Sunday, February 13, 2000
Youngsters see Junior as a great player and a great guy
BY SUE LANCASTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SEATTLE — Kids are special to Ken Griffey Jr. He works with troubled kids, visits sick kids, and asked to be traded to the Reds so he could spend more time with his own kids. But Junior is special to kids, too.
“He was a terrific role model for our young community here in Seattle,” said Jim Haugh, president of the Sports and Events Council of Seattle/King County. “Mostly the young fans will miss Ken.”
Go to any Mariners game at the Kingdome, and you'll see kids playing, laughing, eating junk food and goofing off. Until Junior steps to the plate. Then it's all eyes on him.
Visit any kid's bedroom in the Seattle area, and you're likely to find some kind of Griffey paraphernalia. A poster from Ken Griffey Jr. Night at the Kingdome. An autographed baseball. A button. A T-shirt.
At Totem Falls Elementary School in Snohomish, Wash., a Seattle suburb, Tamar Ledesma's third-grade class spent time Friday talking about Junior. Asked how many considered Junior their favorite player, nearly all raised their hands.
“He was a good player and he was a good person,” said Chelsea Dolder.
“He's my favorite player because he had really good sportsmanship,” said Bridgitte Erdahl.
“I like his personality, how he was so nice to people,” said Brian Powers.
The kids also showed great understanding of Junior's desire to be near his family.
“I think it was good that he went to his hometown to spend more time with his family,” said Josh Richins. But asked if he would miss Junior a lot, Josh said no. “I can watch him on TV.”
The most prescient observation (at least to Reds fans) came from Tyler Bergh: “I think it's kind of good that he's going back to Cincinnati,” he said, “so they can have another Big Red Machine.”
And then there was Totem Falls fifth-grader Jenna Saxton, who said, “I don't really care ... “but my grandfather's happy. He's a baseball fan and he lives in Cincinnati.”
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