Ken Griffey Jr. Is Coming Back, Again
by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 15, 2011 9:41 AM PST
in Seattle Mariners Regular News
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Baker first had this on Twitter, and now the Mariners have issued confirmation - Ken Griffey Jr. will be returning to the team. The only difference between this time and last time is that this time when he hits zero home runs, he won't be doing so as a player.
Griffey's job title will be the nebulous but exclusive "special assistant," and what that means is that, over the course of his job, he'll be assisting a lot of different people in a lot of different areas. He won't just be handling on-the-field matters, and he won't only involve himself in the Major League operation. He's going to be doing a little bit of just about everything.
It's obviously good news for a community that by and large didn't want Griffey to disappear in the first place. It's good news for Griffey, as he gets to stick with the team that gave him a job and stay busy in retirement. And, I think, it's good news for the organization. And it goes beyond marketing and PR, even. Griffey's obviously going to help sell the team, but more than that, I can see him as a valuable instructor or consultant. We know he knows the game, and while every coach at every level knows the game, every coach at every level isn't Ken Griffey Jr. This is a guy who can hold the rapt attention of minor leaguers and Major Leaguers alike. When Griffey talks, players will listen, and that can only be good news. Unless he starts deliberately giving them bad advice.
This isn't a shock, as we've known for a long time that Griffey would make an eventual return. But it's good to have it all taken care of. Still waiting to hear about Roger Salkeld.
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Shouldn't that be:
Ken Griffey Jr. Is Coming Back, Again. Again.
by msb on Feb 15, 2011 9:45 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Salk keeps saying that Griffey has never addressed the leaving last year, has never talked about it.
What he means is that Griffey has never addressed the media about leaving last year.
Yep, my first thought was "will he mesh with Wedge?"
This could end up another huge distraction if they don’t keep him from showboating.
2010 M's - THE CAKE IS A LIE.
He probably won't be working with Wedge much, if at all.
Mostly with the Front Office, and apparently with Minor League personnel. What little working relationship they end up having would probably be pretty amicable, as their job duties don’t seem to intertwine.
by nathaniel dawson on Feb 15, 2011 12:48 PM PST up reply actions
"working" is a liberal definition of what he'll be doing
He’s basically ceremonial. he’ll show up once a month, spend a couple days hanging around the batting cages making fart jokes with his friends, he’ll probably go to a few team events, and then he’ll be on his way. I really wouldn’t be too worried about any sort of negative effect of anything
Must be in the same group that comments on Baker's column.
Why do I continue to abuse myself by reading those comments? Stupid stupid stupid.
Show 'em how it's done, Jr.
Credit due to whoever created this gif. I apologize for not knowing who that is, but it’s still damn funny.
2010 M's - THE CAKE IS A LIE.
by DrewManchu on Feb 15, 2011 9:51 AM PST reply actions 6 recs
No, he didn't make that one
Somebody with an “M” to start their name, I think
by tootthekazoo on Feb 15, 2011 10:02 AM PST up reply actions
The end is hillarious!
I love how he leaves the scooter by the plate for the bat boy to clean up.
by doublemazaa on Feb 15, 2011 9:57 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Next time I see a Wilder comment I'm reccing it in honor of this.
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Feb 15, 2011 12:19 PM PST up reply actions
As long as he doesn't advise players on career longevity and ending I'm fine with this
I’m actually glad he’s in this role.
by pdb on Feb 15, 2011 9:59 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Bingo.
“When I checked in with him shortly after the ceremony he told me that he would see us all in Spring Training. In what capacity? “Well I have got to be there to give the guys grief, and play some golf,” he answered. He couldn’t stay away from baseball or the Mariners for long."
Boy there are a lot of 'living in the past' comments ...
Have they never noticed that every team has ’Special Assistants", that every team brings its former players to spring training?
Somebody needs to give Griffey an award, too.
The First Annual Howard Lincoln Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. Yes, that’ll do.
The user formerly known as Phildopip
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Feb 15, 2011 10:16 AM PST reply actions
GOD JUST GO THE FUCK AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK
by Robert on Feb 15, 2011 11:16 AM PST reply actions 6 recs
You're the guy who heckles grand marshals at parades, aren't you?
by pdb on Feb 15, 2011 11:20 AM PST up reply actions 2 recs
This year's Griffey! Challenge is going to be LLent till he actually does something worth a damn.
