Ken Griffey Jr. -- Good Guy Wearin' Black

Ken Griffey Jr. is now a Chicago White Sox. Good Guys wear black. Grab some bench. One Dog. Big Hurt. Little Hurt. Rockin' Robin. Paulie. El Duque. (Hawk Harrelson is sort of like George W. Bush in so many ways, but in this instance it's because he has nicknames for everyone.)

Ken Griffey Jr. cared about what the fans of Cincinnati thought about him. Paul Daugherty of the Enquirer called Junior the most thin-skinned star that he had covered in 20 years. Why was Junior thin-skinned, however? Because he cared what the fans thought. Most pro players could really give a rat's patootie.

I hope that Junior wins a World Series with the ChiSox. Since I'm up in Chicago, I am now going to go to some White Sox games down at the Comiskey and root Junior on. Junior is a great player, and I am a Junior fan. Sue me.

Junior is wearing No. 17. I don't know why.

Maybe I can round the kids up and go see Junior next week when the Sox are at home. Go Junior. Go Nick Masset. Go Rocket Richar.

Joe Nuxhall Born 80 Years Ago Today

Joe Nuxhall would have been 80 years old today. And all of Reds Nation misses him, I would think. The Reds have done a very nice job honoring Nuxy, one in a spate of folks that the Reds are honoring. That, friends, is an entry for another day (Joey Jay had a few monster years for the early-1960s Reds, but are the Cincinnati nine honoring too many former players?). I have nothing at all against Dave Niehaus, but I still am a little saddened that the HOF didn't honor Nuxy when he so richly deserved it (especially after huge support from his fans). According to this story, Nuxy dominated everyone -- "Of the 122,505 fans who participated in the online election, 82,304 (67.2 percent) voted for Nuxhall, who died Nov. 15 from pneumonia at the age of 79. His passing was mourned throughout baseball, especially in Cincinnati. -- In the online balloting, King received 7,659 votes and Morgan got 6,065." The image is from the Cincinnati Enquirer and their great cartoonist, Jim Borgman.