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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > August > 20 > Entry
A visit with Griffey
Call me a traitor and call me a turncoat, but I abandoned the Cincinnati Reds today. No trip to Wrigley. No Cubs-Reds game.
Instead of going north today, I went south to U.S. Cellular Field to see the Chicago White Sox.
Actually, I went to see Ken Griffey Jr.
We talked before Wednesday afternoon’s game. At the time, Griffey had nine hits for the White Sox, all singles. I told him, “Hit a home run. I didn’t come here to see any dinky singles.”
After another single in the first inning, Griffey came through. He crashed his first Chicago White Sox home run in the second. It was his 609th, tying Chicago legend (and now outcast) Sammy Sosa for fifth on the all-time list.
After an hour’s visit with Griffey, I watched the White Sox-Seattle Mariners game and thought I was at a Reds game when I saw the Mariners. Dreadful.
In the first inning, the first five White Sox got on base against Seattle knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, including a run-scoring single by Griffey. He has 10 hits with the Sox, all singles until the homer. The White Sox had six runs before Dickey got his second out.
And by the time I finished typing the previous paragraph, it became 8-0 in the second.
Before the game, Seattle’s Ichiro asked for a signed bat from Griffey, who eventually sent over about a half dozen to different Mariners.
Asked how many bats he has given away in his career, Griffey said, “Thousands. More than I’ve broken, that’s for sure.”
Griffey said when Ichiro first came to the U.S. on a tour, “He wanted to see me and he wanted to see Michael Jordan. I took him to a Benihana’s in Cincinnati because it had a Japanese chef who fixed him what he wanted.”
And how’s Griffey?
Content. Happy. Pleased. He is on a first-place team and there is no pressure for him to be Top Gun. He either plays center field, right field or designated hitter and bats sixth. On Wednesday, he originally was to play right field and bat sixth. But Jim Thome was scratched so Griffey was moved to DH and batted fourth.
Not much has changed. He is still a star attraction. The Chicago fans love him. He was interviewed three times in the course of an hour I spent with him.
A couple of noteworthy things he said:
The Reds traded Griffey just minutes before the July 31 non-waivers trade deadline and he said he was not only surprised, he said he told Walt Jocketty on the day he became general manager April 23 that he was available to move on.
“It was an informal meeting, just to say hello and congratulations,” said Griffey. “After I asked him if he was getting hazardous duty pay, I told him, ‘If you have something for me, can get something for me, I won’t hold you up. I know what you’re trying to do here.’
“I knew the situation, being in the last year of my contract, and everybody knew pretty much which way they were going to go,” he said.
Griffey knew the Reds would not pick up the option for 2009 on his contract and said, “If we had started off on fire, it would have been different. But we didn’t and the result is that I’m gone, Adam Dunn is gone and David Ross is gone.”
Griffey believes in what the Reds are doing and even sees possible success.
“The biggest thing is the attitude,” he said. “They’re so worried about just wanting to be competitive. They should be talking about winning. You have to want to win.
“That goes for everybody — front office to the players to the scouts to the fans to management,” he said. “When I came back after hitting my 600th home run, my reception was awesome. That should be for everybody, not just because somebody reached a milestone. The fans should put all their energy into supporting every at-bat. Everybody needs to pull together.”
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By うつ病
September 21, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
よく練られた。
By michael
August 22, 2008 8:43 AM | Link to this
timb wrote:The last time he saw Junior play everyday was when Jr. possessed bat speed. Since he does not now, Ozzie shouldve expected what he got, i.e. an aging slugger who is an okay sixth hitter. 6th or 7th is a good place for Jr. As a Manager, I wouldn’t mind having that luxury. The Reds had to hit him 3rd….who else?
By timb
August 21, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this
Actually, I think Ozzie had a point. The last time he saw Junior play everyday was when Jr. possessed bat speed. Since he does not now, Ozzie should’ve expected what he got, i.e. an aging slugger who is an okay sixth hitter. Oh, and Hilliard Dave, you’re not a racist, either (apparently the worst thing a person can say to someone on this board is that he or she is NOT a racist).
By michael
August 21, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
It didn’t take Ozzie long to figure out what he got. He’s all yours Ozzie, enjoy.
By Hilliard Dave
August 21, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
Interseting comment about Griffey by Ozzie Guillen in today’s Columbus Dispatch: “About time. I never thought I was going to see him hit a home run as a manager.” Good old Ozzie…never minces words. Then again, according to timb, I suppose that comment is racist since Ozzie is Hispanic and Jr is black.
