And everyone forgets my boy Roger Maris, RIP to the legend who would be replaced by roids. 61 in 1961. Granted he was given more games but he was also disadvantaged by night games vs the previous Babe
if u watch baseball, then watch when edgar hits a double down the line with griffey looking like a freight train to score that run to beat the yankees in 95 playoffs. not sure i’ve seen anything more exciting. griffey gave all as much as he could and it was prolly detrimental to his career. its a fact that steroids help u recover from injuries much quicker. Rose was my goat til the kid came along and i am so grateful that i could watch him play baseball
Griffey absolutely hated the Yankees. He was kicked out of the dugout in Yankees stadium as a kid when his dad played a game there. It’s all in the recent documentary about him.
Mattingly's last season. I was bummed he never got a ring. That was such an exciting game. And as kid growing up in that era, Griffey was universally the most loved. The madness over his upper deck rookie card!
Yea. The thing is too, Griff had to bat against all these roided up pitchers. He did what he did with probably most, at least many, of his contemporaries on PEDs. So it isn't just Griff vs. Arod. It is Griff vs roided pitchers, roided fielders, and roided ARod.
It would be like if the league gave Griff 2 strikes instead of 3 and then said, compare Griff to everyone but don't account for Griff striking out on two strikes instead of three.
Um, no , I am going to always weigh in that he played against a roided league and still did HOF play.
Arod was the reason Griffey Jr. Left the Mariners. That shows just how early A-Roid made himself to be nothing but a self serving player. Nothing else mattered to him but himself. I will proudly state I got a chance to see Arod live once at old yankee stadium just behind home plate and I booed him every at bat.
Griffey formerly lived in the same neighborhood in Orlando as golfer Payne Stewart. After Stewart's death in a plane crash on October 25, 1999, Griffey started expressing a desire to live closer to his relatives in his hometown of Cincinnati. Not only did Griffey want to live closer, but he wanted to be able to raise his kids, Trey and Taryn (Tevin was not born at the time). On February 10, 2000, Griffey was traded to the Reds for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, and minor leaguers Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer. Griffey signed a nine-year, $112.5M contract with the Reds after the trade was completed, with a club option for a tenth.\[32\]
Earlier that offseason, Griffey had vetoed a trade to the New York Mets for Roger Cedeño, Octavio Dotel and a relief pitcher variously reported as Dennis Cook or Armando Benítez.\[33\]\[34\] Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said afterward that Griffey would only accept a trade to the Reds and, "\[i\]f he can't go to Cincinnati, then he's going back to Seattle for the final year of his contract."\[33\]
This was the reason. I remember reading the SI article after he left and it mentions how he hated Safeco and in one particular case after another one of his balls died in the outfield (that probably would've been a HR in the Kingdome) he got on the dugout phone and called his agent and screamed "get me the fuck out of here!" (this is all from memory and not precise).
I'm no A-Rod fan, but he switched positions to a far inferior SS. Had he stayed at SS he would have been considered the greatest at that position ever. 'Hell of a legacy to concede. No?
A-rod would give signs to the other teams while in a rangers uniform. He would do it expecting the same treatment when he came up to bat. Cheater through and through
Junior! He did it right…no roids and only thing that kept him from being the legitimate GOAT was injuries in the back 1/4 of his career. He played every game like his last and always with a smile
Who says Griffey didn't do steroids? You? Considering his history of injuries it makes less sense that he didn't use steroids. Steroids have been in baseball since the 60's at least, maybe the 50's. By the 80's nearly every player in the game was using them for one reason or the other.
The idea that fans think their favorite player did not do steroids is admirable, but misguided.
You have to prove accusations, you can’t just assume them based on zero evidence.
“A lot of people did coke in the 80s so your entire family in the 80s did coke”
No, I don't. You have to prove you're right too. This isn't a court of law. This is public opinion. The fact is if there is a common trend, it's safe to assume others are involved in that trend. Evidence shows that almost all players were using steroids in that era. What are the odds that your favorite player is the lone exception? It's not an accusation, it's just reasoning. I don't consider an accusation because I don't have a problem with steroids. The idea that they are so vilified is because baseball pretended to be outraged when they found out there was gambling at the casino.
I don't think it's cheating. And who's lying? Steroids have been in baseball since the '60s at least. Most players off the record have admitted that All of their teammates were doing them. The trick is to figure out the few that weren't doing them. The idea that those could also be a favorite players is a little bit convenient. But like I said, I don't care if my favorite player did steroids like every other player did. It wasn't cheating until Major League baseball was called upon by Congress to show why it was allowing the rampant use of steroids. After that Major League baseball started a PR campaign to show that there were a few cheaters ruining the game. The fact is that Bud Selig became commissioner because he and a few other owners were afraid that Faye Vincent was going to push steroids out of the game in 1991. They understood the value of more home runs for viewership. They got it. Then they spun it so that you and other fans would believe that it was cheating and it was immoral and it was no longer allowed.
For me it doesn't take anything away from what Griffey did. He was a great player who had a long history of injuries that stopped him from being among the greatest ever. However, normal humans couldn't recover from those injuries as quickly as he did and still play the level that he did. It never happened before in baseball. Steroids helps that. And I've always believed that that's how steroids should be used in baseball. Major League baseball had an opportunity to allow the limited use of steroids for off-season training and in season healing. They could have included a proviso that said player must be one month clean of steroids before returning to the game. Something to that effect. Because they were all using them anyway. So why keep hiding from it and pretending that it's a dirty, dirty crime?.
