Ken Griffey Jr. Makes Life Worth Living in Seattle

We were told don’t expect big things from Ken Griffey Jr. this year. We were told that he would not be vintage Griffey. We were told that it would take months upon months, upon possible months for him to hit his first home run.

It took him two at-bats.

I know he isn’t going to hit 162 home runs or play in 162 games, but if you watched the game or even the highlights, you have to admit there was some sort of magic out there on the field. There was smiling, laughing, joking and then after the game the Mariners celebrated like they had just won the AL West.

I know, I know, this is only one game and there are 161 to go and anything can happen. Maybe it’s the 70-degree weather outside, but I am feeling optimistic about the Mariners this year. There is a way things can be improved on from last year. The rotation should be better, the hitting should be better, the defense should be better; the bullpen is even deeper than last year especially when Phillippe Aumont and Josh Fields get called up.

The catalyst for the whole season is going to be Ken Griffey Jr. We know he’s not going to hit 50 home runs or drive in 120 RBI. We are all completely aware of this and it doesn’t need to be pointed out any longer (*cough* Peter Gammons *cough*).

The most important thing Griffey brings to the clubhouse is leadership, something that was painfully obvious last year. When showing up to games I always half expected Ichiro to be hanging from a noose off the right field foul pole.

That’s how bad it was last year. No one liked anyone. Allegedly people genuinely wanted to hurt their teammates.

So far, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be an issue this year. Clubhouse chemistry is a much underrated thing in baseball. For the most part, baseball is an individual sport. You hit the pitch, you throw the pitch, and you catch the ball.

It's okay, he can't hurt us anymore

Professional baseball is a job though. If you go to work and you strongly dislike or hate your co-workers, is your mind going to be on the current task at hand?  Or is it going to be fixated on how much you hate Dan from accounting because he won’t stop talking about stuff you don’t care about?

Well if you’re good at what you do, you should be able to focus on your job, but unfortunately Dan is going to be sitting in the back of your head all day and possibly even when you go home.

Point is, people you don’t like can have a great effect on your life and your career.

Are we to say this is why Richie Sexson flirted with the Mendoza Line the entire season last year? No, because Richie Sexson sucks and should have never been paid the amount of money that he was. Hopefully he didn’t spend it all; it’s the last big contract he will ever get.

Thanks for wasting Nintendo’s money, Bill Bavasi!

The Mariners were projected to win 72½ games this year (I took that bet on a +750 money line) and they were projected to finish third in the AL West (I took them at 12:1 to win it).

No matter what happens this season, it’s going to be a fun one for those of us here in Seattle. The weather is great, the Mariners are undefeated and Ken Griffey Jr. is back in a Mariner uniform and wearing No. 24 and hitting home runs again. Yeah, it won’t be 1997 all over again, but I’ll settle for Griffey helping us rebuild for the future.

Ken Griffey Jr. is why everything will go right in Seattle this year. Hurt or not, we don’t care. Griffey is Griffey and we love him.

No one can tell us differently.

If you don’t believe me, I got texts from 42 people right after Griffey jacked that ball over the fence yesterday.

Oh and I got ten phone calls too.

You don’t think Griffey is that important to Seattle? I’d dare anyone to set foot at Safeco and bash him. You’ll be run out of town faster than Ken Behring or Clay Bennett.