By Roho Radio
August 21, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
Nick, I disagree with your world series take. That would be the most boring World Series ever!! Nothing to watch but Dunn and Junior. Watching Dunn strike out and misplay pop flies, and Junior jogging to fly balls or turning doubles into singles would be all I could take after one game. It would bring back bad memories and I would lose interest quickly.
By nick w
August 21, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this
I want to thank everyone who answered my question on how the waviers work a couple a days ago i kinda of understand it now but im not gonna be a gm anytime soon so i don’t need to know exactly how it works. With griffey and dunn both hitting homers yesterday and dunn second in two games i think they are starting to get a little more comfortable and ur gonna see them start hitting alot better. Now picture this diamondbacks white soxs world series, griffey and dunn facing eachother for a world series title now that would be a fun series.
By Steve F
August 21, 2008 12:40 PM | Link to this
I think all Reds fans are rooting for the team from Chicago to get to the WS and I don’t mean the Cubs.
By tom
August 21, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this
The Reds remake will pick up steam; Griffey and Dunn gone is a beginning.
By Former Fan
August 21, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
Griffey and Dunn both hit home runs yesterday. That makes two days in a row for Dunn. Meanwhile the powerful Reds team pounded out two runs in their last 18 innings. But I read that letter from the owner and it really made me feel better. (yawn)
By timb
August 21, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
Mikey, back off the hate, dude (and respond on the right post). As to the question Y-City Jim posed: was Ted Williams a winner? Fergie Jenkins? Ernie Banks? Being on bad teams and performing well is not a sign of a loser. Man, Griffey was fun to watch. I sure miss him, which is not to say the club didn’t do the right thing (they did), but I just don’t get worked up watching Brandon and his .320 OBP or the great jeff Keppinger (STILL being pimped last night by Thom as a “great RBI man”).
By ShockMonkey
August 21, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this
Griffey’s not going anywhere! Now Hal, you’re an HOF writer and I respect your journalistic prose but aren’t we being a tad hypocritical? Now we read Whiffey said in April, he’d welcome a trade. Somebody’s talking out both sides of their mouth.
By michael
August 21, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
timb is just mad because he don’t have a pro team in his home town. Encarnacion is not good, and thats why he gets criticized. Racist? Thats unvalidated considering I think Brandon P is the best player on the team, and Javy Valentin is a favorite of mine. I think you are the one that harbors those feelings, because you often bring them up without any justification. Have you checked the Indianapolis paper for a blog concerning racism? Maybe you can check the Cubs box scores while you are there.
By Y-City Jim
August 21, 2008 11:00 AM | Link to this
timb, that couldn’t have been Griffey. We all know Junior is a loser. He has always been a loser. His teams have always been losers. So it must have been someone else making that exciting, game deciding slide to beat the Yankees. Maybe it was Corey Patterson.
By timb
August 21, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this
Good for Ken. H e wasn’t going to get that chance here, so I say make the most of it, stud. Most exciting play I ever saw was him sliding across home plate to beat the Yanks in 1995. Let’s hope he gets a similar chance again. Besides, it might show people who don’t know anything about baseball that to win you have to pitch. Not everything can blamed on the center fielder.
By Y-City Jim
August 21, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-dunn082008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
By D8nken
August 21, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this
Hal, not surprising you went to see Griffey instead of the Reds. Based on your “quotes of the day” it seems you have only talked to Griffey, Dunn and Baker all year. And still you had no idea Griffey was willing to be traded.
By michael
August 21, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this
Griffey can talk all day about hitting Homers, and about individual stats, but knows nothing about winning. The Reds did ok in 99, and then came Jr. I don’t miss him, but I don’t value his opinion on all things Reds Baseball.
By Florida Buckeye
August 21, 2008 7:36 AM | Link to this
I think it’s ironic that Griff talks about the need for a winning attitude in Cinci, and, his was a bastion of defeatism, and laziness…
By Bruiser
August 21, 2008 3:58 AM | Link to this
So Griffey on April 23 said he was available to move on! Where o where do you get your info Hal? You are the one who adamantly told us Griffey did not want to go and would be here the rest of the year!!
By Y-City Jim
August 21, 2008 12:07 AM | Link to this
Dunn Watch - 3-run HR, 2 BB, 2 runs scored
By Y-City Jim
August 20, 2008 10:49 PM | Link to this
http://baseballchurch.blogspot.com/2008/08/bob-and-walt-could-do-something-for.html
By bigdoc
August 20, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this
Real nice, unexpected, ‘team’ win! Without DeRosa’s ‘D’ Reds would have had a couple more. Rest of the year, law of averages says Reds will win one of three.
