Ken Griffey Jr. issued a press release on Saturday thanking the Reds and their fans: 

I would like to thank the Cincinnati Reds organization for allowing me to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing for my hometown team. I will always value the lasting friendships I have with the Lindner, Castellini and Williams families.

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.

I also would like to thank my many teammates, managers, coaches and Reds employees for their help and support and to acknowledge the many friendly relationships I had with most of the members of the local media. I will miss the banter.

Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Reds fans for their support. I really do understand that the overwhelming majority of fans wanted so badly for me to succeed. 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.

I wish nothing but success for the Reds both on and off the field.

Sincerely,

Ken Griffey Jr.

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