Bill James is likely pointing out stats that suffered in the second half of his career. Because at age 30, I thought Griffey was going to break Hank Aaron's record. His stats at 30 were downright frightening:
.299 AVG, 1,063 runs, 1,742 hits, 320 doubles, 30 triples, 398 home runs, 1,152 RBI, 167 stolen bases, .948 OPS. 7 Silver Sluggers, 10 All Star Games, 10 Gold Gloves and an MVP Award. His home run totals from 1993 forward: 45 in 1993, 40 in 1994, 17 in 1995, 49 in 1996, 56 in 1997, 56 in 1998, 48 in 1999.
He had 3,316 total bases at age 30. If only he could have stayed healthy.
I mean no disrespect to Derek Jeter, who has been a great baseball player for a long time, a player that will be a first ballot Hall of Famer. But Griffey was one of those transcendent players. He was my generation's Willie Mays.
Between 1996 and 1999, 4 seasons, Junior hit .294 with 209 home runs and 567 RBIs. Unreal.
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