who ragged Junior?

I got this e-mail yesterday, and received Mike's permission to use it in the blog. For what it's worth:


I am actually writing this e-mail to hopefully add some insight into a very misunderstood Ken Griffey story. For years I have seen Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey quoted about the fans who were yelling at Jr. for getting hurt when he was on the ground after he separated his shoulder. I again read a quote about the incident in Jim Moore’s article I just read (I linked from your blog on Jr.).

I was there that day…sitting in my front row season tickets in section 102. He literally got hurt and was on the ground right below my seats.

The two of them generally have it correct, but it was one man that yelled at Ken Griffey about him getting hurt. And it was definitely not a Cincinnati Reds fan. It was in fact a very large and very drunk Chicago Cub fan wearing a Sammy Sosa jersey. The guy was eventually removed from the stadium for being belligerent and starting a fight with a woman half his size.

Normally, I could care less what professional sports figures think about me as a fan. I assume they are just as wrong about our motivations as we are about theirs. But, this one drives me nuts because it gets brought up all the time. Having been there, the truth from my point of view is that if Ken Griffey and Adam Dunn had heard what everyone else was saying, especially to the idiot in question, they would realize that their interpretation of fan support that day was 180 degrees wrong.

Just a little insight…in case anyone wanted to hear a fans side of that particular story.



Mike Savage