Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    Twitter
    Home » For Mariners, Griffey is always welcome
    Baseball

    For Mariners, Griffey is always welcome

    Andrew HarveyBy Andrew HarveyApril 8, 20163 Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Ken Griffey Jr. paid homage to King Felix after finding the strike zone Friday with his  ceremonial opening pitch. / Alan Chitlik, Sportspress Northwest

    To Mariners fans, Ken Griffey Jr. will always be The Kid, rounding third and heading for home. To the ball club, however, Griffey is already creating a space for himself in its future. During Griffey’s traditional trip to spring training in Peoria, Griffey wound up speaking to the team during a morning meeting, proving that he may have more to offer the club than just an iconic legacy.

    “I said, ‘This is your team,’” Griffey recalled in a press conference before throwing out the opening pitch Friday. “’This is you guys’s team. This is your era, your city. You’ve got to go out there and play and have some fun.

    “‘You’re a fairly young team like we were. You’ve just got to be behind each other, everybody’s going to make some mistakes. If I can help in any way, they know how to get in touch with me, and I’m here.’

    “That was it, and then they went about their meeting, preparing for their day, which was pretty cool.”

    “This is your team.” Words that echoed what Ken Griffey Sr. once told his son as they sat beside one another in the Mariners dugout in 1989, a moment eternally imprinted on the sporting landscape of Seattle.

    Manager Scott Servais put The Kid’s shared wisdom in a different light.

    “We’re starting to build relationships with alumni here,” he said.

    Griffey’s genes helped make him the near-perfect ballplayer, but his experience is far more readily passed on.

    “I knew what it took to be a big-league ball player at 14 years old,” he said.  “Some of these guys are 22 and don’t have a clue about what it takes to get there, so if I can give that knowledge to kids who are 17, 18,19, 20, and they can understand it, then maybe they can get on the fast track to the big leagues to achieve their goal.”

    Even after his near-unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it feels odd to consider Griffey an alumnus of the Mariners or even baseball. When he strode toward the mound Friday wearing a 24 jersey, in front of the largest regular-season crowd in Safeco Field history (47,065), he almost looked like he might pick up a bat.

    When his off-speed pitch, thrown from in front of the mound — “I wouldn’t want a pitcher to mess up my batter’s box,” he said — landed for a strike in the glove of “catcher” Felix Hernandez, Griffey re-created the King’s perfect-game victory pose, the generations connected.

    Seattle’s door will always open at Griffey’s approach. The symbolic value of the legend is something the club wraps itself in, sometimes a little desperately. Throughout the game Friday, the jumbo screen replayed famous moments from Griffey’s career. A “countdown to Cooperstown” ticker has been erected on the fascia in right field, marking the days until Griffey’s formal induction to baseball eternity.

    Whether it is the lifetime of experience, or his irrepressible smile and ability to bring crowds of Mariners fans to their feet wherever he goes, Seattle will give Griffey every opportunity he wants to help them recapture the magic of the ‘90s. It is no longer Griffey’s team, but there will always be a spot for him in SoDo.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email

    Related Posts

    Writers need to get out of baseball’s Hall of Fame voting, or fix it

    January 26, 2022

    Remember baseball? Mariners? They are doing things

    January 21, 2022

    Signing of Ray wakes echoes of Cano, but Mariners are different

    December 2, 2021

    3 Comments

    1. wabubba67 on April 9, 2016 1:30 pm

      Did the Mariners pass the hat around the stadium for Griffey’s gas money to Montana later?

    2. rosetta_stoned on April 9, 2016 2:10 pm

      Did they show him in a Cincinnati Reds uniform after he whined his way out of town? Or are we just supposed to forget all that.

      • Kaycbowyer1 on April 9, 2016 11:23 pm

        “my room mate Maria Is getting paid on the internet 98$/hr.”….i!207two days ago new Silver McLaren P2 bought after earning 18,512 Dollars,,,this was my previous month’s paycheck ,and-a little over, 17k Dollars Last month ..3-5 h/r of work a day ..with. extra open doors &. weekly. paychecks… it’s realy the simplest. work. I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months. ago. and now making over. 87 Dollars, p/h.Learn. More right Herei!207➤➤➤➤➤ http://GlobalSuperJobsReportsEmploymentsHeroGetPaidHourly98$…. .❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦:❖❖:❦❦::::i!207………

    • Follow @Art_Thiel on Twitter
    Use our affiliate link on Amazon

    Subscribe to Our Weekly Roundup

    Get the top stories sent to your inbox every Thursday.

    Art Thiel on KNKX 88.5FM

    Kirsten Kendrick's Q. & A. with Thiel can be heard every Friday during Morning Edition at 5:45am and 7:45am and again that same day on All Things Considered at 4:44pm. It also airs Saturday at 9:35am.

    Listen now!
    Latest Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    Rams win a survivors contest called the Super Bowl

    February 14, 2022
    Twitter
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    © 2025 Sportspress Northwest

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.