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A baseball legend will grace the cover of MLB The Show 17

Ken Griffey Jr. is the cover athlete for MLB The Show 17. (Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)
Ken Griffey Jr. is the cover athlete for MLB The Show 17. (Getty Images/Stephen Dunn)

As a child, there was nothing better than getting together with your friends and destroying them in a sports video game. Winning the most recent game and holding bragging rights over your best friend was everything when you were 10 years old.

Thankfully, the Internet has made it so that those rivalries can continue online today. While some of your favorite old games may no longer exist, MLB The Show has been carrying the baseball torch for quite some time.

On Thursday, The Show revealed which player would grace the cover of next year’s game. Their choice is definitely going to take you back to being a kid (hint hint, wink wink).

Oh. My. Goodness. You are seeing that right. Seattle Mariners legend and Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. is the cover athlete featured on MLB The Show 17. He’s also going to be a playable character in the game! Is it acceptable to scream in your living room about a baseball player gracing the cover of a video game? We just did.

Ken Griffey Jr. is the cover athlete for MLB The Show 17.
Ken Griffey Jr. is the cover athlete for MLB The Show 17.

Yeah, that looks awesome.

This is, in so many ways, the perfect choice. Griffey has always been a huge name around the game, but his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in July gave The Show the perfect excuse to bring him back. Griffey also broke the record for highest voting percentage when he was elected, so it’s pretty clear they chose an incredibly popular player. Griffey has always been relevant, but those factors put him in the spotlight in a big way this year.

On top of that, no player better personifies 90s era baseball video games than Griffey. He not only had his own game, but everything about it was perfect for the medium. His personality, the backward cap, the star power … it made so much sense at the time and it makes so much sense right now.

There’s really not much else to say here other than:

Give us MLB The Show 17.
Give us MLB The Show 17.

Yep, that about sums it up.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik