‘The Kid’ comes home

Published 12:12 am Saturday, June 23, 2007

SEATTLE – Only once Friday night did Ken Griffey Jr. nearly lose it.

With a sellout crowd at Safeco Field looking on at the pre-game ceremony, Griffey talked about former teammates Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner standing behind him, saying that he couldn’t have accomplished what he did in Seattle without them, that their booming bats protected him in the lineup so he could do his thing.

“I love Jay and Edgar to death,” Griffey said as 46,340 admirers and both benches erupted in applause. “Without those two guys, who knows where I’d be because they mean so much to me.”

Then he took a deep breath.

For a moment, for just a fraction of a second, Ken Griffey Jr., let us into his world. Always guarded and stoic in public, Griffey nevertheless allows his joy of playing the game to overflow on the field. Only his family and his teammates really know Griffey. And Griffey saves his being, his true self, to them.

It is Griffey’s ultimate compliment to the throng that he came so close to breaking up.

“Never could I image it that would be like this, coming back,” he said.

“Junior, Junior,” the crowd chanted.

They wore Mariners throwback No. 24 jerseys.

They stood and roared at Griffey’s first at-bat. He rewarded them with a sharp single to right.

They stood and roared when Griffey took his place in right field.

Poor M’s pitcher Ryan Feierabend. His own fans booed him for twice throwing to first to keep runner Brandon Phillips close instead of pitching to Griffey.

Obviously, all is forgiven.

Remember, it was Griffey who engineered the trade that sent him to Cincinnati seven years ago. For that, fans long considered him a turncoat, even after 11 seasons of making the impossible catches and the clutch home runs routine. More than a few still hold a grudge, if we are to believe certain e-mails we received this week.

As furious as M’s fans were at Griffey for forcing the trade, most have gotten over it completely. While they never will exonerate Alex Rodriguez for skedaddling to the Texas Rangers for a mere quarter-billion dollars, they forgive Griffey for taking less money from the Reds than the M’s offered so that he could be with his family.

Then, of course, was Griffey’s small favor of saving baseball in Seattle as the main guy in the Mariners’ best and brightest days. As one signed proclaimed, “Welcome to the house that Griffey built.”

Any question of the way M’s fans feel about Griffey was answered when Junior, naturally wearing his red Cincinnati Reds cap backward, took his first cuts in batting practice.

The hundreds of fans who arrived at Safeco Field early just to see the event whooped, screamed and snapped pictures as soon as Griffey stepped into the batting cage. Had they the chance, many would have nominated him for president.

Griffey didn’t disappoint.

It took him a few Ruthian swings that produced only grounders and foul balls, but Griffey gave them what they wanted. He sent two impossibly high, arcing drives into the right-field stands. Again, the crowd erupted after initial awe.

Fans gave him similar ovations each time Griffey took his turn at BP and again when he yielded the cage to a teammate. Nine times, he swatted breathtaking home runs off that gorgeous, magical swing.

And the fans loved it.

It’s been years since anyone referred to Ken Griffey Jr. as “The Kid.” It’s been years since he crashed into walls making highlight-reel catches or cruelly tore up American League pitching.

Age and injury have taken much of Griffey’s talent.

But for one unforgettable night, Seattle showered him with the same love they gave him years ago.

His reward to Seattle: batting practiced deluxe, a sharp single and a glimpse into his world.

Call it an even trade.

Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com