Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Wanna see Griffey? Go to BP
Ken Griffey Jr. was running in reverse, and his stride looked strong. Before the gates were open, before batting practice had begun, before his presence on the outfield grass could revive the flagging hopes of Reds fans, the Cincinnati Reds' ailing outfielder stretched out his wheels in relative solitude.
He ran backward without evidence of exertion and he ran forward with his knees high and his hamstrings intact. To these untrained eyes, he looked just about good enough to go.
“According to my calculations,” an unlicensed sportswriter told the sidelined slugger, “you're about 82.3 percent.”
“Out of what?” Griffey replied. “Two hundred?“
Estimates on Junior's re
turn to the Reds' lineup range from depressing to dire. It has been more than eight months now since he last started a regular-season game in center field, and it may be another week before the Reds can make an educated guess about his availability.
Meanwhile, shortstop Barry Larkin is running as if one more wrong move could mean a missed month. Pete Harnisch is out, and the Reds' starting rotation is reduced to robbing cradles in Chattanooga. Tuesday evening, as the Reds were doing battle with the Arizona Diamondbacks, third baseman Aaron Boone was on an operating table at Good Samaritan Hospital, having a bone fragment removed from his hand.
Outta the lineup
What was already a narrow margin for error is now as slender as Sean Casey's enemies list. Without Griffey, the Reds convey the sense of a handful of settlers trying to hold the fort until the cavalry arrives. Lately, the ammunition has been running pretty low.
Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks was consistent with the Reds' season-long suffering at Cinergy Field and left them four games under .500 for the first time this year. While it is still premature to panic — the National League Central means never having to say you're out of it — the calendar has advanced past the point of no concern.
Manager Bob Boone is too busy plotting strategy between pitches to wonder what his team might be like with Griffey in the lineup. But between games, when he can consider the bigger picture, Boone suspects Griffey's bat might have turned some one-run losses into winning laughers. He is not wistful, exactly, but he knows what he's missing.
Outta the park
Watching Griffey take batting practice Tuesday, it was impossible to mistake his might. The ball makes a different sound as it leaves his bat, and it tends to go a greater distance.
He hit one shot off the facade of the green seats in right field, and catcher Jason LaRue shouted: “You didn't get that.” Griffey struck the next pitch toward the flood wall beyond the right-center field wall, and LaRue watched it in slack-jawed wonder.
Later, Michael Tucker offered him $100 — a sucker bet — if he could hit a ball over the black monster in straightaway center field. Griffey knocked the pitch far beyond the fence in left-center field, maybe 15 feet left of the target.
“His swing is long,” said Ken Griffey Sr., the hitting coach. “When he comes back, it's going to be very difficult to get him in a groove right away.”
Until then, discerning fans should show up for batting practice.
E-mail tsullivan@enquirer.com. Past columns at Enquirer.com/columns/sullivan.
Reds Stories
Owners profited as Bengals lost
Dillon reflects on 'blessing'
New grass field arrives
Patterson to serve 15 days
Matta hires two assistants
XU recruit wavering again
Ky. Speedway cold to new stock-car circuit
Klonne signs on at McNick
Cyclones let GM-coach Smith go
Donald closer to title bout
UC's Logan, XU's West invited to USA team tryouts
Ohio baseball polls
Ohio softball polls
Ohio tennis polls
Reading boys grab track lead
Cincinnati track results
Other Cincinnati results
Baseball schedule
Softball schedule
Tennis schedule
Track schedule
Volleyball schedule
N.Ky. baseball results
N.Ky. high school highlights
N.Ky. track results
Other N.Ky. results
• Return to Reds front page...
SULLIVAN: Wanna see Griffey? Go to BP 
