SEATTLE — Ryan Rowland-Smith sensed something different about the Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse when he arrived Wednesday afternoon.
It was too quiet, for one unsettling reason.
“Everyone kept looking around wondering, ‘Where’s Junior?’ You always know when he’s around,” Rowland-Smith said.
Known as a player who was always there for his teammates, Ken Griffey Jr. was nowhere near them. In an afternoon phone call with team president Chuck Armstrong, Griffey notified the team he had decided to retire.
Manager Don Wakamatsu told the players during a brief meeting in the outfield before batting practice.
It surprised them, but it didn’t stun them.
“I wish I could have seen him go off on a white horse,” catcher Rob Johnson said. “I wish he could have had that opportunity, but unfortunately he didn’t. It’s kind of sad.”
Johnson and Griffey became close friends not long after Griffey signed with the Mariners in 2009.
“At spring training last year, I got to know him well,” Johnson said. “He earned the trust in me and we just kind of hit it off. When we got to Seattle, he requested to put me next to his locker and we got to really, really know each other. It’s pretty cool to say that I’m pretty good buddies with Ken Griffey Jr.
“I think he’s the greatest player who ever lived.”
Rowland-Smith remembers a conversation with former Mariners catcher Jeff Clement early last spring training when it became apparent the team was close to signing Griffey.
Rowland-Smith and Clement both grew up idolizing Griffey and, while eager to have him as their teammate, they were a bit anxious as well.
“We just hoped he was a good guy because he meant so much to us,” Rowland-Smith said. “We hoped when we actually met him that he didn’t spoil that (image). He didn’t. He was a such a good role model, especially for a young player to see how he goes about his business, how he treats people, how he treats his teammates, how he treats the game.”
Backup infielder Matt Tuiasosopo grew up in Woodinville and, like so many kids in Seattle and across the country, said he tried to emulate Griffey.
“I wasn’t even a lefty, but I would bat like him from the right side,” Tuiasosopo said. “I remember when I was seven, eight years old going to the Kingdome, watching him play. I remember when I was on a 12-year-old All-Star team we got to go to the Kingdome and be in the dugout with him and run onto the field.
“It’s been really special being a part of this team and learning from him every day. He’s always treated me and all the guys in here with respect. He made everything fun. That’s what I loved, coming to the ballpark having fun with him and all the guys in here.”
Former Mariners outfielder Jay Buhner, one of Griffey’s closest friends, described him as a team-first player whose own accomplishments weren’t as important as the team’s.
“This is a perfect example of that,” Buhner said. “He felt like it was best for team to walk away from the game he loved, so that’s what he did.”
Added former Mariners manager Lou Piniella, now managing the Chicago Cubs: “When we were in Seattle together, I believe he was the best player in baseball and it was truly an honor to be his manager. As great a player he was, he is an even better person. I salute his Hall of Fame career.”
Like many current and former players, longtime Mariners head trainer Rick Griffin described Griffey’s retirement as a bittersweet moment.
“I got to see a lot of great players, and when he was here he was the greatest player that I’ve ever seen,” Griffin said. “He was also one of the best teammates and best people. He never, ever said no to anything that I asked. It didn’t matter what it was for. He told me what he wanted to be known for most was to be a good teammate. He went out of his way to help a lot of people over the years. It’s a sad day. I’m going to miss him.
“What I’ve seen the last two years, I know what I saw the first 10 years wasn’t the same. But the fact that he was here and tried to bring something to the ballfield to help guys, he did the best he could. He still tried to play and he did the best he could and I’ve got to respect him for that.”
Griffey and Mike Sweeney became the veteran cornerstones of clubhouse stability in 2009, when the Mariners had come off a season of personality conflict on the team. Sweeney said the feel of the clubhouse won’t be the same without Griffey.
“There’s going to be a big void that is never going to be filled,” said Sweeney, who said one of his favorite moments with Griffey occurred a few days ago.
“We were talking about the movie Brian’s Song, and he said that he’d never seen it,” Sweeney said. “So just yesterday I finally gave him the DVD, and I said, ‘When you watch this you’re going to cry when you hear him say, ‘I love Brian Piccolo.’’ Today it’s no different. I’m sure I’m saying it for every guy in the clubhouse, but I love Ken Griffey Jr. He’s one of the best human beings I’ve ever met in this game, and he’s going to be missed.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog
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