By coach
August 20, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this
I really like the look of Dickerson in center—reminds me of Geronimo.
By rlg
August 20, 2008 9:32 PM | Link to this
I don’t think I have ever watched a more lifeless group of hitters than yesterday and today. Is it that Harden and Lilly are that good or the Reds are just simply that anemic, like they have been all year?
By ShockMonkey
August 20, 2008 7:37 PM | Link to this
Hey, going from the Outhouse to the Penthouse makes anybody happier but he “cut his own throat” before getting traded. I wish him well but don’t miss him one bit.
By wizard
August 20, 2008 7:29 PM | Link to this
One question I would have: Of those ten base hits—how many were accomplished with the Griffey-Dunn shift in place? I don’t believe they use that against him in the American League—It was, to a large degree, why he grounded out so many times in crucial situations, with men on base, before he was traded. Makes a big difference—because he refused to, or was unable to, hit to the left side of the field, often enough, to help the Reds be successful! Now that they aren’t using the shift, his ground balls sneak through the infield.
By Y-City Jim
August 20, 2008 7:21 PM | Link to this
Congrats on passing the cheater, Jr. Too bad injuries kept you from passing the ultimate cheater.
By bigdoc
August 20, 2008 6:30 PM | Link to this
Good work, Hal! Several games for the Sox, Junior hasn’t played at all. But I know he’s more content—it wasn’t going to get any better here. I think if he passes Sosa this season (and he may not), he’ll call it a career, unless he commits to an off season ‘killer’ conditioning program. I still wish him well; glad he’s not around for this dismal time … By the way, Mariners still have Ichiro and Ibanez to watch …
By Steve
August 20, 2008 5:43 PM | Link to this
Here is what you wrote back on July 31: “On the last homestand Griffey reportedly cursed out a fan in right field and the fan told an usher, who wasnt going to report it until a security guard told him he heard what Griffey said. Then came the throat-cutting gesture and the mouthed epithets toward Brantley in the broadcast booth last Saturday in Cincinnati. Did any of this play a part in Griffeys departure? Nobody is saying, but it is known that Castellini was not happy about either incident. When he made his surprise visit to Houston on Tuesday, he reportedly talked to Griffey about it. One now wonders if the real purpose of Castellinis Houston visit was to discuss the departure of Griffey.”
By Steve
August 20, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this
Hal, when Junior was traded you were the only person to report that part of the reason he was traded was because of his recent profane gestures and comments. You said that the owner traveled to Houston specifically to talk to him about it, and that it played a role in the willingness and interest in having him move on. As I said, no one else reported anything like this, and it’s a pretty big detail, don’t you think? Do you still stand by the substance of your original post?
By Brian
August 20, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this
redfaced…could it be that after years of not winning and not really even sniffing the playoffs, that Reds fans are beat down? Wore out? I find it hard to get excited when I go to a game because I have absolutely zero confidence that the players will send me home with a victory. It’s tiring to see the same ol’ same ol’ all the time. I’ll continue to root for them, but until I can be confident that I’ll see a victory, it will remain hard to cheer them on…it’s the way Cincy fans are…too much losing saps the enthusiasm…just my opinion.
By Beandog
August 20, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
Was just wondering what Griffey Jr. knows about winning.
By Red Faced
August 20, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
Griffey is correct when it comes to Reds fans (i.e. attendees). I am one. I go to about 30 games a year. I love to also take in 3-5 games in other city’s ballparks each year, too. Reds fans are the most quiet of any place I go to. Now, I know sometimes there’s limited opportunities to cheer. But several non-Reds games I went to fans would get loud on their own (they wouldn’t need a “Get Loud” sign on the scoreboard) with a 3-2 count and 2 outs in the middle of the game. In contrast, I’ve been to Reds games where Adam Dunn is up with the go ahead runners on base in the bottom of the 9th and you’d never guess it from the noise level. Then, they show the “Make Noise” sign and you hear the 10 and under fans screaming at the top of their lungs while everyone else is sitting on their hands. I miss the old Riverfront days when fans were into the games in Cincinnati just like other cities I’ve been to - win or lose. I hope winning brings back some excitement to an otherwise lethargic GABP.
By Matt
August 20, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
Go get ‘em Junior!
By Mark in Sun Valley
August 20, 2008 3:15 PM | Link to this
Good for Junior. I hope he makes it to the Series. And he is still one of the classiest players out there. Now, just think about this nightmare. Reds vs Mariners. I think I’d rather watch Mamma Mia….