[nfbwatlk] Griffey back with Mariners as special consultant

[Mike Freeman]

Description: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_bba_mariners_griffey_returns.html

Last updated February 15, 2011 12:06 p.m. PT

Griffey back with Mariners as special consultant

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- Ken Griffey Jr. is returning to the Seattle Mariners as a special
consultant less than a year after abruptly retiring from baseball, the team
said Tuesday.

Griffey's role is still being defined, but he'll be involved with the
Mariners at spring training and the regular season, along with visiting most
of the Mariners minor-league affiliates.

Griffey's agent, Brian Goldberg, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press
that Griffey should be in Arizona next month. "The Mariners didn't have to
do this," Goldberg said. "He and I are both appreciative of the
opportunity."

Griffey is also expected to be involved with marketing, broadcasting and
community relations.

"I'm looking forward to staying very involved with the Mariners, working
with the players throughout the organization, staying involved with the
community and assisting in other areas of the organization," Griffey said in
a statement from the club. "It's an exciting time and I'm very appreciative
of the opportunity."

Team President Chuck Armstrong said that despite Griffey's abrupt retirement
last June, when he simply issued a statement saying he was retiring, Griffey
has been "steadfast in his desire to continue his relationship with the
Mariners."

Griffey, 41, spent the first half of his career with Seattle. He was an
All-Star in 10 of his 11 seasons with the Mariners and was voted AL MVP in
1997.

After stints with the Cincinnati Reds, where he was an NL All-Star three
times, Griffey played in 41 games for the Chicago White Sox in 2008. The
next offseason, he came back to the Mariners as a part-time DH, hit .214
with 19 home runs and was carried off the field at the conclusion of the
final regular-season home game.

Griffey came back in 2010 and was batting .184 without a home run when he
cleaned out his locker. He said in his statement that without occasional
starts off the bench, his continued presence would become an "unfair
distraction" to the team, which he never wanted to be for his teammates.

"In his mind, he thought he didn't have any real alternative," Armstrong
said. "He and I talked the day that he did leave and we might have wished
that he did it differently, but in his mind, he did it the right way for
himself and the franchise.

"For today as far as I'm concerned, all that's behind us," Armstrong added.
"I'm just happy to have him back and welcome him back home."

Mariners manager Eric Wedge embraces the move. He said Tuesday that it's
important for the club to stay in touch with its history and hopes that
other former Mariners stars will come down to Arizona to talk to and work
with the players.

"You look at the Hall-of-Fame player that he (Griffey) is and the experience
that he's had and the success that he's had, obviously there's a lot to be
taken from that," Wedge said.

 

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