Sitting on the black trunk next to his locker in the Reds' clubhouse at their Spring Training complex in Sarasota, Fla., just days before the season began, Griffey was asked if he was ready for what was ahead.

"It's happening on Monday, whether I'm ready or not," he said at the time. "That's just the way it works. Monday is when it starts, no matter what you feel or how you feel."

In the season that ensued, Griffey assured the baseball world that he felt just fine. Now he has the Comeback Player of the Year Award presented by Viagra to show for it.

Baseball fans chose the 35-year-old Griffey as the winner of the special honor after he hit .301 with 35 home runs and 92 RBIs over 128 games this season. It was his longest and most productive season since 2000, his first year with his hometown Reds.

Junior was a medical marvel, of sorts, this season. Coming off a right hamstring surgery never previously performed on a ballplayer, he showed he can still perform like the Griffey of old.

Griffey's right hamstring, which had gruesomely torn off the bone one fateful day in August of 2004, was reattached by Reds team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek with three titanium screws.

Just a few years ago, such an injury probably would have ended Griffey's career. But he reported to Spring Training -- early, no less -- with a mission of putting together his first healthy season in five years.

"The only thing you can do is play as hard as you can on every team that you play for," he said on that day just before the start of the season. "That's not anything different than what I've done the last 16 years. I never set goals. I just play hard. Hopefully, more good things will happen than bad."

April was, admittedly, bad for Junior. Still getting back in playing shape and testing the limits of his leg, he hit just .244 with one home run and nine RBIs.

But when he hit his first home run on the final day of the month in Milwaukee, Griffey suddenly seemed rejuvenated.

With his legs finally under him, Griffey put up a .311 average with 32 home runs and 81 RBIs between May 1 and Sept. 1.

On top of that, he made some stellar defensive plays in the field -- from over-the-shoulder basket catches to perfect throws home.

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle saw one of those throws nab one of his players at the plate on July 15 at Great American Ball Park. Eddy Garabito was trying to score the tying run in that game, but a one-hop throw from Griffey in center field kept him from doing so.

"He's making a statement this year," Hurdle said. "He's got some gas left in that tank, no doubt about it."

Griffey's season, unfortunately, ran out of gas Sept. 4, when he landed awkwardly while stepping on second base during a game in Atlanta. He strained a tendon in his right foot on the play and was listed as day-to-day for several weeks.

Finally, the Reds decided to shut Griffey down for the season on Sept. 22. Had the team been in a playoff hunt, Griffey likely would have kept playing. But because he needed offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and surgery to repair the scar tissue from his '04 hamstring surgery, the club decided to speed up his recovery process by putting him under the knife before the end of the season.

Griffey is expected to be fully recovered from the surgeries by the end of October, and he'll have his first rehab-free offseason as a member of the Reds. That should set him up nicely for an '06 season in which he'll look to prove this year's comeback was no fluke.

"A lot of people really don't know what drives me," he said on Sept. 22. "It's not what a lot of people say. It's me wanting to be the best player I can be and getting everything out of my body that I can. I know I can play this game."

Griffey proved that again in 2005, and now he has the hardware to show for it.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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