2nd Half Heroes Ken Griffey Jr. Program Getting Slugfest'd

MLB The Show 22 is at a point where many folks were just looking for a way to air their dirty laundry, and it seems the new Ken Griffey Jr. Program today is that data point to unleash some takes. The 2nd Half Heroes Ken Griffey Jr. card is not impressive to be sure, but it also seems like it will just be a stand in to have the Festivus-style airing of grievances.

Many folks feel the gameplay has been especially inconsistent this year, and it’s something Cory has talked about in depth for why The Show feels especially frustrating this year. SDS has used the phrase “working as intended” to a degree that it has become a punchline as well, so all of this is sort of boiling over now that a generational favorite like Ken Griffey Jr. is getting a rather unimpressive 99 overall card.

To be clear, I would say if you think The Show has been successful this year, you most likely play DD and champion the content team behind it. I certainly do, and so this “error” putting the heat on the totality of the product is ironic in some regards. That said, if the content team has struggled over the years with one player, it probably is Ken Griffey Jr. It seems like just about every year we don’t get an amazing Ken Griffey Jr. until the playoffs are rolling around. By that point, the user base is smaller due to NBA 2K, Madden, and general fatigue. To put it another way, for many folks who still have Ken Griffey Jr. as their favorite player, they never really get to use him at his peak while people are locked into playing The Show.

Randy Johnson was there day one this year as a new card that was awesome. It’s been a long time since the same could be said for Ken Griffey Jr. and so that’s the other aspect of this that goes beyond just built up angst for the game itself. Overall, this card is taking the most heat since one of the Pedro Martinez releases last year that really underwhelmed, and it will be interesting to see if SDS speeds up the Griffey Jr. timetable for that reason.

2nd Half Heroes Ken Griffey Jr. Program

The issue with the card is that it does not look like a 99 overall first and foremost. If this were just a 95 or 96 overall, it wouldn’t be as big a deal. On top of that, the program was hyped for over a week, so the anticipation did hurt there. Beyond that, the people sticking around as the summer drags on tend to be more “comp” focused and basically any card with contact around 90 is just not going to be too viable on Legend difficulty as we progress. Now, we could argue Legend difficulty needs to be re-tuned and all that, but playing by the rules as they stand today, it’s just the way it is.

2nd Half Heroes Ken Griffey Jr. also only has 100 power vs. RHP, and the 81 speed means he won’t even be that amazing in CF. There is no question we’re getting a better Ken Griffey Jr. card later this year. However, how many people will still be invested by then? This isn’t a call to speed up the power creep, but SDS should probably recognize slapping a 99 overall on a player does not make him “endgame” and the content schedule should probably be tweaked next year to give us the awesome Ken Griffey Jr. card earlier in the cycle.

Moments

Each moment is worth 1 point

• Welcome To The Show, Kid
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Tally 1 XBH
• Hello, Seattle!
  • Difficulty: Veteran
  • Tally 4 total bases
• This Kid Can Play
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Hit 1 home run
• Backwards Hat Blasts
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Hit 1 HR
• New York? No Problem
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Tally 4 total bases
• Griffey’s Got Wheels
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Tally 1 XBH
• Hittin’ Homers For Days
  • Difficulty: Veteran
  • Tally 6 total bases
• Make Room On The Mantle
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Tally 3 hits
• Happy Father’s Day, Dad
  • Difficulty: Veteran
  • Hit 1 HR
• Ken Crushes His Way To Cooperstown
  • Difficulty: Rookie
  • Hit 1 HR

Missions

• Tally 750 PxP with Reds – 2 points
• Tally 750 PxP with White Sox – 2 points
• Tally 1,500 PxP with Mariners – 3 points
• Tally 3,000 PxP with Mariners – 4 points
• Tally 15 HRs with Mariners – 3 points

Exchanges

• Exchange Reds – 1 point
• Exchange Mariners – 2 points
• Exchange AL West – 3 points

Rewards

• 3 points – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack
• 6 points – Universal profile icon, 500 stubs
• 9 points – Stadium sound, 750 stubs
• 12 points – Seattle Mariners Home 1993 uniform
• 15 points – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack, 750 stubs
• 18 points – Headliners Set 37 pack
• 21 points – Diamond bat skin
• 24 points – 2nd Half Heroes Ken Griffey Jr., 1,000 stubs

Headliners Set 37 Finest Ken Griffey Sr.

Along with Ken Griffey Jr., we get a Finest Ken Griffey Sr. in Headliners Set 37. This is what we’ve come to expect with Sr. cards as they usually have very high contact numbers to go with below average power. The fielding is not quite elite, but he does have great speed to be a solid slap hitter option. Some folks have really enjoyed Ken Griffey Sr. cards at times, but this is more important as a Finest card for collections than anything else.

The odds on Headliners packs to pull a diamond are 1:10 (as always), albeit that diamond might not be Finest Ken Griffey Sr. In addition, this year you can buy one pack of the Headliners choice pack, which gives you 1:3 odds of pulling a 90+ overall diamond (and of course costs more stubs).