Expect this one to last much longer than the last one did.
The last one is still going isnt it
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Feb 15, 2011 11:22 AM PST up reply actions
Unless quitting was a metaphorical homerun
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Feb 15, 2011 11:23 AM PST up reply actions
That was a joke? Over my head I guess.
De Gutibus non disputandum est
by Bearskin Rugburn on Feb 15, 2011 12:18 PM PST up reply actions
Infinite > Never
Help me out here.
by LonelyintheBleachers on Feb 15, 2011 11:23 AM PST up reply actions
Goodness.
Drayer asked Felix about it, and he said he was happy & that he’s been in contact with Jr since he left.
When asked if he thought Jr could coach, Felix said he would see him helping guys in the cage at batting practice, and as for himself, that after a 4-5 inning start in 2009 as he came down the tunnel, Jr grabbed him, took him into the video room, showed him video and said why aren’t you throwing [hand movement], why aren’t you doing what you did before?
"I may have been an amazing outfielder and hitter during my career,
“But I’m pretty sure you should hold your fastball like this and throw it a bit differently. 20 years in the league, you pick up some things.”
by tootthekazoo on Feb 15, 2011 12:34 PM PST up reply actions
It's cool he's coming back...
but is it too much for us fans to ask for an apology? Man, I poured out my heart to the Kid and then he vanished. Twice.
by funkywinkerbean on Feb 15, 2011 12:41 PM PST reply actions
What on earth should he apologize for?
He’s not a member of your family, he didn’t run over your dog, and he didn’t take unpleasant liberties with your grandmother. He did what athletes do – chase money.
Oh come on, the way we retired in a huff and didn't tell anyone jackshit about it last year was pretty shitty no matter how you look at it.
I still have love for the guy and always will, but he could have at least made an official announcement, said thanks to all the fans and then taken off to Florida. That’s all.
Milton Bradley apologist
by sanford_and_son on Feb 15, 2011 12:57 PM PST up reply actions
I guess I just don't care about warm fuzzies like that
and by the time he left last year it was about six months later than he should have left, anyway, so i wasn’t really sad to see him go.
Huh.
[Comment From EdEd: ]
Does Griffey plan on addressing his departure from the team last year? Armstrong’s response left plenty to be desired.
[Shannon Drayer]
I would imagine so. I don’t think we will hear much more than we did before but I can share something with you I just heard for the first time. I spoke with Junior earlier today and he didn’t want to say much until he knew more about his role. What Chuck said about Jr thinking what he did, was in his mind, the best for the club is consistent with what Jr has told me on a couple of occasions since he left. I just got off the phone with his agent Brian Goldberg and he said something interesting. One of the reason why he left so suddenly without telling anyone was because he believed that there were several people close to him who would try to talk him out of it. Stay til the end of the homestand, the allstar break, etc. His mind was made up. It was time, and he left.
I know it's Griffey and all...
But wasn’t him retiring the best option for the team at that time? People forget that all he did was hit weak grounders he hit to the right side of the field, and he was going to fill a roster spot and offer no offensive production whatsoever. Yes, he left abruptly, but he wasn’t contributing on the field in any form (not that his replacement did, either).
I think some people (not you particularly, im just replying here because that's the topic) need to lay off Griffey a bit.
I mean, for one, I think the immense weight of giving up a thing like baseball for a man around 40 has got to be one of the most depressing things to go through. Just knowing you won’t lace em again has got to be heartbreaking. He was one of the greatest players anyone has ever seen, and now he’s not a player anymore, I think we just need to be done talking about it in every respect and not overanalyze “oh well he should have left earlier”
I think if I were Griffey, I would have stayed just as long maybe even longer, I don’t think I’d have the balls to admit I was done; especially if I was such a great player in my prime.
Again, I’m not trying to single anyone out, I’m merely pointing out that, for me at least, I can’t even imagine how hard quitting baseball would have to be for anyone.
Being annoyed at Griffey is a legitimate feeling.
He was demonstrably making an already bad team worse, and giving off a serious “who cares” sort of vibe while doing so.
Then he got in a fight with Wak that maybe wasn’t solely responsible for Wak losing the clubhouse, but certainly didn’t help, shortly before retiring in a way that was, let’s say lacking decorum.
