Sunday, June 09, 2002
Griffey's hamstring injury not too serious
Slugging outfielder could be back in 'a day or two'
By John Fay, jfay@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ken Griffey Jr. was feeling much better Saturday. Not so much his hamstring, which was OK, but his mood.
The Reds outfielder fought back tears after Friday's 4-3 loss to the Angels when talking about his latest injury.
He kept muttering, “All I want to do is play.”
It looks like Griffey will be able to do that shortly. He was out of the lineup for Saturday's game but was available for emergency pinch-hit duty. He jogged lightly before the game.
“We'll try to do a little more activity (Sunday),” Griffey said. “See how it feels. Hopefully, it'll be a day or two.”
Ironically, Griffey hurt himself hustling, something he's often accused of not doing. He was sprinting to first base to avoid a double play and hurt himself as he stretched to step on the bag.
The injury was to Griffey's right hamstring. An injury to his left hamstring limited Griffey to 111 games last year. An injury to his right knee forced him to miss 41 games this year.
“I'm close to what Aaron Boone felt last year,” Griffey said.
Boone suffered broken bones in his hand or wrist on three separate occasions last season.
Griffey's injury history has the Reds nervous any time anything happens to him.
“I treat Junior as conservatively as possible,” Reds manager Bob Boone said.
Boone thought the worst when he saw Griffey go into the bag Friday.
“I figured it was a knee when I saw the way he hit the bag,” Boone said. “The trainer said it wasn't a knee, and it wasn't the leg with the bad hamstring. And I'm saying, "Good.' It's an unusual reaction, but I certainly was relieved.”
The injury came in Griffey's 10th game since returning from the knee injury and one day after he hit his first home run since returning.
“It's a shame,” Boone said. “His swing was starting to come around. He's getting past that spring-training phase.”
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Griffey's hamstring injury not too serious
