Griffey Deserves A Huge Thank-You

Wed., Feb. 9, 2000

By D.F. Oliveria daveo@spokesman.com (509) 319-0354

In baseball, a player can go from hero to goat in the time it takes to muff a ground ball.

But Ken Griffey Jr.? A goat? Impossible.

From the moment he arrived in Seattle 11 years ago, Griffey, with his infectious smile and sweet swing, has been the cream on our lattes. Early on, he brightened many afternoons on miserable Mariner teams with his monstrous home runs and gravity-defying catches. On the American League West division-winning teams of 1995 and 1997, he was the difference. No Mariner fan will forget his dash from first base to home on Edgar Martinez’s double that finished the New York Yankees in the ‘95 playoffs.

So, how did we get to this ugly point? Junior can’t wait to leave the Northwest. The fans are mad at him. And Seattle’s new and decidedly improved management is eager to oblige him with a trade. If he is traded under the current circumstances, it’ll be a shameful send-off for the brightest superstar in Seattle’s finite galaxy.

The major part of the problem is sports economics.

Soon, we may see the first $25 million player in major-league baseball. Seattle would be lucky to afford one such marquee player, let alone two. The Mariners knew at the end of last season they couldn’t afford to sign both Griffey and shortstop Alex Rodriguez when their contracts expire after the 2000 season. Last fall, Griffey made the task of choosing between the megastars easy when he said he wouldn’t sign with the Mariners again.

From there, Seattle and Griffey share the blame for the brinksmanship that has produced the current standoff. As a veteran player with veto power over a possible trade, Griffey provided the Mariners with a short list of clubs he’d play for. Later, he vetoed a trade with the New York Mets and insisted he’d accept a trade only to Cincinnati, his hometown. That tied Seattle’s hands.

In a Beaver Cleaver world, Griffey and Rodriguez would roam Safeco Field together for another decade or so and be reunited forever afterward in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There’d be enough money to sign both of them. But Northwesterners learned this wasn’t a perfect world in 1998 when the M’s traded pitching ace Randy Johnson in midseason because they wouldn’t pay his asking price for a new contract.

Still, Griffey has given his team and its fans their money’s worth. Without him, there would have been no amazing finish to the 1995 season. No 1997 pennant. No Safeco Field. And possibly no Seattle Mariners. He deserves to be sent off with the best wishes of every sports fan in the Northwest.

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