It was the end of an era in baseball a few nights ago as one of the all time greats announced his retirement. Ken Griffey Jr called it a career after 22 years in the bigs, and will be primarily be remembered as one of the dominant power hitters in MLB history...
Or will he?
Hear me out! There's no disputing that Griffey Jr has the numbers to support being labelled as one of the best the game has seen. Fifth all time in homers. Multiple Golden Gloves and Silver Slugger awards. An MVP award. Fourteenth all time in runs batted in, 6th all time in extra base hits and 4th all time in intentional walks. Sure fire 1st ballot hall of famer.
And yet, what Jr will likely be remembered for is what he could have acheived had he stayed healthy. While he remained relatively unscathed during his first 11 years, all played as a Seattle Mariner, upon his move to the Cincinatti Reds in 2001 he suffered a string of injuries that had significant impacts on his ability to play as he had during the initial half of his career. These injuries included multiple hamstring tears, torn knee and ankle tendons, a dislocated shoulder, a broken hand and inflamation in his knees. The man who arrived to Cincinatti on pace to break Hank Aaron's home run mark fell well short as a result.
So while we cannot deny that he is certainly deserving of his place in Cooperstown, one has to wonder just how far he could have gone. Put differently, what was his true potential? This kind of question is not foreign to the hockey world, as there are a number of great players who, while stars or superstars in their own right, are often wondered about in terms of how much better they could have been or how much longer they could have gone had the unfortunate reality of playing a physical game, or God forbid "being human", not reared its head. Here are but a few:
Mario Lemeuix: Was he the greatest ever? With a 1.88 point per game average and historical .750 goal scoring rate per game (regular season + playoffs), the numbers argue that when it came to scoring he deserves consideration. But there's a difference between actual scoring and the rate at which you do so, and for Mario his health would only allow us to project what he could have done. First came the back problems, so painful that even lacing his skates brought on spasms that had him benched on occasion. Herniated discs and muscles were at the core of this, and even surgeries didn't completely fix their effect of him.
As if this were not enough, he was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, in the prime of his career. Because of the treatment his body is beaten down, fatigued. He played 40 games before the treatment, 20 more after it was completed. What does he do? Wins the Art Ross trophy with 160 points. He plays only 20 odd games in 93-94 and sits out the 94-95 season. He only comes back and wins the next two scoring titles before leaving the game at 31 years of age due to a growing distaste for where the NHL game was at in its clutch and grab era. But not gone for good, returning in 2000 for five more seasons, adding another 77 goals and 152 assists to his career totals.
So think about it. Only 6 seasons during his 17 year career did he play over 70 games. Cancer. Useless back. What does that get you? Seventh in all time league scoring with 1,723 points.
Mike Bossy: He played only 10 years in the league, retiring at age 30 due to chronic back problems. But what a ten years it was:
- A record 53 goals by a rookie in the 77-78 season
- Four consecutive Stanley Cups
- An NHL record 0.762 goals per game ratio in the regular season, second best in the playoffs with a 0.659
- Second player in NHL history to score 50 in 50
- Most consecutive 50 goal seasons with 9
- Fourth in the NHL with most 100+ point seasons (7)
- Scored 69 goals in the 5 Stanley Cup Playoffs Finals between 1980-1984 (In contrast, Gretzky scored “only” 59 in his 5 Cup Finals with Edmonton)
- Fastest player to 100 goals, second fastest to 300 and third fastest to 500.
- Third in points per game with a 1.497 rate
And yet he doesn’t even crack to top 50 in all-time league scoring, and only 19th in all-time league goal scoring with 573
Eric Lindros: The “Next One”. In Junior he scored 171 goals and 349 points in 144 games. In his first six seasons he scored 223 goals and 507 points in 360 games. Due to his very physical brand of play he never played a complete 80+ game season during this time, ranging from 46 (during the abbreviated 94-95 season) to 65 games (his second season in the league). So there was concern right off the bat as to how his body could hold up. Then…this:
That was the first of a series of eight concussions for the Big E, and the beginning of the end in effect for his career. While there were other injuries moving forward that certainly contributed to his decline (e.g., collapsed lung, wrist/hand injuries), the concussions were at the forefront for his decline from 1998 forward. Indeed, in his remaining seven seasons in the league he scored 149 goals and 358 points in 400 games.
He finishes his career with a 1.138 points per game ratio, 18th all-time and ahead of players like Jari Kurri, Denis Savard, Bryan Trottier Pavel Bure and Bobby Hull. He also finished 18th in playoff points per game with a 1.075 ratio, ahead of players like Phil Esposito, Denis Savard, and Guy LaFleur.
There are three “Griffey-esque” guys from the world of hockey. Players who were remarkable in what they achieved, but who had the potential to do so much more. But there’s the key! POTENTIAL. We’re talking pure conjecture here. Maybe they don’t continue to tear it up the way they were. In the case of a guy like Bossy does the turn over into the trap era as opposed to the run and gun style of the 1980s stifle his play anyways? In the case of a Lindros if he tones down his physical play does he even achieve what he did as that was such a huge component of his game? Who is to say? Actually, it’s for you to say because, to the dismay of some who loathe these questions, I’m throwing it out to you:
What if…? #19: Star/Superstar Players Hadn’t Had Their Careers/Potential Cut Short?
What could a Lemieux, Bossy or Lindros have done with a clean bill of health? What about other players not mentioned here like a Bobby Orr, Pavel Bure, Paul Kariya, Pat LaFontaine Al Iafrate or Bryan Berard? Not that some of these guys did not have exceptional or Hall of Fame careers, but there have always been questions as to how much more could have been shown, done, or achieved. Feel free to hypothesize and have your say on a player you think could have gone further than they did had they remained healthy or not met other exceptional circumstances.
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