Tell your kids about Junior. As Junior hits 600 and we reflect on his career, I think there is something much more important that we should reflect on - Junior, The Man. Not in a "You the Man" way that is thrown in the air carelessly like so many other sports euphemisms in this age of excess. We need to reflect on Junior The Man. Junior may have started out as The Kid, but he has evolved into The Man with a career that is the iconic example of what so many of us hope for from our sports heros.

Tell your kids about Junior. As we sports fans look high and low and hear athlete after athlete discard the label of role model, our role model stands before us in Ken Griffey, Jr. Please don't ask Junior if he is a role model. He is much too humble to ever claim that title. But he has earned it. Isn't that just the way you would want your kids' role model to handle that?Humility is another virtue that is so lost in today's lust for fame it is more a memory than a reality, but Junior has it. It is part of Junior's character.

Tell your kids about Junior and character. Character is another word that is much sought and hard to define. As was once said, I may not be able to describe it but I will know it when I see it. The stories that show us Junior's character are out there if you spend some time looking for them. There are far too many to relate here. Character. I see you Junior.

Tell your kids about Junior. Tell them about humility ..... family ..... giving ..... kindness .... respect for others .... and, yes, about doing things the right way off the field, as well as on it. That is who Junior is. Tell them about all the people facing illness, death and challenges that life puts before them and tell them how Junior reaches out to them and gives genuinely and purely.  

As I reflect today, I feel some shame. Today's athletes have hardened us and many of us look at athletes as objects rather than people. Junior has felt that from us. I am sorry Junior. You deserve better. I don't care if you get hurt again. I don't care if you don't get to that ball you would have non-chalanted 15 years ago. I don't care if you only hit 20 home runs this year. I care about who you are as The Man. As I reflect on who Junior is, I vow to always speak of Junior with the respect, dignity and caring that he has earned as a man. I hope all sports fans will do the same. Tonight, I will tell my kids about Junior, The Man.