Eddie Murphy is highest grossing actor of all time, Ken Griffey Jr. is considered by most baseball experts to have the purest swing they have ever seen. Sadly, Eddie Murphy is no longer funny and Ken Griffey Jr. is no longer one of baseball's elites. To put it simply, Ken Griffey Jr. is like the Eddie Murphy of baseball, or is the other way around? Regardless, both share a similar promising beginning a fall from glory. I feel that it is my duty to draw the comparisons between the two men who once dominated their respective fields.
The Early Years
Eddie was young, hip, funny, he could do no wrong. Eddie was comedy's triple threat, he could do stand up, sketch comedy, and movies. He made us laugh until we cried with his almost Richard Pryor like greatest on the stage, he showed of his pure genius with his portrayal of Gumby on SNL, and no one can ever forget the greatness of Beverly Hills Cop. Eddie Murphy was on top of the world.
Ken Griffey Jr. had grown up in Major League Baseball locker rooms all across America. His father, Ken Sr. had played for the 1970 Cincinnati Reds (The Big Red Machine.) It seemed as though early on Junior was destined for greatness. A five-tool player, the young Griffey could do it all, bursting into the MLB spotlight at the tender age of 19, many felt that Griffey Jr. was capable of being the greatest player of all time, I mean for goodness sakes he had some awesome video games named after him.
The Dark Era
While the box office numbers will tell you Eddie entered into a career slump in the early 1990s, I feel that the trust test of the comedian is not how much money they are making, rather how much laughter they are generating. Eddie had seen his moment in sun and in 1996 he had run out of funny. That year he came out with the famed movie The Nutty Professor, since then we have seen an epic run of terrible films. Daddy Day Care, Dr. Doolittle, The Haunted Mansion, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, and ....*gasp* The Nutty Professor II.
After the 1999 season Ken Griffey Jr. was returning to a place he had called home. After having a decade of success with the Seattle Mariners, the Kid was going to be playing for the team his father had enjoyed so many successful years with. Unfortunately for Jr. everyone failed to inform him that due to the rise in payrolls and influence of free agency, the Reds no longer relevant outside of the state of Ohio. His time spent playing for the Reds has been plagued by injury and Jr. has never fully lived up to his potential because of it. From 1990-99 Griff won 10 gold gloves, since going to Cincy he has yet to win one, only 3 of his 13 all-star appearances have come since signing with the Reds. In Cincinnati he has yet to win a Silver Slugger, MVP, or lead the league in runs, total bases, RBIs, or home runs, all feats he accomplished while a Seattle Mariner.
Hope Is Not Lost
As sad as all of this has been, there is hope for both men. Murphy was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for his performance in the film Dreamgirls. It also turns out he was bangin' Scary Spice which is kind of bad ass. As for Griffey, well most people believe that without the injuries he could have been the all time home run king, but he did recently hit his 600th career home run and is now a part of a very elite fraternity of men who have done the same. Maybe someday these men can rebound, but until they will just be shells of the entertainment juggernauts they once were.
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