Friday, October 23, 1998

Ken Griffey Sr.

Coach Ken Griffey, Sr., wants to be a big-league manager some day. Next season, he'll observe first-hand what it's like to do the job on a nightly basis.

Griffey, Sr., the Reds' hitting coach since mid-1997, will become the team's bench coach next year, manager Jack McKeon said Thursday. The man who held that job last season, Dennis Menke, will take Griffey's job as hitting coach, a position he held for part of 1997.

A bench coach advises the manager on in-game decisions and strategy, suggesting things such as double-switches, hit-and-runs and pinch hitters. Griffey, Sr., who is getting his first taste of managing this year in the Arizona Fall League, believes those are the duties he needs to learn to become a manager in the majors.

"Grif wants to be a manager, and this will give him some experience," McKeon said. "Dennis works with a lot of the hitters anyway. And this will give Grif a chance to work with the outfielders. We need that."

Griffey came to the Reds for the 1997 season as a first base coach after spending a year as a batting and outfield coach for Don Baylor in Colorado. In mid-1997, then-manager Ray Knight switched his duties and named him hitting coach, with Menke becoming bench coach.

The other coaches remain the same for 1999: Ron Oester as first base-infield coach, Harry Dunlop at third base, Don Gullett pitching coach and Tom Hume bullpen coach.

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