Griffey Exhorts M’S Fans All-Star Asks For Support At Box Office, Ballot Box

In the mind of Ken Griffey Jr., the Seattle Mariners and their fans are now in this together.

The team, so long maligned, so many Septembers lost in the shadow of winners - and those who stood by it and sat through it - face two weeks and 12 games that before had only been dreams.

“We can’t do this without them,” Griffey said as the M’s, in a tight wild card race, headed home to open their final home stand Monday. “In fact, we need them at the games and we need them at the voting booth (today). It sounds threatening, and I don’t mean it like that. It’s fact. If we can’t get that new stadium, then we may be out of Seattle… . And I ain’t ready to leave Seattle yet.”

That stance is underlined by the intermittent discussions between the club and Griffey’s agent, Brian Goldberg, about a contract extension of four or five years. All parties have agreed not to talk about the negotiations, although one team official, “for clarity,” said a Saturday radio report that an offer had been made is untrue.

“Twelve games. All we’ve got to do is play - play hard - and win. All the fans have to do is come and see us,” Griffey said. “I’d like to see 25,000 to 30,000 there for every game. Come on, people, this is what we’ve been waiting for.”

Although he is back in the lineup, and struggling to deal with a second slump brought on by missing the heart of the season because of a fractured wrist, Griffey thinks he has not been much of the effort that has put his team on the verge of postseason play for the first time.

“These guys put themselves there,” Griffey said, motioning around the Seattle clubhouse. “I was not there. This is not the Junior Show. It’s them. I’m just along for the ride.”

Then Griffey made a promise.

“If we get in the playoffs, they can hop on my back and ride me,” said the six-time All-Star, who has taken prodigious amounts of extra hitting. “I’ll owe them. I’ve known all my life I can hit in October. I know I can hit on days like Oct. 3, 4 and 6. I can get used to that.”

But the outfielder, who has not said much about the stadium vote, acknowledged his concern as the team returned home for its last stand, a stretch of games that may be their last in Seattle.

“I’d like to think that because the team is playing well, it will help the vote that is coming up,” Griffey said. “I don’t know, though. That vote, these games, are it for us all. This is a part of Mariner history for us, all of us.”