Braves sign "The Kid"

I'm excited. Maybe I shouldn't be. But I am. "Junior" is coming to the ATL. No... not the NASCAR "he was driving like an idiot" Junior. The one with the lifetime .547 slugging percentage Junior. The one who started wearing his hat backwards before it was cool. That one.

Now I realize he's not going to give the Braves anything close to 162 games. But, if he can protect Chipper and be somewhat productive, I think this is a great fit for the Braves (and he comes cheap) -- not to mention, this could add a few years to Griffey's playing career since Bobby plans on platooning him anyway.

I realize Junior was, by some standards, a bust in Cincy. He only hit over 30 bombs twice in nine seasons, batted over .300 once and missed part of every season as a Redstocking, but I still feel like this is a GREAT signing for the Bravos. We have to keep pace with the Phils and Mets and their fat wallets.

I own 20 or so of the Ken Griffey Upper Deck rookie cards. I collected millions of cards as a kid and they've been in the attic ever since. At the time, this one and Mark McGwire's '85 rookie were the most valuable of them all (although I bought about 100 of Mike Greenwell's rookie too -- argh). But, Griffey's was always one of my most cherished. It was the first year of Upper Deck cards and at times, this card has been worth up to $300 a piece. Major Baseball has fallen on hard times though, and with the fallout of the economy, this card is only fetching $20 or so on ebay. So, maybe I won't sell them now.

Maybe I'll go home and pull it out of the plastic sheets tonight and stare at it. Ken Griffey is an Atlanta Brave. And I'm pretty pleased.