600!

"February 10, 2000, will go down in Reds history and in baseball history as the night when one of the biggest trades in the history of our sport took place, when the Michael Jordan of baseball came home to Cincinnati." - Cincinnati Reds General Manager Jim Bowden

Last night, Ken Griffey Jr. reached a milestone that hasn't been reached legitimately since Hank Aaron did so in 1971- reached 600 home runs (the 2 "juicers" who have done so in recent years do not count in my record books). He became the 4th player ever to do so, to go along with Aaron, Ruth, and Willie Mays.

Instead of the wistfullness of wondering what could have been, if not for multiple injuries the last 8 years, we should celebrate what may be the biggest "clean" moment the sport has seen in a generation. When Griffey was traded from Seattle to the Reds in 2000, he stood at 398 home runs, at age 30. He was the chosen one, the one who would break Aaron's record of 755 homers. But nothing is guaranteed, and Griffey's body broke down, ironically as his contemporaries were illegally using steroids to avoid such a breakdown. He is also the forgotten man of the Summer of '98, as he kept pace until late August with McGwire and Sosa. How big do the 56 homers he hit that year look now, given what we have learned?

When the dust settles from the so-called Steroids Era, gentlemen who did it right, like Griffey, Greg Maddux (350+ clean career wins), Randy Johnson (2nd most K's ever), Frank Thomas and Mike Piazza will be looked at with reverance as the guys who achieved unthinkable numbers the RIGHT way. My sadness lies not with what Griffey didn't accomplish, but missing the good feeling that I felt last night with all the tainted records we have witnessed.

Congrats, Junior. You deserve to be mentioned with the big three.