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Whenever I hear about Ken Griffey Jr. or see old highlights of him hitting a ball to the moon with that beautiful swing of his, I can’t help but think about how dumb I once was (or still am, which is certainly up for debate).
That happened again Sunday night when MLB Network debuted “Junior,” an awesome documentary that tells the story of Griffey’s legendary career, growing up in MLB clubhouses with his dad, and later being teammates with his pops.
So why does Griffey make me feel so bad about myself? When I was in the prime of my youth and collecting baseball cards, I got a Ken Griffey Jr. 1989 Upper Deck rookie card and immediately thought my financial future was set! I spent a few bucks on a nice protective case for the card and as I slipped it in I was sure that debt would never be an issue for me and neither would be acquiring pizza whenever I saw fit. I had it made. I had the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card! Beckett Baseball Card Monthly had this thing going through the roof!
I think we can all agree that kids, for the most part, are dumb. That’s part of being a kid, you learn stuff about life as you go along and then at some point you get smart and realize how dumb you were as a kid. It’s just how things go. It’s the path we all take. That’s life.
But I can’t help to think of how funny my parents must have thought it was when their dumb son spent five bucks on an individual case to cover a baseball card that he thought would someday at least help him buy a car and maybe more. I mean, I handled that card with such care, making sure none of the corners got damaged as it went into its case. As a kid I wasn’t very careful about a lot of things. That Griffey card, however, wasn’t one of those things. That card was serious business. That card was my future!
Well, when I saw that the Griffey documentary was on last night I went to eBay to see how much one of those cards goes for these days. Don’t worry, I’m at least a little smarter now and knew how this was going to go.
Right now you can get a Ken Griffey Jr. 1980 Upper Deck rookie card for 12.50. That’s twelve dollars and fifty cents. Forget about limitless pizza, that won’t even buy you a single large pie at the place down the street from me.
I could only laugh and think back to that day when I first looked at that gorgeous baseball card and thought I had things all figured out. Ah, to be a dumb kid again. Those were the days.
But whatever. It’s still fun to see that swing of Griffey’s. And that smile. And that hat turned backwards.
He was a legend of my youth and is one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. I mean, he hit back-to-back homers with his dad in a MLB game! That has to be one of the craziest things to ever happen in sports.
I just wish his rookie card could have helped me a little more.
Weekend’s biggest winner: LeBron James.
This photo of LeBron and his daughter on Father’s Day might be the best LeBron photo ever. It also got people talking about his hairline, but whatever – it’s a special photo.
Quick hits: ESPY’s awesome BLM intro… Pulisic’s sweet goal… UFC fighter throws in towel.
– The ESPYs happened Sunday night and this Black Lives Matter intro by Russell Wilson, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird was pretty great.
Christian Pulisic scored the tying goal in his first Chelsea appearance since January and it was a pretty sweet goal.
– A UFC fighter did the right thing for himself Saturday when he threw in the towel after his corner wouldn’t.