PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) -Ken Griffey Jr. wouldn’t let anyone know of his decision to rejoin Seattle and spurn Atlanta until he called Chuck Armstrong.
The Mariners president for the last 24 years had built a strong friendship with “Kenny” and his family from the day in 1987 when Seattle made Griffey its No. 1 overall draft choice.
A few years ago Major League Baseball gave Griffey an offseason award. The league told him he could have anyone he wanted flown to baseball’s winter meetings and present it to him. Griffey chose Armstrong. And it was Armstrong who kept lobbying Griffey to come back, even after it appeared Tuesday he was choosing Atlanta, to be closer to home.
So when Griffey decided Wednesday he was taking the Mariners’ one-year contract worth about $2 million, plus incentives, to be their designated hitter, Griffey wouldn’t let anyone else know until he reached Armstrong. But Armstrong was in the air at the time, on a delayed flight back to Seattle after a short visit to spring training. Only after Griffey finally reached his friend did word get out.
Seattle Mariners back home, where he belongs,” Armstrong said late Wednesday night. “It’s great when a decision made for baseball reasons works for every aspect of the organization.
“We could not be more pleased that Kenny is returning to Seattle.”
Griffey hit two home runs in the last game he played in the Emerald City, June 24, 2007, when he was with Cincinnati at the end of a series between the Reds and Mariners that turned into a weekend love-fest for him. After that game, he said he wanted to retire as a Mariner.
Now he can.
Seattle general manager Jack Zduriencik knows Griffey wanted to complete his legacy in the place it began.
“Oh, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Zduriencik said. “Everyone knows Ken Griffey Jr. is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And he’s returning to his roots.
“That doesn’t happen too often.”
Griffey, who is expected to arrive in camp Friday or Saturday, is fifth on baseball’s career home run list with 611.
He was No. 1 on the list of stars Seattle fans wanted most to reclaim.
Now that the Mariners have determined Griffey is healthy following knee surgery last fall – he passed an extensive physical on Sunday – Seattle is hoping he brings at least a semblance of the skills he provided as the dynamic leader who ushered in the franchise’s heyday in the mid-1990s.
the table there,” Zduriencik deadpanned after he made his biggest splash yet while trying to resurrect the Mariners.
Seattle lost 101 games last season and hasn’t been the playoffs since 2001.
“Ken wanted to come back to this city that he loves, to this fan base that he loves,” Zduriencik said.
Atlanta appeared to be Griffey’s choice on Tuesday for the same reason the former Mariners star left Seattle in 2000: geography. The Braves’ spring training camp is about a 20-minute drive from the Griffey family home in Orlando, Fla., and Atlanta is about an hour away by plane.
But after conflicting reports about where the aging star would settle, Griffey ultimately chose to follow through on his proclamation two years ago when he came to Seattle while playing with the Reds – that he wanted to finish his career as a Mariner.
“We were informed tonight that Ken Griffey Jr. has decided to return to Seattle,” said Braves general manager Frank Wren, who absorbed another in a series of disappointments. “We will continue to be open to other possibilities to improve our outfield offense and, at the same time, give our young players an opportunity to show us they can win that job.”
The Mariners have a job as designated hitter and perhaps in left field waiting for him. The Braves were offering a spot in the outfield – plus that cherished proximity to home.
th the Mariners as a 19-year-old in 1989. He stayed for 11 seasons and through 10 All-Star games before he asked for a trade closer to his home. The Mariners obliged by sending him to Cincinnati just before the 2000 season.
Griffey’s return is a jolt for the Mariners – who last season became the first team with a $100 million payroll to lose 100 games.
“A rejuvenated Ken Griffey coming back to where he started has to be a fabulous motivator for him,” Zduriencik said.
The GM had been trying to add a power hitter, and specifically a designated hitter, for months and was also talking to the agent for free agent Garret Anderson. The Mariners prefer a left-handed bat because the fences in pitcher-friendly Safeco Field are closest in right field.
The configuration fits the left-handed Griffey so well, the Mariners presented him with a framed photo of their stadium before a Reds-Mariners game in 2007, with the words “The House that Griffey Built” across the top. Griffey played just half a season in it before getting the trade he wanted.
Yet the fans in Seattle still love “Junior.”
Griffey has been hampered by injuries since he left and had arthroscopic knee surgery following the 2008 season, the last half of which he spent with the White Sox. Zduriencik said the Mariners’ extensive research convinced the team he is as healthy as he’s been in years.
home runs (398), slugging percentage (.569) and trails only Edgar Martinez in games played with 1,535. He’s also second to Martinez in Seattle history in hits, RBIs, extra-base hits, at-bats, doubles, runs and total bases.
“I know in his heart of hearts,” Zduriencik said, “he probably wanted to be here all along.”
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AP Sports Writer Paul Newberry in Kissimmee, Fla., contributed to this report.
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