It was definitely an odd move at the time, and seemed out of Griffey's character, but in the wake of his trade he has issued a statement on the matter. Sports Illustrated has the quote....

"I really do understand that the overwhelming majority of fans wanted so badly for me to succeed," Griffey said. "Additionally, I would like to sincerely apologize to those fans offended by my wrongful actions last Saturday night. It was an overreaction on my part to what I felt was a series of public, inaccurate and unfair remarks about me."

"While my nine seasons there were filled with personal highlights -- like hitting my 400th, 500th and 600th home runs in a Reds uniform -- and the negatives of having to fight through too many injuries, my biggest regret is that we were not able to win a world championship while I was there," Griffey said.

That's more like the Griffy we know. I personally think it was time that someone said something to Brantley, but this was obviously not the way. The Reds should be proud to have had the HOFer on their team for so long, and while it's a shame that he went out that way, it shouldn't change how fans ultimately feel about him. Hopefully we get to see him in at least one more playoff run before the end of his career now.

Griffey thanks Reds fans for support, issues apology for gesture (SI)

Jeff Brantley hasn't been making many friends in the Reds clubhouse this year and it appears that players are fed up with him. So much so that the level headed Ken Griffey Jr gestured to him with a throat slash following a homerun on Saturday night. Here's the background and the video (:30 mark as he enters the dugout)....

CINCINNATI — For those who read Ken Griffey Jr.'s lips after his home run Saturday night and saw him make the throat-cutting gesture at home plate, the antics were aimed at broadcaster Jeff Brantley.

Griffey is angry over different comments Brantley made and said one of them was, "He said I'm pouting because the Reds haven't picked up my option ($16 million) for next year. If I was that concerned about money I wouldn't have come here in the first place."

Brantley isn't known for shying away from talking about his hometown Reds, but most fans think his bashing has gone over-the-top as of late. He bashed Edwin Encarnacion for not being clutch (Edwin promptly hit a homer), he talks trash about Adam Dunn regularly, he said David Weathers didn't care whether he won or lost and now this. Between him and Marty Brennaman, they've got the announcer controversy on lockdown for this year.

Griffey bristles at broadcaster's comments (Springfield News-Sun)
Ken Griffey throws a throat slash toward Jeff Brantley's booth (Big League Stew)

I, like many others, have a man crush on Ken Griffey Jr. There's a lot of things that go into this crush, but the two main ones are that I'm left-handed (and still try to emulate his swing in Softball) and he presumably never cheated.

Griffey nailed a 3-1 Mark Hendrickson pitch tonight for his 600th, and just like his swing, the celebration was cool, calm and just right. Here's the video if you missed it....

It's a shame he did it in front of so little people, but a classy move by Marlins fans to cheer for a curtain call. We'll probably never know who did what in the Steroid Era of Baseball but I think we can safely say that Ken Griffy Jr. did it the right way.

Congrats Griffey. No asterisk needed here. 600.