In 'Steroid Era,' Ken Griffey Jr. was the exception

Ken Griffey Jr. through the years

He's arguably the biggest sports star Seattle has ever had. He's one of the best to ever play the game of baseball. He was a 13-time All-Star and a four-time A.L. home-run champion. He's Ken Griffey Jr. Here's a look through time at the life and career of The Kid.

less Ken Griffey Jr. through the years

He's arguably the biggest sports star Seattle has ever had. He's one of the best to ever play the game of baseball. He was a 13-time All-Star and a four-time A.L. home-run ... more Image 1 of / 66 Caption Close In 'Steroid Era,' Ken Griffey Jr. was the exception 1 / 66 Back to Gallery

For all the tape-measure home runs, the diving catches, the way he genuinely seemed to love baseball, the best part about Ken Griffey Jr. was that he never cheated.

He was never linked to steroids. Never involved with any companies distributing human growth hormone. Never really known for being especially dedicated in the weight room. At least early in his career, he wasn't into calisthenics, either.

"Why should I stretch?" Griffey once asked. "Does a cheetah stretch before it chases its prey?"

Griffey will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday afternoon. The 2016 HOF class will be announced at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on MLB Network and MLB.com. If Griffey isn't the first player in Cooperstown history to be voted in unanimously, he still may break Tom Seaver's record for highest voting percentage. The former Mariner put up astonishing numbers during his 22-year big-league career, 13 of which were spent in two stints with Seattle (1989-99, 2009-10).

He hit 630 homers, sixth most in MLB history, more than 500 doubles, posted a career .284/.370/.538 slash line and won 10 Gold Gloves in center field while serving as one of Major League Baseball's most popular figures. He was a 13-time All-Star, won the Silver Slugger seven times and had 1,836 RBIs, 15th all-time.

Never forgotten in the Pacific Northwest is his 1995 season, when he returned from a fractured wrist late in the year to help the Mariners overcome a 13-game deficit to the LA Angels in the AL West. The momentum of Seattle's playoff run helped the state legislature pass an emergency measure that financed Safeco Field's construction. That team, led by Griffey, saved the Mariners from moving.

Often wearing his hat backwards and flashing his trademark grin, Griffey made it cool to be a Mariners fan in a city that previously never had much success with professional sports teams. He hit 56 homers in 1997, his only MVP season, then 56 again the next year, while St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire and Chicago Cubs right fielder Sammy Sosa both surpassed Roger Maris' single-season home run record (61), with 70 and 66, respectively. In 2001, San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds hit 73 homers despite turning 36 that July.

(In case you were wondering, baseball players don't usually peak at that age).

Which bring us back to Griffey, who was compared to sluggers such as McGwire, Bonds and Sosa. All were implicated with PEDs. As were a host of other stars from what later became known as the Steroid Era. It was rampant in big-league clubhouses. Former slugger Jose Canseco estimated in his book, "Juiced," that as many as 85 percent of players were on steroids during that era.

Though he played almost 11 seasons in the hitter-friendly Kingdome, Griffey was still at a massive disadvantage compared to the other PED-connected hitters of his generation.

This isn't a debate about whether using steroids was right or wrong. The MLB didn't even test for them while its records were being obliterated. It's here to simply point out that Griffey was one of the best ever at a time when others took shortcuts to gain an edge.

In the 1993 Home Run Derby, Griffey famously hit one off the B&O Warehouse that stands beyond Camden Yards' right-field bleachers and concourse. The feat didn't require any syringes. It required one of the most unique, powerful swings in baseball history. (Juan Gonzalez, who was outed in Canseco's book, won that event).

It's been noted that Griffey was at times moody and sensitive. Fair criticism. He essentially forced the Mariners to trade to his hometown of Cincinnati following the 1999 season, then after returning to the Mariners with a feel-good 2009 campaign, literally drove away into retirement midway through the 2010 campaign after a report leaked that he fell asleep in the clubhouse during a game.

But why nitpick his messy departure?

The greats rarely go out gracefully (see Michael Jordan, Brett Favre and Kobe Bryant).

The best way to remember Griffey may be to appreciate that all indications say he did it the right way.

Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Mariners news. Contact sports reporter Adam Lewis at adam lewis@seattlepi.com or @AdamLewisPI.