Thursday, February 10, 2000
Seattle has mixed emotions
BY SUE LANCASTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SEATTLE — Cincinnati baseball fans rejoiced Thursday over the news that Ken Griffey Jr. was returning home. Seattle fans greeted the news with resignation, sadness and some bitterness.
“Junior” has been the darling of the Pacific Northwest since 1989, when he launched his stellar career in a Mariners uniform.
“We don't even have a team without Ken Griffey,” said Katina Clark, 43. “He has brought a lot of respect to the game and has made our name known throughout the nation ...
“He has put Seattle and the Mariners on the map.”
Clark, a Mill Creek, Wash., apartment manager, said she attends about one game a year, “usually when I can get free tickets from someone,” and she conceded she could probably name three players “in all of baseball.”
“But I know Ken Griffey Jr. because of what he does as a person,” she said.
Griffey is known throughout Seattle for his work with charities, particularly for children.
He has sponsored annual Christmas dinners for 350 children from the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club since 1994. And he received the Mariners' Roberto Clemente Award for outstanding community service in 1996, '97 and '98.
Among passengers awaiting a Continental flight to Seattle in Houston's George Bush International Airport on Thursday afternoon, reaction to the trade was mixed. Like many Cincinnatians, Seattle fans expressed relief that the Griffey Watch was over.
“It was going to happen eventually,” said Jackie Kingsbury, 29, of Kirkland, Wash.
Kingsbury said she doesn't hold it against Griffey that he had asked to be traded to Cincinnati.
“He has done a lot for the Mariners,” she said, “but players can play where they want.”
She was quick to add, “Losing A-Rod (shortstop Alex Rodriguez) might have hurt the team more than Griffey.'
Hillary Uhler, 20, of Woodinville, Wash., expressed some bitterness at Griffey's timing:
“He's the reason we got our new stadium. Now he's up and leaving. It would have been nice if he stayed awhile.”
But Seattle fans already tried to put a positive spin on their loss.
“We obviously need help to cover what he did for the team,” Uhler said, “but we've needed pitchers for years.”
Sue Lancaster is The Enquirer's news editor.
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