By John Erardi
Enquirer staff writer
The man who once seemed destined - even to the Hall of Famers who were watching - to make a run at Henry Aaron's all-time home run record of 755 home runs, pounded his 500th Sunday.
Health willing, he appears headed for 600.
Ken Griffey Jr. hit a 2-2 pitch from Matt Morris over the right-field wall in the sixth inning of the 6-0 Reds' victory.
He became only the 20th player in Major League Baseball history to total 500 for his career.
"It's a great accomplishment ... a meaningful achievement," said former Reds slugger Frank Robinson, who hit 586 in his career, mostly with the Reds and Baltimore Orioles.
Only four players (Hank Aaron, 755; Babe Ruth, 714; Barry Bonds, 676, and Willie Mays, 660) have hit 600 or more.
How good does one have to be to make 500 seem anticlimactic?
That's how good Griffey is.
"A few years back, it looked like a cinch that he would be the guy going after Aaron's numbers," Robinson said. "Then, all of the sudden, it didn't look like he was going to get out of the 400s. The last two or three years, you didn't know if he would get to 500 ..."
But Griffey has made a lot of admirers recently in helping to lead the Reds into contention in the National League Central Division.
"He's back and healthy, and I'm happy for him," Robinson said. "It's good to see him with a smile on his face and enjoying the game again."
Tampa Bay's Fred McGriff, who will be the next slugger to 500 (he's at 493 now), told the St. Petersburg Times that if Griffey had "stayed healthy, he would have gotten there (to 500) a long time ago. He was on pace for 700."
Griffey has 19 home runs this season - six more than he hit in 53 games during the 2003 season.
Griffey is no Rafael Palmeiro. There was almost no hubbub over Palmeiro's 500th, because he was never a dominant player in his career. Although a very good hitter, he plodded his way to 500 by sheer consistency over a long period.
Palmeiro's 500 is not Griffey's 500.
From 1993-99, Griffey was arguably the best player in baseball. In 1999, the Moeller High graduate was selected to Baseball's All-Century Team. From 1996-99, he averaged 52 home runs a season. Junior was the youngest player to hit 350, 400 and 450 home runs.
He was so good, it was expected he would have hit 600 by the end of this season and be well on his way to challenging Aaron's career record of 755.
Robinson and McGriff aren't saying it's disappointing that Griffey has hit "only" 500 homers.
It's just that everybody expected Griffey to get there sooner and have Aaron in his sights.
"If people think 500 is disappointing, then they don't know much about baseball, in my opin-ion," teammate Adam Dunn said. "He's 34 years old with 500 home runs. That's pretty impressive."
All in all, Junior's 500th - especially the way he got to it so quickly this season and helped make the Reds competitive in the NL Central - has redeemed him in the eyes of many people. Not just with the fans, but with Hall of Famers, too.
"He's good for baseball," Robinson said. " He's made the game fun and attractive for young people."
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Kevin Kelly contributed to this report.
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