Even A Little Griffey Helps Return Of Their Star Center Fielder Gives Mariners A Substantial Lift

He doesn’t swing a bat with the same quickness and ferocity, and he doesn’t patrol center field with quite the same abandon. Ken Griffey Jr. isn’t all the way back. Not yet.

But he is back. And that’s enough for the Seattle Mariners. “Just having his name on the lineup card is an unbelievable boost for us,” Mariners right fielder Jay Buhner said. “Junior can dominate a game just with his presence.”

Griffey rejoined the Mariners 13 days ago, more than two weeks ahead of schedule after his left wrist was fractured May 26. He has 11 hits, including three homers, in 49 at-bats since his return. The rust is showing. Pitchers are throwing fastballs past him. But they know that won’t last long. Thursday, Griffey beat the Yankees with the first game-ending home run of his career, victimizing closer John Wetteland.

“His bat’s a little slow,” the Baltimore Orioles’ Mike Mussina said Tuesday after beating Seattle. “But what do you expect? He’s been out for three months. He had a broken wrist. It’s not like he’s just coming back from a pulled hamstring.”

This is the make-or-break year for major league baseball in Seattle. King County votes Sept. 19 on public funding of a new, retractable-roof ballpark; the team’s owners have said without a new stadium the club will be sold and moved.

The Mariners believe on-the-field success will have an impact on the stadium decision. That’s why all looked so bleak in May, when Griffey raced back and made an otherworldly catch of a fly ball hit by the Orioles’ Kevin Bass to help preserve a Mariners’ victory. As he crashed into the Kingdome’s right-center field fence, Griffey suffered the fracture. Doctors told the Mariners not to expect Griffey back before Sept. 1.

The Mariners were 15-12. They had re-signed Buhner last winter - at Griffey’s urging. They had held on to Randy Johnson despite trade offers for the game’s most overpowering pitcher.

That night in May, their high hopes seemed deflated.

“Everyone was pretty down in the clubhouse that night,” Buhner recalled. “We were saying, ‘All we have to do is hang in there until Junior comes back to give us a lift.’ But I don’t know if we believed that right away. But we came back the next day with a real hard-nosed attitude, and we’ve been able to keep our heads above water.”

The Mariners went 36-37 without Griffey, while his replacements in center totaled one home run.

The California Angels have had a firm grip on first place in the American League West. The Mariners are 57-56, 9-1/2 games behind the Angels in the A.L. West, but two games behind the Texas Rangers in the wild-card derby.

“I don’t care if it’s the wild card,” Seattle first baseman Tino Martinez said. “This sure feels like a pennant race to me.”

The Mariners have two most valuable player candidates in Tino and Edgar Martinez. Tino Martinez has 26 homers and 88 RBIs. Edgar Martinez inherited Griffey’s No. 3 spot and is on his way to his second A.L. batting title. He’s batting .367 with 24 home runs and 95 RBIs.

The Mariners rival the Indians and Angels for most formidable Nos. 1 through 6 lineup spots. Seattle has Vince Coleman - acquired 13 days ago, after the Kansas City Royals decided on a youth movement - atop its batting order, followed by Griffey, the Martinezes, Buhner and Mike Blowers. Buhner has 25 homers and 84 RBIs, and third baseman Blowers has 19 home runs and 83 RBIs 31 over just five games.

Johnson has carried the pitching. The 6-foot-10 left-handed terror improved to 13-2 by shutting out the Yankees on three hits Saturday. The Mariners are 21-3 in his starts.

The Mariners believe Johnson’s recent sore-shoulder scare is behind them, although Manager Lou Piniella is cautious. They have veterans Chris Bosio and Tim Belcher in their rotation. And July 31, they beat the trade deadline and acquired high-profile, highly paid pitcher Andy Benes from the San Diego Padres.

Undoubtedly, they wanted King County voters to notice. But with Griffey back, that was probably a foregone conclusion.

A recent strength test indicated Griffey’s wrist is 83 percent as strong as it was in the spring. Right now, he’s not the same player who averaged 29 homers and 91 RBIs per year in his first six major-league seasons, beginning at age 19. But, as Piniella points out: “Eighty percent of Ken Griffey is a lot better than 100 percent of most guys.”

Said Griffey: “I think we’re OK….I think we’re going to be in this thing right to the end.”