Now, did he have some tough emotions to deal with that he maybe was struggling with, that caused a lot of this? Sure. But it’s certainly not enough to give him carte blanche for his poor conduct.
Telling people that they need to “lay off” Griffey seems a little unnecessary to me. There are valid reasons to be upset with him after 2010.
It's just as important for a great player to realize that they can no longer contribute at a meaningful level and step away
Quitting baseball must indeed be a hard decision, but people make hard decisions all the time. He should not be excused because he didn’t want to leave yet; he should have known better. He damaged the 2010 Mariners by staying, and the fact that he did so earned him a lot of enmity here and elsewhere. And rightly so.
by pdb on Feb 16, 2011 6:49 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Isn't there a saying
that great athletes are always the last to know when they’re done? I think that applies in this case.
This, just as much as the last couple years of Griffey, were about one thing and one thing only.
Making certain the hat on the plaque has an M not a C.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 11:20 AM PST reply actions
Okay.
So it was hyperbole to say “one thing and one thing only.”
But when Griffey goes in with an M on his hat and Randy does not, despite having more years in Seattle than anywhere else, we’ll look back and go, "Damn. We weren’t going anywhere. Why didn’t we sign Randy for one more year and give him a front office job to obligate him to wear the “M” instead of… whatever the hell the Diamondbacks wear these days.
You can’t possible think it didn’t have anything to do with bringing him back/keeping him around, do you?!?
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 6:36 PM PST up reply actions
Of course...
I know it doesn’t obligate him. But, it would likely or even merely could possibly help sway things more than the present path of doing nothing.
And two years ago, if we didn’t give a passing look to Griffey, the chances of him going into the Hall in an M’s hat would be a lot smaller than it is today because we did. This “job” will continue toward that functionality.
I’m just surprised a little that you completely discount the possibility and are rather disdainful of it.
I mean, I could understand, “Hmm. Not likely, but I suppose there is a possibility since we don’t have a HoF yet, and it would be a pretty big deal to have one.” It’s not like I’m coming from Pluto with this one.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 8:32 PM PST up reply actions
I really think that you are coming from Pluto with this one.
The Hall of Fame committee picks the hat, not the player and Griffey was always going in as a Mariner.
Well, at least that's a reason.
I’ll take that as more reasonable than “No.”
But again as I said below, while the Hall picks the hat, the player has input.
Griffey is known to be mercurial, so keeping him happy helps validate the probability (higher to begin with, admittedly) that he goes into the Hall an M.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 11:58 PM PST up reply actions
I googled it.
I’m not Scruffy. Actually, I am pretty scruffy these days, but I don’t have his ability in that regard.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 6:32 PM PST up reply actions
Possibly, yes.
I can handle that.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 8:32 PM PST up reply actions
I googled it.
As I said before, I’m not Scruffy. Actually, I am pretty scruffy these days, but I don’t have his ability in that regard.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 8:33 PM PST up reply actions
I don't see the word quitter on that anywhere.
by Robert on Feb 16, 2011 8:36 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Hahah!
Nice!
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 8:40 PM PST up reply actions
While not incorrect, that's not completely true.
The player has some sway. From an article about Gary Carter’s cap:
“The Hall of Fame consults players about the choice of hat but makes the final call.”
The Hall can obviously overrule if the hat is an unreasonable choice, such as Wade Boggs wanting to go in a Tampa Bay hat because of his final contract.
Both Randy and Griffey have had careers which would allow for a legitimate choice between more than one team, and I doubt the Hall would overrule either of them choosing the less likely (Mariners in Randy’s case, Reds in Griffey’s.)
Andre Dawson was forced to go in as an Expo, but I think a part of that has to do with the Expos being gone now. If they were still around, I would think there’d be more of a chance he could have gone in a Cub.
"Life does not cease to be funny when people die, anymore than it ceases to be serious when people laugh." - George Bernard Shaw
by Tyler Jorgensen on Feb 16, 2011 10:42 PM PST up reply actions
He didn't do anything as a Red besides hit his 500th home run.
If he’s not in the Hall as a member of the Seattle Mariners, then the Hall did something wrong.
It’s not even close, either.
I write for Stumptown Footy, SB Nation's Portland Timbers blog.
by thehemogoblin on Feb 18, 2011 5:36 PM PST up reply actions
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