Ken Griffey, Junior was every aspiring Little Leaguer's hero in the central Washington town where I grew up. In that era he gave Dave Niehaus some of his only reasons to say "My oh my!" He was the reason the M's broke .500 for the first time. For Seattle fans, Griffey brought hope in proportions Barack Obama would be proud of.

When you ripped open a new pack of baseball cards fresh from the grocery store, Junior's was the one that you wanted to find. I remember pining over whether I could afford to shell out $7 for his Donruss rookie. I was certain I could eventually put my kids through college with it. (Guess it's okay that it's only worth $28 today because in the end it was more than my ten-year-old budget could handle.)

But card value aside, The Kid in a Mariners uniform again is priceless. Thank you Seattle and Griffey for making this happen. I'll see you at Safeco this year!