Junior Spurns Family, Returns To Mariners
by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 18, 2009 6:27 PM PST
in Seattle Mariners Regular News
Email
Print"The people of Seattle have no idea how hard this process is," Griffey told the Seattle-P-I before finalizing things in his own mind. "If it is Seattle, then I won't see my family more than two or three times in seven months. They have their schedules, and they're not going to change them." (Hickey)
I guess that sends a message to little Trey, Taryn, and Tevin. "You may be my own flesh and blood, but you don't mean as much to me as the crazies in the Northwest who won't let me go."
What an asshole.
Anyway, at last, it's over, with the only real casualty from the saga being the full Griffey-to-Atlanta post I wrote up last night, hid, and deleted an hour ago. That sucked. But while erasing finished content is super annoying, this is good news, or at least it's good news when viewed in the context of a reality in which we end up with either Griffey or Garret Anderson. It's good news for fans and it's good news for fanboys, because the Mariners get both the more useful player and the bigger draw. I mean, how many players get attendance incentives built into their contracts?
He has accepted the Mariners' one-year contract offer that includes a $2 million base salary and up to $4 million in incentives based on at-bats and attendance. His return to Safeco Field is expected to lure an additional 200,000 fans this season. (Pravda)
It's perfect, really. Instead of guaranteeing Griffey a chunk of money under the assumption that he'll bring out the crowds, this way he only gets that chunk of money if the crowds actually come, under which circumstances I imagine the team would be earning enough revenue to throw their budget concerns to the wind. All things considered, Griffey's contract couldn't be better.
So, he's back. Officially. Griffey has signed with the Mariners, and in so doing saved us from interring dead Angels and saved Atlanta from certain doom. And while the whole thing may not have gone as smoothly as many would've liked, in the end, Griffey chose "family" over family, which - come on, that's just an incredible gesture. I don't have the kind of unconditional Junior loyalty that many of you possess, but even I can't help but feel touched by his decision. This is a guy who wants to make up for his messy departure nearly a decade ago, and I'm perfectly willing to give him that chance. Make us happy, Junior. Make us all happy, the way you used to do.
His first home run in Safeco is going to be God diddly damn insane.
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That's an excellent contract
I was worried it was going to be more.
Just post it anyway.
It can play like a baseball version of Philip K. Dick’s The Man In The High Castle.
Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism
Attendance based incentives?
Suddenly I’m OK with it
Determined, Jonesing Commentor | Proud proprietor of Wyomingroutes.org & Washingtonhighways.org
Welcome back Griffey
Could someone please photoshop a Mariners hat onto this
I say top 3
I'd rather know a little about a lot than a lot about a little
by Sportszilla on Feb 18, 2009 11:49 PM PST up reply actions
The "talkin' softball" song is my favorite baseball song ever.
Ken Griffey’s grotesquely swollen jaw … Steve Sax’s run in with the law …
Huh
From MLB.com:
Sources have indicated that Griffey’s tide turned shortly after he became upset with the fact that The Atlanta-Journal Constitution was reporting that he’d already decided to play for the Braves.
Ken Griffey Jr. = Peter Angelos
Jeffrey...
You’re going to hate yourself for deleting that post when you get around to writing a book… that would have been a great addition to a chapter (and great filler too). Bad form!
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Just North of Wrigley Field
It had the perfect title, too.
I’m pissed.
by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 18, 2009 7:15 PM PST up reply actions
There's always next year
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
Yep
that’s the difference between Elliot Bay Books and a West Coast Tour of Borders and Barnes and Nobles… I’m just saying…
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just North of Wrigley Field
by jameslcrockett on Feb 18, 2009 9:41 PM PST up reply actions
he also said that Harold Reynolds was a big part the whole thing.
Harold called him to tell him that Willie Mays wanted to talk to Chuck about the importance of Griffey to Seattle, and did Chuck think Ken would mind if Willie called Ken to talk about the importance of legacy? So he did.
Armstrong says the deal is the same one they talked about last week, it wasn’t sweetened to get him here, and that they were told it was pretty much the same as Atlanta’s offer.
It sounds like the plan is a mix of LF and DH.
If this subplot to the story is true, this is then one of the coolest things ever.
Willie Mays personally intervening as an elder statesman? Wild.
Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism
Now THIS is awesome.
Per Baker:
Zduriencik also said there was no Plan B had Griffey signed with the Braves. He says he was prepared to go with what he already had in camp.
Well said, Jeff.