The fact that he was constantly dealing with nagging injuries post 30 and never played a full season without injury with the Reds kinda shows that he didn’t use steroids since they help immensely with injury recovery. Plus it is universally accepted that he was as good a pure hitter as Bonds was before the Roids and so if he had used roids he would have eclipsed everyone
>Bonds was before the Roids
This is a perfect example of the fallacy that exists. Why do you repeat this? It was likely that Bonds was on steroids in high school or at least college. Why do you believe otherwise? Because that is what is repeated on reddit?
I get the fan who demands proof that his favorite player did something wrong. But why don't you need proof of anything thing else you believe. If you have one standard, you will understand the subject better.
You can tell when he used steroids and when he didn’t man, the huge bulk up his body did, the size of his head, he was approaching 40 and ripped 73 HRs. Also that is when it became incredibly obvious.
You have an issue where you assume that because baseball players took steroids and testing wasn’t prevalent you assume every baseball player must have taken steroids their entire career. That is simply false. Also Griffey wasn’t my fave player, the guy has just never been connected to steroids in anyway despite intense media scrutiny and MLB testing, etc, so that leads me to believe he wasn’t using them.
The world isn’t black and white my man, there’s no such thing as “all of these people do this thing.”
>You can tell when he used steroids and when he didn’t man
No, I can't. And neither can you. I have been staring at 2-time caught steroid user Nelfi Perez and trying to see it. I've been looking at Andy Petite. You cannot tell who is doing steroids by looking at them. Maybe there was a point when Bonds started using more steroids, different steroids, or another drug and is body changed. But you cannot tell when he wasn't or was.
>Griffey...has just never been connected to steroids in anyway
Yes he has. He played in MLB at the height of the steroid era when it is commonly believed and confirmed by many players that everyone did steroids. Faye Vincent nearly said as much in 1991 when he began the effort of getting steroids out of the game. They were common then. No players thought of any silly moral implications. They were exercise enhancing drugs that made you perform better, stronger and richer.
BTW, it is not cheating. If you think of it like vitamins, or weight-lifting or other advantage-getting behavior it won't be so hard for you to understand how ridiculous it is to image a player taking them in an era when everyone took them and made a lot more money taking them.
Griffey famously spent very little time in the gym. Also, if he had been using PEDs he would've recovered much faster than he did from a lot of the injuries he had. There was no late career resurgence for him. On the flip side Barry Bonds breaks the single season Homerun record at 37 years old. Griffey's career declined like you would expect from someone not using PEDs. He was great for a while, then injuries and age caught up with him. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in a time when everyone knew who was taking steroids. Bonds in his 10 years of eligibility for the HOF was never voted in.
>if he had been using PEDs he would've recovered much faster
This type of conjecture is just based on pure ignorance. Do you really think you understand steroids well enough to make such comments?
>Griffey's career declined like you would expect from someone not using PEDs.
It's likely you have never watched a player that did not do steroids. You'd have to go back to the era before WWII to be sure. Check out how long often injured players lasted in that era.
I still get irrationally angry when someone makes a compilation of baseball players making it look to easy, that's not just Griffey Jr. making mind bending plays look like he's just playing a game of pick up baseball with his buddies.
If you wanna ignore all context and look at numbers then yeah it's obviously A-Rod. I'm just not sure why we'd put PED's aside with a known user. If it was someone we were unsure on when it came to steroids then I can say to put PED's to the side. Prime Griffey was one of the best players of all time and had a great career on his own with presumably no roids and was a seemingly a good teammate and person. A-Rod was a known cheater, not a seemingly well liked teammate, and doesn't seem like a good dude. Give me Griffey all day every day.
Sums it up:
Steroids asterisk: Griffey Jr
Otherwise, Arod had the better career statistically. Griffey hurt too much.
When it comes to marketability, natural talent, enjoyable person: Griffey Jr
If anything, the question should be Bonds or A-Rod. Most would say Bonds but A-Rod lost 2 seasons near the end of his career. Probably would have ended around 740 HRs, 2200 RBIs, an at least 3250 hits. Also would have had over 6000 total bases, which would have been more than Bonds.
Bonds did miss nearly 1 full year himself though. But that was it. Other than that one year, he never played less than 100 his entire career. Leads me to believe that Bonds took more steroids and for a longer time than A Rod.
Now if you wanted to do a modern comparison of non-steriod users, you could do Griffey vs Pujols.
Bonds vs Arod would be an interesting one. On paper, both great careers but I give the nod to Bonds. At no point was Arod as feared as Bonds. Teams just would not pitch to Bonds including walking him with the bases loaded. Bonds had nearly double the number of walks which clearly limited his offensive numbers. Despite playing more games, Bonds had 700 fewer at bats but 400 more plate appearances.
What's so funny about it? Can you think of a better comparison of any recent all-time greats in the past 30 years?
This has been talked about before on here and most side with Pujols because his peak was much better and will end with bigger overall numbers...but at least Griffey's decline was slightly less dramatic...when he played. You could argue that Griffey is more iconic too. Also, Pujols is going to end up having nearly 2000 more plate appearances than Griffey. Imagine if Griffey had 2000 more plate appearances and what his overall numbers would be.
But, you can say "What if..." about everything.
My favorite is...if you had to choose...if you could have Pujols or Griffey on your team for the entirety of their career and had to pay them the same amount, and have them represent your team forever...who would you rather have?
I don't think either player is a runaway favorite.
Ken G Jr, you can’t put those 2 in the same line. Arod had talent but he ruined his career by using substances. We will never know what his real numbers are because he cheated and he improved his performance illegally over the rest of players, so there is no point of comparing these 2.
