Monday, July 03, 2000
Griffey explains outburst
Also criticizes Diamondbacks' defensive shift
By Chris Haft
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PHOENIX — Ken Griffey Jr. on Sunday downplayed his Saturday outburst in the Reds' dugout as “me being my stubborn self” by wanting to remain in the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Griffey exploded at his father, bench coach Ken Griffey Sr., who relayed the message from manager Jack McKeon that he was being removed from the game before the top of the fifth inning. Griffey Jr. twisted his right knee while playing center field in the bottom of the fourth.
Television cameras caught Griffey Jr. yelling at his father before being hustled toward the dugout tunnel by catcher Benito Santiago.
Sunday, Griffey returned to the lineup and went 1-for-4 with two RBI in Cincinnati's 14-2 victory over Arizona. His composure also returned.
“They pulled me out; I didn't want to go out. That's basically it,” Griffey said. “And my father said in a polite way to go get some treatment.”
Griffey denied that he was approaching McKeon to argue with him. He explained that he was headed for the bat rack, near where McKeon stood.
“I was going to go hit,” said Griffey, who was due up fourth in that inning. “I just wanted to hit. I just wanted to play. Nobody was going after anybody. I wasn't charging anybody. I wasn't charging Jack.”
Griffey added: “You didn't see any hands flying in the air. You didn't see anybody swinging or start to swing.”
Griffey said he hates to come out of the lineup, pointing out that he missed eight games from 1997-99 with Seattle. This year he was unhappy when he missed his only game so far, against Montreal on June 1.
McKeon appreciated Griffey's desire to stay in the game.
“He wants to play. That's one thing you have to hand to him,” McKeon said. “He doesn't want to come out.”
Griffey tried to defuse the confrontation with his father with a joke, and denied that he went after him.
“You see how big he is? Have you lost your mind? I don't think anybody in this room wants to charge him,” Griffey said. “I'll do it with my brother and some grandkids. But one-on-one, I'm going to run. I know he can't catch me.”
Griffey said before the game that his knee injury hampered his ability to stop and start. He handled no fielding chances during the game, so his knee was never tested.
Offensively, he was the only left-handed hitter in a lineup tailored for Arizona lefty Omar Daal, who allowed seven runs in 1ô innings. He drove in the Reds' first run with a first-inning groundout, struck out in the second inning, flied out to deep left field in the third and stroked a run-scoring single in the fifth before McKeon removed him from the lopsided affair.
Griffey also chided Arizona manager Buck Showalter for the infield shift employed against him.
“Buck's the one who started that shift,” Griffey said. “Nobody did it until he did it. He's the guru of baseball. I guess he got tired of me hitting them up in the seats.”
Showalter has second baseman Jay Bell playing in short right field when Griffey bats with a runner on first or nobody on. Shortstop Tony Womack moves to the right-field side of second base while the Arizona third baseman positions himself at shortstop.
Something must be working. Griffey's only 1-for-9 in this series. But that didn't stop him from dismissing Showalter's shift.
“Buck's trippin',” Griffey said. “He's trying to play a "prevent' defense. A "nickel' defense. I just sit there and laugh. Because I'm not trying to hit it to the second baseman. All they're trying to do is block the ground ball. That's all it does. Because if you hit it in the air, he can't catch it.”
Griffey and Showalter have long had a mutual disdain. Six years ago in a New York Times Magazine article, Showalter criticized Griffey for taking the field with his cap on backward and his shirttail untucked. “To me, that's a lack of respect for the game,” Showalter said.
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Griffey explains outburst
