[nfbwatlk] Mariners waste no time marketing Griffey's return

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Sun Feb 22 17:13:08 UTC 2009


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/400836_griffeymerch20.html
Workers at STT Sports Lettering Co. in Seattle, including Rosa Maria, 
foreground, produce Ken Griffey Jr. jerseys for the Mariners on 
Thursday. (AP)
Mariners waste no time marketing Griffey's return
Fans paying up

Last updated February 19, 2009 10:44 p.m. PT

By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER

Nine years ago, a young Logan Moen found himself so miffed at Ken 
Griffey Jr.'s departure from Seattle that he tore all the Junior posters 
off his bedroom walls, wrote nasty notes across them and vowed to never, 
ever again root for the baseball hero who'd broken his heart.

But like the Mariners' returning star, Moen came full circle Thursday. 
Now 17, Moen was one of the first fans to buy the new Griffey jerseys 
unveiled at the Mariners Team Store adjacent to Safeco Field.

"I have butterflies in my stomach," said Moen, himself the starting 
third baseman for the baseball team at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore. 
"This is unbelievable."

Griffey's decision to re-sign with the Mariners ignited a considerable 
buzz among baseball fans in the area. About 16,000 individual tickets 
were sold in the first 24 hours after Griffey agreed to a one-year deal 
with his former club, said Rebecca Hale, the team's director of public 
information.

Single-game tickets don't go on sale until March 14, so Thursday's sales 
were all part of season ticket or partial-season packages.

The Mariners wasted no time trying to jumpstart merchandise sales 
surrounding the team's new/old face as well. Although it will be several 
weeks before full shipments of Griffey jerseys arrive at Mariners Team 
Stores, the club sent several dozen blank jerseys to the STT Sports 
Lettering company in Seattle and had Griffey's name and familiar No. 24 
stitched on the back.

Those jerseys were unveiled at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Safeco Field store 
and longtime M's fan Lamont Thornton was the first to grab one of the 
$230 items off the rack.


         Karen Ducey / P-I
        Lamont Thornton grabs the first Ken Griffey Jr. shirt off the 
rack at the Mariners Team Store at Safeco Field.
With his 5-year-old son, Owen, in tow, Thornton said he can't wait to 
revisit his own childhood of watching Griffey break in as a kid himself.

"This is a dream come true," Thornton said. "I remember my dad bringing 
me to the Kingdome when there'd be 5,000 people in there on a Wednesday 
afternoon. We came specifically just to watch Ken Griffey Jr. That was 
the only draw to the stadium. And that's what brings us here now.

"When I heard on the radio they'd have the first Griffey jerseys in 
today, I had to come down. I thought there'd be a line around the 
building, to be honest. So for me to actually grab the first one, I'm 
pretty excited about that."

While Thornton was hoisting his jersey up for several TV cameramen, 
young Jagger Papac slipped behind him to actually be the first to buy a 
new-edition Griffey jersey.

Papac, celebrating his 13th birthday, happily watched as family friend 
Peter Estvet plunked down the $250.70, including tax, to land the 
historic souvenir.

"I was pregnant with him during the 1995 playoffs," said his mom, Leiann 
Papac. "I'm surprised I didn't have him in the middle of a game at the 
Kingdome, as much as we were jumping around back then."

Jagger acknowledged he doesn't know that much about Junior, given the 
M's star was long gone by the time he was old enough to follow the game. 
But his cousin, the Inglemoor baseball player, will happily bring him up 
to speed.

Moen began forgiving Griffey for his departure and by last year's 
appearance at Safeco Field with the Cincinnati Reds, he and a group of 
friends wore T-shirts spelling out J-U-N-I-O-R.

This week's announcement just sealed the deal.

"I've got all my posters hung back up in my room," Moen said. "I guess 
he had a valid reason for leaving. He wanted to be closer to his family. 
It was hard to accept when we were younger. It kinda seemed like a bogus 
reason. But I've become more accepting of it."

Hale said the team's marketing and ticket offices were humming Thursday.

"It's been awhile since Seattle sports fans have had something to feel 
this excited about," she said. "We're just excited to make it happen."

Excited enough that the team contacted the nearby sports lettering 
company to come up with a quick turnaround on about 30 jerseys.

Jim LaShell, the M's senior director of retail operations, said Griffey 
T-shirts from the club's regular supplier should hit the shelves Friday. 
A limited number of the more-expensive jerseys will also continue to be 
individually lettered by the Seattle firm until Majestic, the main 
supplier for Major League Baseball jerseys, gets its larger shipment 
delivered.

Jerry Thornton, owner of STT Sports Lettering, said it takes about half 
an hour for his firm to add Griffey's name and number.

"They send us a jersey that just says Mariners on the front. We're 
putting Griffey and 24 on it. That's what I assume his number is going 
to be, anyway," Thornton said with a chuckle. "I probably should have 
asked. Hopefully he's not going back to No. 3 like he had in Cincinnati 
or something."

Nope, it's safe to assume Griffey will step right back into his familiar 
gear in Seattle. And by early indications, he'll be roundly welcomed by 
fans, teammates and retailers.

"Griffey mania is here again," said Thornton. "It's a nice economic 
stimulus package to hit the area."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P-I reporter Greg Johns can be reached at 206-448-8314 or 
gregjohns at seattlepi.com.

© 1998-2009 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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