Rodriguez, Griffey Dismiss Feud Story As Bunch Of Bull
The cover of the October issue of Sport magazine has an eye-catching headline - “Griffey and Rodriguez’ Secret Feud.”
“It looks like the National Enquirer came to baseball,” Rodriguez said of the headline and the article that spawned it. “It has about 15 quotes in there of me being critical of Junior. You guys who’ve covered me the last three, four seasons, have you ever heard me say anything negative about Ken, ever?
“If I didn’t say it to you, why would I suddenly rip him to a stranger doing a magazine article?”
Rodriguez was so upset by what he heard of the article - he didn’t see it until Tuesday - that he and Griffey huddled for more than 20 minutes after the game Monday.
“The story has us feuding? We go to the movies together a couple times a week,” Griffey said. “It’s just another bull bleep story.”
Two days after hitting his 50th home run of the season and being named American League Player of the Week, Griffey had to answer questions on whether he was jealous of Rodriguez, and on quotes attributed to both men in the Sport story.
Among the quotes:
From Rodriguez on losing the 1996 MVP Award: “The words MVP and Junior were never mentioned once all (last) year. It was Alex first and then Juan (Gonzalez). I didn’t hear it once. If Cal (Ripken) would have had the same year, would he have won? You know what’s funny? I had all the East Coast votes. What kills me is that my own hometown guys voted for Junior.”
From Griffey on the same subject: “He had a great year, but so did I. I’m expected to do what I did. He wasn’t. It’s ironic that somebody who has the same numbers as me gets all the credit. Where was I in the MVP voting? Fourth.”
From Rodriguez, on Griffey saying he’s unappreciated: “I don’t think you’d hear Michael Jordan talking like that. (Great players) wouldn’t about anyone else. To the contrary, I would think they would be picking them up and trying to bring them to their level. I had a lot of attention last year, but I deserved it.”
There was more, including a parting shot in which Rodriguez talks about the Griffey-Rodriguez relationship now: “I’m mature enough to realize it feels like I’m the older one and he’s the younger one.”
Rodriguez tried to defuse any controversy by going directly to Griffey once he heard about the article.
“What happened was the writer would tell me things he felt, and somehow what he felt became my quotes,” Rodriguez said. “Junior knows how I feel about him. I know how he feels about me. We’re teammates, we’re friends. We’re probably closer now than ever. It’s just embarrassing to have this out there.”
M’s may go with four starters
Weary of watching a fifth starting pitcher flounder, the Mariners came up with a plan to use four starters until Randy Johnson is healthy - and the team is still not certain when that will be.
Johnson, who returned to Seattle and was examined by team doctor Larry Pedegana on Monday, was originally scheduled to throw in the Kingdome today before the game, then tentatively to make his first start since Aug. 20 on Saturday.
If Johnson cannot pitch, the Mariners will bring each of their starting pitchers - Omar Olivares, Ken Cloude, Jamie Moyer and Jeff Fassero - back on three days rest instead of their usual four unless Johnson is ready to pitch Saturday.
Playoff tickets
Tickets for possible playoff games at the Kingdome will go on sale at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Tickets for the Division Series, Championship Series and World Series, will be available by phone only.