Name: Ken Griffey Jr.

Rank: 152

Position: CF

Year With White Sox: 2008

As the White Sox made their run towards the World Series title in 2005, general manager Kenny Williams attempted to acquire Ken Griffey Jr. from the Reds, but was rebuked when Reds ownership decided to veto the deal.  3 years later, with the White Sox again looking to make a run at a division title, he was able to get the aging superstar, acquiring Griffey at the trade deadline in exchange for pitcher Nick Masset and second baseman Danny Richar.  At the time of the trade, the White Sox held a tenuous 1.5 game lead over the Twins.

Griffey, who had spent most of the previous few seasons in right field to lessen the strain on his body, moved back to center field for the White Sox, displacing the disappointing Nick Swisher.  Griffey appeared in 41 games for the White Sox, hitting a decent .260 with only 3 home runs and 18 RBI.  His most important contribution came defensively, during the tie-breaking game 163 between the White Sox and the Twins, when he gunned down Michael Cuddyer, who was trying to score on a fly out to center, preserving the shutout and helping the White Sox win the division and advance the playoffs.

In the ALDS, Griffey appeared in 3 games against the Rays, garnering only 2 hits as the White Sox fell 3 games to 1.  Following the season, the White Sox declined Griffey’s $16 million option for 2009, making him a free agent.

Griffey’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

BA	At Bats	Runs	Hits	RBI	Walks	Strike Outs	Doubles	Triples	HR	SB	GIDP	Errors	Games
0.271	48	6	13	5	4	9	6	0	0	0	1	0	15
0.260	131	16	34	18	17	25	10	0	3	0	6	0	41