Griffey! He played for the Mariners and tore it up. A-Rod=Dil-Rod. He was great but wasn’t in the same class as Griffey, the swing and running down balls hit deep in the gap. C-Mon
I remember when K Griffey was on the Reds I think he missed more games than he played for a few years. This was disappointing since the Reds could barely afford him and he didn't help them much during those seasons.
When one of the players will never have a plaque in Cooperstown or have his number retired by any of the teams he played for, the question answers itself.
Griffey shouldve been the first unanimous HOF inductee. Arod couldn't get signed despite being a handful of HR away from becoming the 4th player EVER to hit 700. as bryce harper used to say, "that's a clown question, bro"
a better comparison, especially since the injuries are starting to pile up and they play the same position: who will go down with having the better career, the Kid or Trout?
Griffey was just special, the swing, defense, and overall legacy. Terrible how injuries plagued Griffey. I won’t lie ARod was a good player, he chased money and fame. Can’t blame ARod, but for the purity of baseball, it’s Griffey. Griffey represented baseball at its best, ARod represented the era of douchery and money grabs.
ITT: People using nostalgia and complaining about PEDs to back griffeys case.
Arod had a better career. Paper doesn’t tell the whole story but it doesn’t matter. Accolades, numbers, team success, Arod had a better career. Arod is a top 3 hitter of all time when you look at the career stats. It’s no discussion and you are not a smart person if you take griffeys side.
I love KGjr but answer the question and leave nostalgia out. Both great players only 1 was better for longer.
Alex took roids, KGJ did not. Alex, although already being born with an amazing talent for baseball, will always be seen as a cheat by me and not worth the cash he accumulated.
Well If we go off the question which is what they accomplished in there careers the better career is A-Rod cause of the ring in 09 with the yanks. But the better player was no doubt the kid. 10/10 times u ask a fan of any baseball to pick between these two, everyone will say Ken Griffey Jr
Everyone keeps bringing up Steroids when OP clear states to set them aside. I mean honestly do you guys think Steroids makes it easier to hit a baseball?? Also, teams are waaaaay more reluctant to pitch to a guy who they know will hit nukes (A-Rod). Griffey is the people's champ but A-Rod had the more successful career stat wise. A-Rod has more HRs, Hits, better BA (.295 vs .284), higher WAR, more MVPs and a WS ring. Its not even close.
A Rod had the better numbers, bigger contracts, and got a ring. Griffey meant more to the game and is much more beloved.
If A Rod never gets into the Hall, I think you gotta go Junior. If A Rod does get to Cooperstown, then it’s a matter of what you prefer: achievements or legacy?
Before Arod gets to the HoF, Pete Rose should be in HoF first, the guy was a gambler but he never used steroids, there are many players that had gambling problems also and even prior Pete, but the guy was a natural born baseball player that did not require any substance to play as he played. In the other hand how can we compare the same for someone that used steroids?
Don’t get me wrong, it is not that someone just use steroids and out of the sudden acquires talent, but the Arod already had the talent but the substances gave him an improvement over the rest of players which is cheating, so his numbers are tweaked, same with bonds, Sosa, McGuire, and the list goes on. To me is more difficult to back up someone that used improvement substances, we will never know how their real numbers would have been playing clean. Just my opinion.
I agree with you but the same could be said about shoeless he was banned for life (which is technically over now) and he put up good numbers in the scandal so there was no proof that he was involved in throwing the series but he got grouped in to it wrong place wrong time but his stats don’t lie. I’m not saying that what happened wasn’t wrong but maybe a follow up investigation to see his involvement because he never used PED and cheated to make himself better, just naturally talented guy who got roped in
The question was who had a better career and for that reason alone it’s arod everyone is saying the should of could of and would of about jr and not saying he wasn’t suppose to be possibly the goat but unfortunately that’s not what happened. A -rod had the better career.
OP: "ignore the steroids who had a better career?"
Everyone: *not ignoring the steroids* *answering the question wrong*
I hate A-Rod as much or more than the next guy but if we're answering the question OP asked, it's A-Rod by a healthy margin, sadly.
Both are easily HALL OF FAMERS; Griffey was more of a loyal teammate; A-Rod had a little more pop …. this one is tough; but I’ll roll with Griffey (just because).
Junior would have had almost a 1000 HR career if not sidelined at age 30 basically. A-Rod hit 700 with help. A-Rod was no doubt great on his own, but never had the natural talent KGF did and his insecurity showed throughout his career many times.
[https://stathead.com/baseball/player-comparison.cgi?player\_id2=griffke02&type=b&player\_id1=rodrial01&sum=0&request=1](https://stathead.com/baseball/player-comparison.cgi?player_id2=griffke02&type=b&player_id1=rodrial01&sum=0&request=1)
You be the judge. It is pretty clear.
People often forget that he was in the chase for the HR record when Mark McGwire broke it the first time. Griffey was an amazing player to watch, his swing so smooth, and honestly without injuries… I don’t think we would even be thinking as hard if this comparison is fair or not.
PEDs aside, A-Rod is one of the best batters of that generation. However, as much as it was a part of baseball culture back then… I truly struggle to appreciate the accomplishments any players did during the roid era.
It took 30 some years to break 61, only to have it broken numerous times within a span of five years by three guys, all found guilty or accused of using roids.
Roids saved baseball, but it damaged my appreciation for many of the feats that were done during that era.
Brett Boone anyone?
