he’d make a Spiderman catch,” Alex Rodriguez said. “And then in the (bottom) of the first he’d hit one in the upper deck at the Kingdome, 475 feet. And do it all with a smile. You look at yourself and you’re like, ‘Damn. I’ve been getting ready since 5:45 for the game.’ I wish you guys had the opportunity to see what I saw for seven years.

I came in at 17 straight out of Westminster High School and I got to see our Michael Jordan for a long time. Our Tiger Woods. The best of the best. For me, always a first-class guy. Melissa and his kids always treated me like family and welcomed me to the big leagues. I was fortunate that we had a tremendous core over there of not only great players, but great people. Griffey was right at the forefront.”