By Blaidd Drwg
…I am no longer watching a baseball game involving him. It is bad enough that you have the Mariners asking fans to vote for him, but you also have this moron who created a site to encourage fans to vote for him. Folks, he ranks dead last in production among AL DH. He doesn’t deserve to be at the game unless he buys a ticket. From the aforementioned Vote for Junior Website:
Goals:
1. Vote Ken Griffey, Jr. into the AL’s starting lineup for the 2010 All-Star Game in Anaheim.
2. Once that happens, get him back in the Home Run Derby.
As much trouble as I have with the logic defying voting Griffey as a starter goal, the suggestion that a guy with 1 extra base hit over the first 19 games of the season even being considered for the HR derby causes this guy to lose all credibility.
I realize that All-Star voting is a joke and a popularity contest, but generally the fans come close to getting it right. A couple years ago, someone floated a proposal to have 1 honorary spot on each team reserved for a retiring player. They would participate in the pre-game and get a nice ovation, but would not actively play in the game. That is the kind of thing I would be happy to see for Griffey, assuming that he actually realized it was time to call it quits. Otherwise, the only worse selection I can think of for an AS game would be this one in 2008 – and it was made by a Manager.
I say, if you want to vote for someone, vote for the guy who actually deserves it – Adam Lind.
FlatbreadGarden 
The only problem with the “one spot for a retiring player” is that they wouldn’t draw the line at just one… they’d wind up inviting *everyone* who stated that they were retiring at the end of the year. They wouldn’t want to offend anyone. (That and nobody would be able to agree on *which* player to honor that way.)
LikeLike
I thought they did something like this in the mid 80’s. I seem to remember Carl Yastrzemski being named “Honorary Captain” or something like that the year (or maybe the year after) he retired. I haven’t been able to find it though.
LikeLike