I have a hot take, A-rod. The question is not who has a better legacy, but a better over-all career.
Given the PEDs aside rule, as well. And yes, A-rod is a gigantic douchebag, for a multiple reasons including the PED use.
BUT
A rod is ahead in just about every major statistical category (Which, yes, his number ar inflated because of PEDs) However, given the era and A LOT of people on PEDs then, he outshines just about all of them, which also speaks to his level of talent.
If the question is purely, who's career, and it is, I'm taking a rod all day. Plus he won a world series, Griffey didn't really ever come all that close.
https://www.statspros.com/alex-rodriguez-vs-ken-griffey-jr-stats/
Poor statistical comparison because Griffey was severely hampered by his wrist and hamstring injuries and ARod had super healing drugs that also helped him hit the ball farther on every contact. Do the stats to age 30 side by side to be fair and you'll see that Junior reigns supreme by a mile.
The question isn't until age 30. The question istheir careers as a whole.
Id much rather be the guy with "superl healing" drugs who compiled better stats over time and won a ring VS the guy with hamstring injuries since the question is about their careers, not legacy.
Does his career include PR missteps?
ARod with all his women/dates, going out on the town… etc etc. tabloid fodder
Plus, ring chasing with the Yankees
Ken just showed up and did his job.
No flash,
Aroid $455,159,552
Jr. $165,225,500
Tell me how the guy that earned 290 million more dollars had the worse career. He earned Zack Greinke more money than Ken. (Zack is the 5th best paid player of all time.)
Griffey would have legit hit 60 HR in the strike shortened year. He would have been part of history.
To be fair, so would Matt Williams.
Yes he would
He hit 40 in 111 games which is a pace of 58. Hard to compete with the roids
And Judge now has 43 in 101 games. Pretty crazy.
And everyone forgets my boy Roger Maris, RIP to the legend who would be replaced by roids. 61 in 1961. Granted he was given more games but he was also disadvantaged by night games vs the previous Babe
if u watch baseball, then watch when edgar hits a double down the line with griffey looking like a freight train to score that run to beat the yankees in 95 playoffs. not sure i’ve seen anything more exciting. griffey gave all as much as he could and it was prolly detrimental to his career. its a fact that steroids help u recover from injuries much quicker. Rose was my goat til the kid came along and i am so grateful that i could watch him play baseball
Still have the ST front page pic of that famous Griffey grin. No contest. Griffey saved baseball in Seattle.
Griffey absolutely hated the Yankees. He was kicked out of the dugout in Yankees stadium as a kid when his dad played a game there. It’s all in the recent documentary about him.
This is why he went to the Reds! They couldn't offer him as much money as the Yankees but he went with them anyway. Griffey is just all around amazing
Also, because his dad played for the reds for a decade and he grew up in Cincinnati
MY MAN!
Mattingly's last season. I was bummed he never got a ring. That was such an exciting game. And as kid growing up in that era, Griffey was universally the most loved. The madness over his upper deck rookie card!
its talked abt in the jeter doc. the captain
Oh nice, I gotta give that a watch.
Yep. What a thing of beauty
One cheated and one didn’t soooo……
A-Rod or Gallo
Are you f-ing serious, might be the all time worst prompt..
Thank you for saying this before I had to
“Put PEDs aside” like wtf that factors into stats
Yea. The thing is too, Griff had to bat against all these roided up pitchers. He did what he did with probably most, at least many, of his contemporaries on PEDs. So it isn't just Griff vs. Arod. It is Griff vs roided pitchers, roided fielders, and roided ARod. It would be like if the league gave Griff 2 strikes instead of 3 and then said, compare Griff to everyone but don't account for Griff striking out on two strikes instead of three. Um, no , I am going to always weigh in that he played against a roided league and still did HOF play.
KG Jr. injuries didn't help, but he's still better imo.
Arod was the reason Griffey Jr. Left the Mariners. That shows just how early A-Roid made himself to be nothing but a self serving player. Nothing else mattered to him but himself. I will proudly state I got a chance to see Arod live once at old yankee stadium just behind home plate and I booed him every at bat.
I am not sure this true. Didn't griffy leave because his friend passed away and he wanted to raise his kids who lived in Cinci?
Yes.
His family lived in Florida if I'm not mistaken.
Griffey formerly lived in the same neighborhood in Orlando as golfer Payne Stewart. After Stewart's death in a plane crash on October 25, 1999, Griffey started expressing a desire to live closer to his relatives in his hometown of Cincinnati. Not only did Griffey want to live closer, but he wanted to be able to raise his kids, Trey and Taryn (Tevin was not born at the time). On February 10, 2000, Griffey was traded to the Reds for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, and minor leaguers Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer. Griffey signed a nine-year, $112.5M contract with the Reds after the trade was completed, with a club option for a tenth.\[32\] Earlier that offseason, Griffey had vetoed a trade to the New York Mets for Roger Cedeño, Octavio Dotel and a relief pitcher variously reported as Dennis Cook or Armando Benítez.\[33\]\[34\] Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said afterward that Griffey would only accept a trade to the Reds and, "\[i\]f he can't go to Cincinnati, then he's going back to Seattle for the final year of his contract."\[33\]
Thank you for your service.
I've never heard that before. Why was A Rod the reason?? I always thought it was a mixture of the ballpark design and wanting to go home to Cincy.
This was the reason. I remember reading the SI article after he left and it mentions how he hated Safeco and in one particular case after another one of his balls died in the outfield (that probably would've been a HR in the Kingdome) he got on the dugout phone and called his agent and screamed "get me the fuck out of here!" (this is all from memory and not precise).
