I hate to see him go...

Ken Griffey Jr. will turn 40 on November 21. Some say he will call it quits and not return to the Seattle Mariners next season or any other club for that matter. The Seattle baseball fans will pray for his return, not because they have high hopes the slugger would lead them to a championship, but just to see that sweet swing of his for one more season.

At 630 home runs, Griffey would need 30 more to tie him with the great Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time major league home run list. Of course, Babe Ruth (714), Henry Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) are out of reach, but I wish Griffey would hang around another year or two so we could watch the ESPN highlights after he crushes a round-tripper into the right field bleachers.

I watched Ken Griffey Sr. play for years and it is hard to believe his son is now on the eve of retirement. Together they have broke Bonds' record. If you put the Griffeys' home run totals together you'd have 782. Of course the father-son combination of Bobby and Barry Bonds is way out there at 1,094 with the senior Bonds providing 332 in his career. Many of the sports blogs in Seattle are pleading for Griffey's return.

I, for one, hope to see his name in the box score next season.