Even ESPN says Griffey didn't call ESPN.

        I guess Griffey didn't call ESPN.

        Are we having fun yet?

        Is he?

        Can we go back to the day Griffey signed? The press conference with his family, the great expectations, feelgood that washed over the city when another local kid came home to play his games? Please?

        That would be good. Because this is ridiculous.

        OK. Back up. A St.Louis newspaper columnist wrote Wednesday that Junior had dialed up ESPN, claiming the network was taking a backhanded slap at him by constantly praising Edmonds. Like Griffey, Edmonds is an American League transplant in his rookie NL year. Like Griffey, Edmonds plays center field. Unlike Griffey, Edmonds is hitting well over .300, though his power numbers don't quite match Griffey's.

        It was a big deal. Griffey was supposedly more concerned with his own rep

        than the Reds' fortunes, currently sinking faster than the Andrea Gail. Further, it was suggested Griffey ducked out of Wednesday's game, partly because it was the featured game on ESPN.

        The fact Junior had missed exactly eight games in the three previous years — and screamed at his father last week for yanking him, mid-game — apparently didn't occur to some.

        They were off base. If Griffey said he was sick, he was sick.

        But that's not the issue here. It's just another scene in the year-long Reds soap opera. Here's the issue, and the irony:

        For a decade at least, we decided Ken Griffey Jr. was a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky kid. Look at him. Look at that smile. He wears his hat backward, just like we do. He's just out there having fun.

        OK. Fine. Where is that guy?

        I've watched Griffey since February. I haven't seen lucky yet. If Junior is happy, he's hiding it well.

Unhappiness abounds
        I've seen a guy who is cool to the fawning local media, for slights real and perceived. I've seen a guy who suggested he should wear Tony Perez's number, after it had been made clear that wasn't possible. I've seen a guy arguing with his father in the dugout during a televised game.

        It's not as if anyone in the home clubhouse should be dancing on the ceiling these days. But where is the alleged Junior joy?

        I've seen a “fun-loving” player who looks like his shoes are too tight. Carefree? Junior could use a month on St. Maarten.

        When writers and TV people crowd his locker, he acts burdened. (When he's there.) They want to ask him about home runs, not grand theft. This isn't the O.J. trial. It's baseball.

Media to blame?
        Goldberg says certain media types have it in for Junior. Junior believes this, too. Personally, I don't root for or against Junior. I root for whatever makes my life easier and/or my column better. That is, I root for me. The day Junior — or anyone else — stands over my laptop leading cheers, I'll return the favor.

        Goldberg says it can be tough being Junior. Maybe, but nobody beyond Junior's inner circle much cares. Goldberg says fans in Houston yelled nasty things at his client. Yeah, well, fans will do that.

        There is bad blood between Griffey and ESPN dating back three years, to when Griffey declined an interview with Dan Patrick after the ESPYs award show. According to Goldberg, the show was derailed when one of its major award recipients was a no-show. Instead of being named Baseball Player of the Year, as planned, Griffey was named a co-Athlete of the Year, with Tiger Woods.

        Goldberg says Junior thought the event was silly. No argument there.

        But Griffey needs to let things go. He needs to be that player all the kids love, the one with the cap turned backward and the mega-watt smile. He needs to make that effort, even if he doesn't feel like it. It's great for self preservation.

        Junior needs to lighten up. He needs to make the Junior caricature the media has created a little more real. I haven't seen the fun-loving player. I've seen a guy tied in knots.

        “He's the same person he's always been,” Goldberg said Thursday.

        Fair enough. But is that good or bad?

        Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.

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