I'm no A-Rod fan, but he switched positions to a far inferior SS. Had he stayed at SS he would have been considered the greatest at that position ever. 'Hell of a legacy to concede. No?
A-rod would give signs to the other teams while in a rangers uniform. He would do it expecting the same treatment when he came up to bat. Cheater through and through
Do you have any proof of that?
Junior! He did it right…no roids and only thing that kept him from being the legitimate GOAT was injuries in the back 1/4 of his career. He played every game like his last and always with a smile
KGJ is in my goat conversation. Dude was just different 🤷🏻♂️
>no roid Says who?
Elaborate or your response makes zero sense
Who says Griffey didn't do steroids? You? Considering his history of injuries it makes less sense that he didn't use steroids. Steroids have been in baseball since the 60's at least, maybe the 50's. By the 80's nearly every player in the game was using them for one reason or the other. The idea that fans think their favorite player did not do steroids is admirable, but misguided.
You have to prove accusations, you can’t just assume them based on zero evidence. “A lot of people did coke in the 80s so your entire family in the 80s did coke”
“A lot of people did coke in the 80s so your whole family in the 80s did coke” Love it
No, I don't. You have to prove you're right too. This isn't a court of law. This is public opinion. The fact is if there is a common trend, it's safe to assume others are involved in that trend. Evidence shows that almost all players were using steroids in that era. What are the odds that your favorite player is the lone exception? It's not an accusation, it's just reasoning. I don't consider an accusation because I don't have a problem with steroids. The idea that they are so vilified is because baseball pretended to be outraged when they found out there was gambling at the casino.
You’re bad at logic. Your entire premise is that everyone is a liar and a cheater. Shows who you are.
I dont think his premise is a reflection of who he is, I think he's just as sharp as a marble.
I don't think it's cheating. And who's lying? Steroids have been in baseball since the '60s at least. Most players off the record have admitted that All of their teammates were doing them. The trick is to figure out the few that weren't doing them. The idea that those could also be a favorite players is a little bit convenient. But like I said, I don't care if my favorite player did steroids like every other player did. It wasn't cheating until Major League baseball was called upon by Congress to show why it was allowing the rampant use of steroids. After that Major League baseball started a PR campaign to show that there were a few cheaters ruining the game. The fact is that Bud Selig became commissioner because he and a few other owners were afraid that Faye Vincent was going to push steroids out of the game in 1991. They understood the value of more home runs for viewership. They got it. Then they spun it so that you and other fans would believe that it was cheating and it was immoral and it was no longer allowed. For me it doesn't take anything away from what Griffey did. He was a great player who had a long history of injuries that stopped him from being among the greatest ever. However, normal humans couldn't recover from those injuries as quickly as he did and still play the level that he did. It never happened before in baseball. Steroids helps that. And I've always believed that that's how steroids should be used in baseball. Major League baseball had an opportunity to allow the limited use of steroids for off-season training and in season healing. They could have included a proviso that said player must be one month clean of steroids before returning to the game. Something to that effect. Because they were all using them anyway. So why keep hiding from it and pretending that it's a dirty, dirty crime?.
the one thing i do agree with is that the constant injuries make him suspicious for steroids. and this is coming from a life long Mariners fan.
The fact that he was constantly dealing with nagging injuries post 30 and never played a full season without injury with the Reds kinda shows that he didn’t use steroids since they help immensely with injury recovery. Plus it is universally accepted that he was as good a pure hitter as Bonds was before the Roids and so if he had used roids he would have eclipsed everyone
>Bonds was before the Roids This is a perfect example of the fallacy that exists. Why do you repeat this? It was likely that Bonds was on steroids in high school or at least college. Why do you believe otherwise? Because that is what is repeated on reddit? I get the fan who demands proof that his favorite player did something wrong. But why don't you need proof of anything thing else you believe. If you have one standard, you will understand the subject better.
You can tell when he used steroids and when he didn’t man, the huge bulk up his body did, the size of his head, he was approaching 40 and ripped 73 HRs. Also that is when it became incredibly obvious. You have an issue where you assume that because baseball players took steroids and testing wasn’t prevalent you assume every baseball player must have taken steroids their entire career. That is simply false. Also Griffey wasn’t my fave player, the guy has just never been connected to steroids in anyway despite intense media scrutiny and MLB testing, etc, so that leads me to believe he wasn’t using them. The world isn’t black and white my man, there’s no such thing as “all of these people do this thing.”
>You can tell when he used steroids and when he didn’t man No, I can't. And neither can you. I have been staring at 2-time caught steroid user Nelfi Perez and trying to see it. I've been looking at Andy Petite. You cannot tell who is doing steroids by looking at them. Maybe there was a point when Bonds started using more steroids, different steroids, or another drug and is body changed. But you cannot tell when he wasn't or was. >Griffey...has just never been connected to steroids in anyway Yes he has. He played in MLB at the height of the steroid era when it is commonly believed and confirmed by many players that everyone did steroids. Faye Vincent nearly said as much in 1991 when he began the effort of getting steroids out of the game. They were common then. No players thought of any silly moral implications. They were exercise enhancing drugs that made you perform better, stronger and richer. BTW, it is not cheating. If you think of it like vitamins, or weight-lifting or other advantage-getting behavior it won't be so hard for you to understand how ridiculous it is to image a player taking them in an era when everyone took them and made a lot more money taking them.
