A Real Class Act

[TrainTrac]

From this morning's Nofolk, VA Virginian-Pilot:



"After Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 521st career home run this week to tie Ted Williams, he displayed a thoughtfulness absent in many athletes. 'He went to war for his country twice during his baseball career,' Junior said of Williams. 'Never put my name in his category.'"



'nuff said.

 

[Robert Barker]

Wow! I can't believe Griffey wasn't thinking about himself, he was 100% correct!



Trac N Tennessee

 

[Jim Reeves]

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. Ken Griffey Sr. always showed a real appreciation for the history of the game. Obviously Griffey Jr. realizes there is more to the man than just the uniform. He also shows a keen insite into which uniform is the more important. A class act, indeed.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

In todays sport world it is a rare event to see a genuine kindness in our professional athletes.

They are out there, just not too many of them.

 

[Mike akaRedsfan]

Well, ain't this a fitting topic, lol.



Once upon a time, a few years back, Griffey was your typical baseball player. He would refuse interviews, and have the holier than though attitude. He has grown up quickly which is a nice breath of fresh air. Other stars like Barry Bonds could learn lots from him.

 

[Frank Marano]

Have to remember Mike..... Griffey Jr was only a kid when he started.......

 

[Dale Carter]

Did you know that Jr had a hand in gettign the whole backwards cap thing started? When he was a little kid, he wore his Dad's caps and put them on backward to keep the bill out of his eyes. The habit stuck after he grew up.

 

[Bill V]

If Griffey is being more gracious (with regards to baseball fans in general), it's a welcome change. I know that fairly recently, he had a reputation as being one of the biggest egos in the game--even by the standards of his fellow players. (And I'm not talking about back when he was a kid in Seattle. Even in Cincinnati he was known to consider himself significantly above not only baseball fans, but also his teammates and opposing players.) If he's grown up since then, good for him.

 

[Mike Wilson]

It makes me think "Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Clause"...

 

[Mark B]

Seems like Ted's son was no class act. Are Ted's separated head and body still frozen out in Arizona?

 

[TrainTrac]

Did you know that Jr had a hand in gettign the whole backwards cap thing started? When he was a little kid, he wore his Dad's caps and put them on backward to keep the bill out of his eyes. The habit stuck after he grew up.

Here's another bit of useless trivia:



The switch to baggy uniform shorts in the NBA was started by Michael Jordan. Seems that when he first started in the NBA, he was superstitious and would wear his University of North Carolina shorts under his Bulls shorts. Since they wouldn't fit well under the tight short players wore in the '80's, he had some made that were a little longer and more loose fitting. As he rose to superstar status, the NBA changed all of them so that all of the players could "be like Mike".