Day After Going Volcanic, Griffey Turns Dormant

As the media descended upon them, the Seattle Mariners quietly went about their business Wednesday - apparently unbothered by anything center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. had said about the front office 24 hours earlier.

Griffey dressed in the clubhouse and joked with teammates but had a firm “I ain’t talking” for anyone asking him to repeat or expand upon his criticism of general manager Woody Woodward.

Woodward, in town with the team and meeting with Mariners scouts and other front-office officials about trades and the expansion draft protection list, sat in manager Lou Piniella’s office, chatting amiably.

Woodward and Griffey didn’t meet - at least not in view of the press - and Woodward reasserted what he’d said Tuesday, that he respectfully declined to comment on what Junior had said.

Players asked for comment smiled and declined, and Piniella waved it off entirely.

“I’ve got bigger things to worry about,” he said.

Holzemer back; Maddux gone

Still trying to swing a trade for pitching, Seattle stayed in-house and recalled 27-year-old left-hander Mark Holzemer from Tacoma. To clear a roster spot for Holzemer, the Mariners released journeyman right-hander Mike Maddux, who had been 1-0 with a 10.13 earned-run average in 10 appearances.

Holzemer’s arrival gives Piniella two left-handers in his six-man bullpen, but there may have been another reason for the move. If the M’s would include Holzemer in a trade for pitching, it helps that he’s in the majors, not the minors.

Vizquel the comedian

When the Cleveland Indians found Omar Vizquel studying film in the video room just before the All-Star break, they assumed he was watching opposing pitching tapes - and they were wrong.

Vizquel was studying, all right, but what he was poring over were tapes of standup comics, not pitchers.

The longtime Mariner favorite has become so much a part of the Cleveland community that, during the All-Star break festivities here, a local comedy club invited him to spend a little time on stage.

Omar Vizquel, comedian. The thought intrigued him, and he began studying styles and deliveries on tape - and working up his own material.

“I thought it would be fun,” he said Wednesday. “And it was.”

Asked to deliver one of his best bits, Vizquel scratched his head. It has been, he said, two weeks since he was on stage, and he hadn’t practiced since.

“OK, here’s one,” he said. “One time my foot fell asleep, and it really upset me because it was only about 6 o’clock. I thought, ‘Oh, no, now it’s going to be up all night.”’

Omar beamed.

“Don’t worry,” he quickly added. “I’m going to keep my regular job.”

Vizquel is doing just fine in his regular line of work. Batting .274 with 23 stolen bases, Vizquel is a fan favorite in Jacobs Field much as he was in Seattle.