Will Griffey Jr. be remembered as the guy who played fair?
 

Thinking back on the greatest sluggers of the 90's isn't Griffey the one guy that appears to have been clean all along? As he approaches 600 HR's this year I wonder what his legacy will be. I hope he gets credit for having played clean.

Quite simply, Junior is the man.

If he could have stayed healthy his entire career, he would have had a legitimate shot at the HR record.

He's one of my favorites.

And to answer your question, yes, he would have been remembered as the guy who didn't use steroids.

What makes him above suspicion? I don't think anyone who played in the era is not automatically suspect.

I'd say that his susceptibility to lingering injuries and the fact that he pretty much is the same size now as he was as a rookie is what makes me thinks he hasn't used performance enhancing drugs.

That and he's not a jerk. ;)

I thought susceptibility is one potential side effect of prolonged steroid use. Also, Rafael Palmeiro really did not get any bigger (at least that I noticed) and he is one of the few proven users. I'm just sayin.....(I sometimes get sick of myself playing Devil's Advocate and this is one of those times.)

I am glad you added that last proviso.

Perhaps you're right about susceptibility as I've been wrong enough in my life that it no longer surprises me.

I knew the last point would be effective. It's really easy to like Junior and only see goodness and light from him.

Palmeiro did get bigger...

http://www.teepee-talk.com/archives/muscle.jpg

We're still talking about steroids, right? Not about Viagra....

Here's a link to an interesting article about Bonds and Griffey who are good friends. It contains the story of the day Bonds revealed to Griffey and others in the room that he was going to start taking some "hardcore stuff" because he was frustrated with guys like McGwire and Sosa getting all the attention. A very interesting read and please note Griffey's response to Bonds' revelation:

"If I can't do it myself, then I'm not going to do it," Griffey says. "When I'm retired, I want them to at least be able to say, 'There's no question in our minds that he did it the right way.' I have kids. I don't want them to think their dad's a cheater."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2368395

His injury problems of the last several years and playing for a pathetic Reds organization (and I'm a Reds fan) will probably result in him not being remembered for much of anything.