Ken Griffey Jr. is usually held up as a golden standard of steroid-free baseball perfection. During his career, Griffey Jr. showed legendary power to all fields, but combined it with the ability to consistently make contact as well as provide Gold Glove defense in the outfield.
Marcus Hayes of Philly.com is not convinced. In a debate with Ryan Lawrence of The Philadelphia Daily News, Hayes claims Ichiro is the better player over the course of his career because Griffey Jr. used steroids.
Hayes said Griffey "could not touch" Willie Mays, and said that Griffey was not a good player by the time he was 34, "post-PED." Hayes' evidence is Griffey Jr.'s swift, injury-induced decline and the nature of his injuries. "Explain the catastrophic dropoff and soft tissue injuries. Bad Cincy BBQ?" Hayes asked mockingly.
Hayes and Lawrence wound up debating the virtues of both players deep into the night, as well as challenged each other on what Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley's respective values to the Phillies are, veering away from the Griffey Jr. steroids talk.
Still in an era as tainted as the current one is, even someone like Griffey Jr. is not safe from accusations. There has not been any evidence leaked from any source linking Griffey Jr. to performance enhancing drugs, though, so Hayes' accusations are pure inference.
So assuming both Ichiro and Griffey Jr. never juiced, who was the better player statistically? Griffey Jr. played 22 seasons, batted .284, with 630 home runs, 184 stolen bases, 1,836 RBI, and a career OPS of .907. He also made 13 All-Star teams, won nine Gold Gloves, and seven Silver Slugger awards.
Ichiro is still active, in his 13th MLB season. In the United States, Ichiro is a .320 career hitter with 110 home runs, 470 stolen bases, and a career .778 OPS. He has also racked up 4,000 hits counting the ones from Japan. Ichiro is a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and three-time Silver Slugger winner.
They each also have one MVP. From these statistics alone, it appears Griffey Jr. wins the battle, but beauty remains in the eye of the beholder.
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