An hour ago I wasn’t that interested in this whole kerfuffle one way or the other. But the way you phrased it made me salute the Griffey flag now waving from my inner flagpole.
Kerfuffle.
Inner flagpole.
"Part, fools!
Put up your swords. You know not what you do."
by Fearless Frog on Feb 18, 2009 7:43 PM PST up reply actions
I just took the Griffey jersey out of the washing machine..
Kinda thinking about calling in sick to work to head up to Peoria…. Gawd I hope he is a DH against righties and not a whole lot else
by seattlesundevil on Feb 18, 2009 7:29 PM PST reply actions
Chuck was told maybe saturday...
so his plan was to unpack the bag, re-pack the bag, and head down to Peoria.
How Many
tickets do you think Griffey will buy in order to get the extra $$$ if he’s short on attendance? Spend a million – get 2 million isn’t a bad deal.
Of course its attendance based, which mean he’d probably have to find a bunch of people to show up with the tickets he purchased… but still. That would be awesome.
He'll tear a muscle in his forearm.
It's hard to convince people to let you eat them if you're an asshole. - Thingray
He'll be holding one of those Ticketmaster scan thingys to let people into the ballpark
which now I guess are to be called Live Nation scan thingys. Still.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Finally, FINALLY the Kid HAS COME BACK.......to Seattle.
(Heard in the Background) “Griffey! Griffey! Griffey! Griffey!”
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
Be a man not an expletive.
Your use of the term ‘asshole’ offends me and probably a lot of other folks. Why can’t you stick to polite language? Crassness is the refuge of the incompetent. Try using normal English instead of street utterance, it has worked for centuries of fairly good writers.
P.S. Ken Griffy is not an asshole but you certainly are.
"Try using normal English instead of street utterance, it has worked for centuries of fairly good writers."
In normal English, we use periods or semicolons to separate independent clauses. Using a comma is what we call a “comma splice,” and comma splices offend me and probably a lot of other folks.
I love this comment so much and have appropriately flagged it
I guess that sends a message to little Trey, Taryn, and Tevin. “You may be my own flesh and blood, but you don’t mean as much to me as the crazies in the Northwest who won’t let me go.”
What an asshole.
I’m like 99.999999999999999999% sure that this is sarcasm since it would be very poor form if Griffey actually was a jerk to his family and basically said “screw you” by signing with the Mariners. I have no idea what you’re trying to accomplish, since Jeff does keep saying he’s happy Griffey is back, after all.
by seattlebruin on Feb 19, 2009 9:37 AM PST up reply actions
Erased my comment , huh?
I guess critical comments on your language deficiencies an not allowed.
Apparently only masters of language understand that "an" is a verb.
Friend, if you’re going to criticize someone’s “language deficiencies,” you should probably not have grammatical errors in everything you post. It makes you look like an asshole.
Also, you’re either obscenely dense or unfamiliar with Jeff’s writing, because he’s not actually calling Griffey an asshole. There are such things as context, sarcasm and audience involved in writing.
Resend: Jeff why must you use terms like asshole for a guy who has never none any thing to harm you?
You could take the high road, but instead you take care to desecrate the conversation with unnecessary epithets. Try being a grown up.
P.S. Ken Griffey is not the asshole , you are.
Reply to Resend: Who is asshole , you say an?
Fuck Shit Balls
Conversation now ultra-fucking-desecrated.
"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?" - Dr. Venture
Resend:
“Ken Griffey is not the asshole , you are.”
I don’t know how things work in the Magical Land of the Inability to Recognize Beat-You-Over-The-Fucking-Head-Obvious Jokes, but around here, we like to use periods or semicolons to separate independent clauses. Using a comma is what we call a "comma splice," and comma splices are the refuge of the incompetent.
Did you bother to read this paragraph?
So, he’s back. Officially. Griffey has signed with the Mariners, and in so doing saved us from interring dead Angels and saved Atlanta from certain doom. And while the whole thing may not have gone as smoothly as many would’ve liked, in the end, Griffey chose “family” over family, which – come on, that’s just an incredible gesture. I don’t have the kind of unconditional Junior loyalty that many of you possess, but even I can’t help but feel touched by his decision. This is a guy who wants to make up for his messy departure nearly a decade ago, and I’m perfectly willing to give him that chance. Make us happy, Junior. Make us all happy, the way you used to do.
His first home run in Safeco is going to be God diddly damn insane.
by seattlebruin on Feb 19, 2009 9:44 AM PST up reply actions
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