CINCINNATI - Ken Griffey Jr. will have surgery on his left knee and right hamstring Monday, presumably ending a stellar comeback season for the oft-injured Cincinnati Reds star. The 35-year-old center fielder is expected to be ready for spring training.
He will have arthroscopic surgery to clean out his left knee and treat scar tissue around his hamstring. The hamstring injury threatened his career last season.
Griffey missed his 15th straight game Wednesday night because of a sprained right foot. He is batting .301 with 35 home runs and 92 RBIs in 128 games. Griffey is tied with Mickey Mantle for 12th on the career home run list with 536.
Griffey hurt his foot rounding second base in early September in a game against Atlanta. At the time, the Reds said they thought he'd be able to play again this year.
Despite Griffey's return, the Reds fell from contention early in the season. At 70-81, they were 25 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central by Thursday.
In late August, there were reports the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox tried to trade for Griffey. His agent said Griffey had no desire to leave his hometown team.
The Reds acquired Griffey in a trade with the Seattle Mariners in February 2000. He has a nine-year, $116.5 million contract that runs through 2008 and has the right to veto any trade.
Since his first year with the Reds, Griffey has missed significant playing time every season. His worst injury occurred last year, when he tore his right hamstring from the bone and had it reattached with three titanium screws in August.
The hamstring hadn't fully recovered by spring training and he got off to a slow start before finding his swing and looking like the old Junior.
http://www.comcast.net/sports/index....22/226721.html
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This sounds painful....how old is he? I didn't know baseball players sustained extensive injuries like that.
Ken Griffey Junior Getting Season End Surgery
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