Eric at Rays Anatomy has a fun post up debating the relative merits of B.J. Upton and Robinson Cano. I’m pretty squarely in the Upton camp on this one. Cano is a terrific young player, but much of his value is tied into batting average, and second basemen don’t always age well.
Upton, meanwhile, just posted a 136 OPS+ as a 22-year-old, which is ridiculous. In the history of baseball, 48 players have been that productive at that age. Only 11 of those seasons have come in the last 30 years:

Jack Clark, 1978, 152 OPS+
Eddie Murray, 1978, 140
Rickey Henderson, 1981, 150
Cal …read more

Ken Griffey Jr. knocked his 23rd homer of the season Friday night against Arizona right-hander Micah Owings. The home run is the 586th of Griffey’s career, which ties him with Frank Robinson for sixth all time.
Griffey, in case you hadn’t noticed, is enjoying a fine resurgence this year at the age of 37. He’s on pace to play 140 games for the first time since 2000, and he’s producing at a level not seen since leaving Seattle.
It’s a testament to his talent that Griffey can put up the numbers he has, and at the end of his career, we’ll all …read more

I’m late to the party on this one, but it’s still cool. A fan in LA heckled Ken Griffey Jr., and Junior gave him a jock strap in return. There’s more to it, but that’s the gist of the story.
A few years ago, when Griffey still called Seattle home, the Mariners came to San Diego to play the Padres. My wife and I had field-level seats in the second or third row along the first-base line.
At one point, Griffey was fooled badly on a pitch and took a horrendous swing that resulted in his bat flying into the stands. It …read more