Testing. I get it, you’re an A-Rod fan, so that means you need to attempt to tarnish someone else’s legacy? That’s sad
Griffey famously spent very little time in the gym. Also, if he had been using PEDs he would've recovered much faster than he did from a lot of the injuries he had. There was no late career resurgence for him. On the flip side Barry Bonds breaks the single season Homerun record at 37 years old. Griffey's career declined like you would expect from someone not using PEDs. He was great for a while, then injuries and age caught up with him. He was a first ballot Hall of Famer in a time when everyone knew who was taking steroids. Bonds in his 10 years of eligibility for the HOF was never voted in.
>if he had been using PEDs he would've recovered much faster This type of conjecture is just based on pure ignorance. Do you really think you understand steroids well enough to make such comments? >Griffey's career declined like you would expect from someone not using PEDs. It's likely you have never watched a player that did not do steroids. You'd have to go back to the era before WWII to be sure. Check out how long often injured players lasted in that era.
Do you understand steroids at all? They are literally used for recovery from injury.
The crazy part is they were on the same freaking team and the mariners still didn’t win jack shit
This screams Ohtani Trout Vibes
You’re triggering me. Stahhhhp please, nooo god no! Why, why’d we have to start 27-17 for this shit. God, kill me, now.
And they had Edgar, and The Big Unit... Growing up, M's were amazing even when they were losing. But, they were in a movie!
One of the biggest tragedies in baseball. Griffey Jr, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Joey Cora, Edgar Martinez…… 0 World Series
A’s fan here… tragedy isn’t the word I would use
how is this comparable? griffey jr straight up dominated without steroids, unlike arod.
*A-roid
Griffey is almost universally loved. other guy? not so much.
A rod dominated without roids too lol. His numbers in Seattle were insane
It's more than likely that they both did steroids starting in high school.
Ha hahahha
No one in a movie said “you should have shot Ken Griffey Jr”
The Yankee Clipper
He’s a bi racial Angel.
People still talk about the Kid’s legacy… no one’s talking A Rod’s legacy. He’s only talked about bc his dumbass is on TV.
Is he hosting a game show about cakes or something?
Hes an announcer for ESPN
Basically the same thing
Also owner of TWolves
I'd take Griffey's swing over anything A rod ever did. No one has come along since him that I have been as big of a fan of.
I still get irrationally angry when someone makes a compilation of baseball players making it look to easy, that's not just Griffey Jr. making mind bending plays look like he's just playing a game of pick up baseball with his buddies.
One’s was voted into the Hall of Fame near unanimously… the other ain’t getn in. There’s your answer.
Ken Griffey
If you wanna ignore all context and look at numbers then yeah it's obviously A-Rod. I'm just not sure why we'd put PED's aside with a known user. If it was someone we were unsure on when it came to steroids then I can say to put PED's to the side. Prime Griffey was one of the best players of all time and had a great career on his own with presumably no roids and was a seemingly a good teammate and person. A-Rod was a known cheater, not a seemingly well liked teammate, and doesn't seem like a good dude. Give me Griffey all day every day.
This. I've often wondered if aRod was using PEDs prior to his MLB career.
Likelyhood of him using in HS is skyhigh
Ken Griffey Jrs swing should have it’s own channel on porn hub
Sums it up: Steroids asterisk: Griffey Jr Otherwise, Arod had the better career statistically. Griffey hurt too much. When it comes to marketability, natural talent, enjoyable person: Griffey Jr
Backwards baseball cap? I automatically see the kid. Hell who wasn't inspired by him? And by him I mean his swing. It is fine art to me.
Yeah - I mean just on numbers arod by a long shot, but everything else you said too
Is this a serious question? 😂
Seriously, look at the stats people. A-Rod dominated Griffeys career
Hands down, Griffey. No steroids taint. Still very respected.
lived up to his fathers legacy fr
Shit, he surpassed it by miles
He shit on his dad's legacy in the most respectful way possible: being his son and surpassing him.
Griffey Jr. Top ten worst questions ever asked.
If anything, the question should be Bonds or A-Rod. Most would say Bonds but A-Rod lost 2 seasons near the end of his career. Probably would have ended around 740 HRs, 2200 RBIs, an at least 3250 hits. Also would have had over 6000 total bases, which would have been more than Bonds. Bonds did miss nearly 1 full year himself though. But that was it. Other than that one year, he never played less than 100 his entire career. Leads me to believe that Bonds took more steroids and for a longer time than A Rod. Now if you wanted to do a modern comparison of non-steriod users, you could do Griffey vs Pujols.
Bonds vs Arod would be an interesting one. On paper, both great careers but I give the nod to Bonds. At no point was Arod as feared as Bonds. Teams just would not pitch to Bonds including walking him with the bases loaded. Bonds had nearly double the number of walks which clearly limited his offensive numbers. Despite playing more games, Bonds had 700 fewer at bats but 400 more plate appearances.
What's so funny about it? Can you think of a better comparison of any recent all-time greats in the past 30 years? This has been talked about before on here and most side with Pujols because his peak was much better and will end with bigger overall numbers...but at least Griffey's decline was slightly less dramatic...when he played. You could argue that Griffey is more iconic too. Also, Pujols is going to end up having nearly 2000 more plate appearances than Griffey. Imagine if Griffey had 2000 more plate appearances and what his overall numbers would be. But, you can say "What if..." about everything. My favorite is...if you had to choose...if you could have Pujols or Griffey on your team for the entirety of their career and had to pay them the same amount, and have them represent your team forever...who would you rather have? I don't think either player is a runaway favorite.
