When 12-time All-Star Ken Griffey Jr. came to Seattle for the second time in his storied career, many fans were expecting another .300, 50 home run season like he used to produce annually during his first reign as the Mariners' outfielder.But the reality of Griffey's return has been underwhelming to say the least.
Rumors have been floating around that if it were anyone but Griffey producing numbers like his, they would have already been released. Sure his .224 batting average and six home runs seem like a disappointment, but those numbers are also misleading.
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His on base percentage of .335 is good for third of all Mariners while his six home runs are second only to Russell Branyan’s 12. So while his average may be rather low for him, his OBP is only .37 less than his career average of .372
The home run has been the one thing consistent in Junior’s legendary career, and six thus far is actually an improvement over 2008.
In 490 at bats last season, he hit 18 dingers, which averages out to 27.22 at bats per home run. In 143 at bats this season, he has six, which brings him to 23.83 at bats per home run.
The difference is that Griffey is usually pulled out of the lineups when facing left-handed pitchers, but he is still doing better in 2009 than 2008.
But besides looking at the scoreboard, we all know he has been helping the Mariners mostly from the clubhouse and dugout.
In the first eight years of Ichiro Suzuki’s career, he always looked bored and never seemed like he was having fun when he was just sitting in the dugout.
Now we see Ichiro and Griffey sharing countless moments of laughter and even Ichiro talking to other teammates he once ignored, including Erik Bedard and Yuniesky Betancourt.
Reach Ben Brown at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
