SEATTLE — Ken Griffey Jr. unexpectedly announced his retirement last night after 22 seasons, 13 All-Star appearances and widespread acclaim as one of the greatest players of his generation.
Stuck in a limited role as a backup designated hitter and spot pinch-hitter, Griffey, 40, called Mariners’ team president Chuck Armstrong and said he was done playing.
Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu called his players together before the start of last night’s game against the Twins to inform them of Griffey’s decision.
“While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction,” Griffey said in a statement.
“I feel that without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates, and their success as a team is what the ultimate goal should be,” he said.
Griffey, who was not in the clubhouse before the game, was hitting only .184 with no homers and seven RBIs this year and recently went a week without playing. There was a report earlier this season — which Griffey denied — that he had fallen asleep in the clubhouse during a game.
He ends his career fifth on the all-time home run list with 630. He won an MVP award and was an 11-time Gold Glover. The only thing missing on his resume was a trip to the World Series.
A star from the time he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 1987 draft, Griffey played 22 years in the majors with Seattle, his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the White Sox. He hit .284 with 1,836 RBIs.
Griffey played in 1,685 games with Seattle and hit .292 with 417 homers, most coming in the homer-friendly Kingdome, and 1,216 RBIs. He won the AL MVP in 1997 and practically saved a franchise that was in danger of relocating when he first came up.
Griffey returned to the Mariners in 2009 and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks.
Griffey signed a one-year deal last November for one more season in Seattle after he was carried off the field by his teammates after the final game of 2009. He hit .214 last season with 19 homers as a part-time DH. He was limited by a swollen left knee that required a second operation in as many offseasons.
His career is littered with highlights, from homering in eight straight games to tie a major league record in 1993, to furiously rounding third and sliding home safe on Edgar Martinez’s double to beat the Yankees in the ALDS in 1995.