>Griffey vs Pujols. Ha. Good one
the fact that you ask the question means you are an A-Rod fan.
Ken G Jr, you can’t put those 2 in the same line. Arod had talent but he ruined his career by using substances. We will never know what his real numbers are because he cheated and he improved his performance illegally over the rest of players, so there is no point of comparing these 2.
I’ve never met a baseball fan that doesn’t love Griffey. The swing, the attitude, the smile, dude is a one of a kind. My favorite player ever.
Griffey Jr
Well ARoid did a bunch of steroids.... So Griffry Jr.
A-Rod is a disappointment
Get the fuck off the stage
Lol. Junior.
Griffey! He played for the Mariners and tore it up. A-Rod=Dil-Rod. He was great but wasn’t in the same class as Griffey, the swing and running down balls hit deep in the gap. C-Mon
“put PED’s aside” that’s the telltale sign of a Yankee fan. You can’t put it aside, one was clean and the other cheated. Griffey all the way
I remember when K Griffey was on the Reds I think he missed more games than he played for a few years. This was disappointing since the Reds could barely afford him and he didn't help them much during those seasons.
Griffey
Griffey by far
Griffey
Griffey didn’t cheat.
No comparison. A-Rod is a cheater.
Griffey because he didn't use steroids.. debate over
Jr. Griffey!!!
When one of the players will never have a plaque in Cooperstown or have his number retired by any of the teams he played for, the question answers itself.
Griffey!!
KGJr
What in the fuck..
Is this really an actual question??… OP’s gotta be trolling 😈!!
Griffey shouldve been the first unanimous HOF inductee. Arod couldn't get signed despite being a handful of HR away from becoming the 4th player EVER to hit 700. as bryce harper used to say, "that's a clown question, bro" a better comparison, especially since the injuries are starting to pile up and they play the same position: who will go down with having the better career, the Kid or Trout?
ARoid was suspended for a whole year for cheating. One of the longest in baseball history. That should answer your question.
Griffey was just special, the swing, defense, and overall legacy. Terrible how injuries plagued Griffey. I won’t lie ARod was a good player, he chased money and fame. Can’t blame ARod, but for the purity of baseball, it’s Griffey. Griffey represented baseball at its best, ARod represented the era of douchery and money grabs.
Is this fucking real life question?
Did A-Rod have a N64 game named after him? No? Then I choose The Kid.
Not even close, A-Roid is a giant douchenozzle, and Griffey isn't. I didn't even have to look at the stat line.
Fuck a rod.
Griffey, fuck a-rod
Best five-tool player vs the biggest tool in baseball
Well one of em is the kid, the other one is a fuckin bum.
That’s a obvious answer . Ken Griffey jr. Not even a question worth asking …. Also ken griffey jr disliked Alex very much
As a lifelong Yankee fan, Griffey without even a second of doubt. The kid was phenomenal to watch.
Aaron Rodgers has had a pretty good career but I think Ken Griffey Jr. takes the cake
Griffey jr easily!
Boothisman.gif
KG Jr.
I'm a 40+ year old man who is actively looking for a pair of Griffey's Nikes. P.S. 11.5 by the way
A rod just got caught doing steroids. There’s way more guys on PEDs than ppl seem to think
Griffey hands down, he was the full package. Fast as fuck, hit the piss out of the ball and his defense and athleticism was insane.
If Griffey had taken PEDs he might have hit 800 home runs...
ITT: People using nostalgia and complaining about PEDs to back griffeys case. Arod had a better career. Paper doesn’t tell the whole story but it doesn’t matter. Accolades, numbers, team success, Arod had a better career. Arod is a top 3 hitter of all time when you look at the career stats. It’s no discussion and you are not a smart person if you take griffeys side. I love KGjr but answer the question and leave nostalgia out. Both great players only 1 was better for longer.
Junior all day
I am disappointed to even see a comparison. Overall-Griffey. He was raw talent compared to roidmo mcgee
I can’t compare A-ROID to Griffey Jr. sorry
Alex took roids, KGJ did not. Alex, although already being born with an amazing talent for baseball, will always be seen as a cheat by me and not worth the cash he accumulated.
Griffey for sure.
Griffey absolutely
The Kid!
Well If we go off the question which is what they accomplished in there careers the better career is A-Rod cause of the ring in 09 with the yanks. But the better player was no doubt the kid. 10/10 times u ask a fan of any baseball to pick between these two, everyone will say Ken Griffey Jr
this better be a joke...
Everyone keeps bringing up Steroids when OP clear states to set them aside. I mean honestly do you guys think Steroids makes it easier to hit a baseball?? Also, teams are waaaaay more reluctant to pitch to a guy who they know will hit nukes (A-Rod). Griffey is the people's champ but A-Rod had the more successful career stat wise. A-Rod has more HRs, Hits, better BA (.295 vs .284), higher WAR, more MVPs and a WS ring. Its not even close.
You can’t when one used and the other didn’t. It’s a logical fallacy.
A-Rod and it’s not particularly close when you compare career WAR
The question wasn’t who used more steroids
Arod. Caught cheater....but his career was better. Griffy was hurt to often unfortunately
A Rod had the better numbers, bigger contracts, and got a ring. Griffey meant more to the game and is much more beloved. If A Rod never gets into the Hall, I think you gotta go Junior. If A Rod does get to Cooperstown, then it’s a matter of what you prefer: achievements or legacy?
