Sunday, May 23, 2010

Was Ken Griffey Hr. Asleep At The Ballpark?

At The Ballpark, Was Ken Griffey Jr. Asleep?

Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. was rumored to have been asleep during a game, and that was the reason he was not used to pinch hit. The Mariners were, at the time, playing the Anaheim Angels on Saturday, and the Mariners ended up losing, 3-4. It has been denied by Griffey and Mariners' manager Don Wakamatsu . Hopefully that reporter didn't get a no faxing payday loans for the erroneous info.

Asleep at the game is Ken Griffey Jr.

On Saturday, the Seattle Mariners were playing the second of a three-game series against the Anaheim Angels, and supposedly Ken Griffey Jr. went into the locker room around the fifth inning According to the anonymous source, he was found two innings later within the clubhouse asleep. The original story ran Monday within the Tacoma Tribune and was written by Larry LaRue, quoting two anonymous Mariners players as his sources. It is denied by Wakamatsu, the mariners, and Ken Griffey Jr..

Others slept watching the game

Wakamatsu vehemently denied that it happened, and he has told the press the reason Griffey did not pinch hit was because he did not pick him to pinch hit, according to MLB.com. The Mariners lost anyway so evidently it didn't make a difference. They also lost to the Angels in the game before that. At 3-4, the game Saturday May 8 was actually the closest loss. The game before was a 0-8 shutout, but the Mariners actually fought back impressively on Sunday, May 9, in Anaheim, winning with 8-1. The Mariners are now at 13-19 for this season which isn't bad or good really.

Calls for retirement

Ken Griffey Jr. is no spring chicken. He is 40 although that doesn't mean he can't contribute. (Look at 40-year-old Brett Favre; last year he came within one game of the Super Bowl.) Last year, he had an average of .214 with 44 home runs and 57 RBIs. This year, his average is .200 with 5 runs and 5 RBIs so far. That isn't bad so maybe calls for retirement are a bit premature.

Resources for the article

MLB.com

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100511&content_id=9965914&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb



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