| Current mood: | sympathetic |
| Current music: | Weezer - The Christmas Song |
"Knee Surgery Brings Early End to Griffey's Baseball Season - July 18, 2003
CINCINNATI, United States (AFP) - Cincinnati Reds centerfielder Ken Griffey Jnr underwent surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right ankle, bringing an early end to his Major League Baseball season.
Griffey was injured while rounding first base on a double off Houston Astros rookie Jeriome Robertson in the sixth inning of the Reds' 5-4 loss on Thursday.
"It's a shame. He was getting his stroke back," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "He had five home runs in five games. He was about to take off."
Griffey, who missed more than a month earlier this season with a dislocated right shoulder, will undergo reconstructive shoulder on the surgery in approximately two weeks.
He dislocated the shoulder April 5 while diving for a fly ball in a game here against the Chicago Cubs .
The 33-year-old Cincinnati native hit .247 with 13 homers and batted in 26 runs over 53 games but homered in five straight games heading into the All-Star Game break.
Once one of the best players in baseball, Griffey has been on the disabled list five times in the last four years. From 2001-2002, he injured both hamstrings and tore a patella tendon that limited him to 30 homers and 88 runs batted in (RBI) over 118 games.
A 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, Griffey spent his first 11 seasons with the Seattle Mariners before being traded to Cincinnati for four players in February 2000.
Griffey, who attended high school in Cincinnati while his father played for the Reds, batted .271 with 40 home runs and 118 RBI in his first Reds season. It was his lowest home run total in a year of more than 111 games since 1992.
A member of Major League Baseball's All-Century Team, Griffey was the youngest player in history to reach 350, 400 and 450 homers. He also is one of four players with at least seven 40-homer seasons.
Griffey is a lifetime .294 hitter with 481 homers, 1,384 RBI and 177 stolen bases in 1,913 games.
Griffey and Hall of Famer Al Kaline are the only major leaguers to win 10 consecutive Gold Gloves as top defenders."
That's a damn shame.
(Read comments)
|