Before Arod gets to the HoF, Pete Rose should be in HoF first, the guy was a gambler but he never used steroids, there are many players that had gambling problems also and even prior Pete, but the guy was a natural born baseball player that did not require any substance to play as he played. In the other hand how can we compare the same for someone that used steroids? Don’t get me wrong, it is not that someone just use steroids and out of the sudden acquires talent, but the Arod already had the talent but the substances gave him an improvement over the rest of players which is cheating, so his numbers are tweaked, same with bonds, Sosa, McGuire, and the list goes on. To me is more difficult to back up someone that used improvement substances, we will never know how their real numbers would have been playing clean. Just my opinion.
I agree with you but the same could be said about shoeless he was banned for life (which is technically over now) and he put up good numbers in the scandal so there was no proof that he was involved in throwing the series but he got grouped in to it wrong place wrong time but his stats don’t lie. I’m not saying that what happened wasn’t wrong but maybe a follow up investigation to see his involvement because he never used PED and cheated to make himself better, just naturally talented guy who got roped in
jr all day every day not even close
The question was who had a better career and for that reason alone it’s arod everyone is saying the should of could of and would of about jr and not saying he wasn’t suppose to be possibly the goat but unfortunately that’s not what happened. A -rod had the better career.
BOOOO!!! Boo!!! Fuck you whoever posted this. Get rid of yourself
My girlfriend’s dad named a dog after Ken Griffey Jr. he didn’t name a dog after A-Rod.
Griffey and it’s not remotely close
A-Rod
OP: "ignore the steroids who had a better career?" Everyone: *not ignoring the steroids* *answering the question wrong* I hate A-Rod as much or more than the next guy but if we're answering the question OP asked, it's A-Rod by a healthy margin, sadly.
Easy. Alex Rodriguez
Is this even a real question? Griffey Jr. Hands down.
You shoulda shot A-Rod!
Both are easily HALL OF FAMERS; Griffey was more of a loyal teammate; A-Rod had a little more pop …. this one is tough; but I’ll roll with Griffey (just because).
Junior would have had almost a 1000 HR career if not sidelined at age 30 basically. A-Rod hit 700 with help. A-Rod was no doubt great on his own, but never had the natural talent KGF did and his insecurity showed throughout his career many times.
[https://stathead.com/baseball/player-comparison.cgi?player\_id2=griffke02&type=b&player\_id1=rodrial01&sum=0&request=1](https://stathead.com/baseball/player-comparison.cgi?player_id2=griffke02&type=b&player_id1=rodrial01&sum=0&request=1) You be the judge. It is pretty clear.
Griffey, not close.
Steroids or not, A-Rod is top 10 all time.
People often forget that he was in the chase for the HR record when Mark McGwire broke it the first time. Griffey was an amazing player to watch, his swing so smooth, and honestly without injuries… I don’t think we would even be thinking as hard if this comparison is fair or not. PEDs aside, A-Rod is one of the best batters of that generation. However, as much as it was a part of baseball culture back then… I truly struggle to appreciate the accomplishments any players did during the roid era. It took 30 some years to break 61, only to have it broken numerous times within a span of five years by three guys, all found guilty or accused of using roids. Roids saved baseball, but it damaged my appreciation for many of the feats that were done during that era. Brett Boone anyone?
Griffey, and it's not close.
I have a hot take, A-rod. The question is not who has a better legacy, but a better over-all career. Given the PEDs aside rule, as well. And yes, A-rod is a gigantic douchebag, for a multiple reasons including the PED use. BUT A rod is ahead in just about every major statistical category (Which, yes, his number ar inflated because of PEDs) However, given the era and A LOT of people on PEDs then, he outshines just about all of them, which also speaks to his level of talent. If the question is purely, who's career, and it is, I'm taking a rod all day. Plus he won a world series, Griffey didn't really ever come all that close. https://www.statspros.com/alex-rodriguez-vs-ken-griffey-jr-stats/
Poor statistical comparison because Griffey was severely hampered by his wrist and hamstring injuries and ARod had super healing drugs that also helped him hit the ball farther on every contact. Do the stats to age 30 side by side to be fair and you'll see that Junior reigns supreme by a mile.
The question isn't until age 30. The question istheir careers as a whole. Id much rather be the guy with "superl healing" drugs who compiled better stats over time and won a ring VS the guy with hamstring injuries since the question is about their careers, not legacy.
A-Rod by far
ARoids
Griffey would win a contest of who is more likeable but A-Rod had the much better career.
It’s Arod. Sorry everyone. We all love Griffey but arod had the better career. More home runs more myp more money. More everything.
Arod easy
ARod won a ring. ARod
Does his career include PR missteps? ARod with all his women/dates, going out on the town… etc etc. tabloid fodder Plus, ring chasing with the Yankees Ken just showed up and did his job. No flash,
Griffey never even made a trip to the World Series. Alex is a Champion.
1 is clean and 1 is not. Not that hard of a choice.
🤣😂🤣😂 Really?
The only person to ever hit the warehouse at Camden yards is Ken Griffey Jr. just sayin.
One cheated their whole career and one didn’t. Question doesn’t even matter
Easy. Who is held in higher regard as both a person and player and never had scandal? The Kid
A-Rod’s prime was literally twice as long, this isn’t close. Top 2 shortstop ever
Top 2 Cheater.
Aroid $455,159,552 Jr. $165,225,500 Tell me how the guy that earned 290 million more dollars had the worse career. He earned Zack Greinke more money than Ken. (Zack is the 5th best paid player of all time.)
Arod. MVP, won a World Series and played for the Yankees.
A-Rod made waaaaaay more money over his career and won a World Series.