Three weeks ago, Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune and I spent 30 minutes with Ken Griffey Jr. at his locker in Peoria, Ariz., and had him talk about a subject that makes him squirm — himself.
“I’m the same person I was before. I haven’t changed,” Griffey said. “I still prefer not to answer questions about me.”
If there’s anything about Griffey that reporters new to him will learn this year, it’s what us older folks have known since he truly was The Kid in his first go-round with the Mariners. He will do just about anything to avoid talking about himself.
He might hit a game-winning home run (oh, do the Mariners wish for several of those), but good luck finding him for a quote before deadline. Griffey will gladly talk about his teammates and he’ll be there for the media when things go south for the team, but when all is well he’d rather his teammates get the glory.
That’s why Monday wasn’t the greatest day for anyone wanting to build a story around fresh quotes from Junior on the eve of his return to Safeco Field as a Mariner.
What will Tuesday’s game mean to him? Silence.
What’s it like to be back in Safeco Field? Distant stare.
Does it feel familiar? Exasperated expression.
“I think I answered those questions two years ago,” Griffey said, referring to his news conference in 2007, when he returned with the Reds for an interleague series.
“And I think I answered those questions again two months ago,” he added, speaking of his news conference at the Mariners’ spring training facility in Peoria, Ariz., on Feb. 21 after he re-signed with the team.
Oh, Griffey entertained reporters around his locker as usual on Monday after the Mariners’ workout. He chided one longtime columnist for the gray in his beard that wasn’t there when he saw the guy 10 years ago. He poined to another reporter, then told his son Trey, “I made that guy.” He talked about his 500-plus-horsepower Bentley Continental GT, and how he’s got a much faster car at home in Florida. And, of course, he bragged about his kids, including the two at his side there in the clubhouse — 15-year-old Trey and 5-year-old Tevyn.
But ask him about what it means to play in Seattle again, and Griffey clams up. He’ll do just about anything to make this about the team, not himself.
Make no mistake, much of what we’ll see Tuesday will be about Griffey and his return to the Mariners. His mother Birdie, who has battled cancer in recent years, will be in the crowd along with his wife Melissa and the kids, Trey, Tevyn and13-year-old daughter Taryn.
“I know it will be a special day for the Griffey family. I know I’ll certainly tear up and get goosebumps when they announce his name and see him run out on the field,”
Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said. “It’s great to have him back and I think it will be pretty emotional for all the fans.”
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