Ken Griffey Jr. Discusses His Retirement

Ken Griffey Jr. recently opened up about his abrupt retirement last June. On Wednesday, the 41-year-old baseball legend discussed why he decided to retire. He also said that it would be the only time he would address the matter.

"I just felt that it was more important for me to retire and instead of being a distraction, it no longer became the Seattle Mariners, it became, 'When is Ken doing this? When is Ken doing that?' and that's something I didn't want to have my teammates, who I truly cared about, having to answer these types of questions day in and day out," said Griffey.

According to the Seattle Times, Griffey had previously told the Seattle Mariners, the last team that he played for, "that if I become a distraction or feel that I would be a distraction, then I would retire, because that's the one thing that I didn't want."

"Second, I gave myself a little bit of a head start. There are a lot of people that are friends of mine that would have tried to talk me out of it. And I just felt that it was best for me and the organization to retire. Through no fault of its own. Things happen. I'm not upset," Griffey told reporters. "I think people thought I was upset about certain things, but that's not the case."

Griffey made his Major League debut back in 1989 for the Mariners and played 13 of his 22 seasons for the team. Last June, he issued a prepared statement before driving down to Orlando, Florida, abruptly ending his playing career. He now serves as a special consultant for the Mariners and is glad to still be a part of the organization.

"I'm happy to be back. I'm glad the Mariners gave me an opportunity to be part of the future," said Griffey. "This is the organization I grew up in. If there was going to be an opportunity for me to be in baseball, it was going to be here."

During his prime, Griffey was considered the best player in baseball. Throughout his storied career, he won 13 All-Star selections, 10 Gold Glove Awards, 7 Silver Slugger Awards, and an American League MVP title. He currently ranks fifth on the all-time list of most career home runs and is tied for the record for most consecutive games with a home run.

(Sources: ESPN.com)

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