MONTREAL - Ken Griffey Jr. was out of the Reds' lineup Sunday, meaning the outfielder started only 51 of Cincinnati's 162 games this season. But Griffey ends the year relatively healthy after two injury-plagued seasons.

        “I think he's close to being healthy,” Reds mana ger Bob Boone said. “Last year, he had to do a lot of rehab. This year, he can concentrate on conditioning. He's over the big injury - the hamstring.”

        Griffey missed 70 starts last year with a torn left hamstring. This year, he's had three separate injuries: a torn right patella tendon, a strained right hamstring and a strained left hip flexor/quadriceps.

        Griffey doesn't like to talk about the specifics of his offseason program.

        “I'll do what I always do,” he said. “I won't do anything I haven't done in the past. I have some people I work with.”

        Griffey sees his injuries as a rash of bad luck.

        “You can't control injuries,” he said. “It's like getting into a car. You never know when you're going to have an accident.”

        By that theory, Griffey is due a run of good luck.

        “You'd think so,” he said. “I'm going to continue what I've been doing. Then I'll go to spring training and go out and play. Two years ago, the 10 days before I got hurt, I was really running well.”

Expos 7, Reds 2 Reds Box, Runs Griffey hopes for injury-free 2003 Reds Notebook: Griffey could be hitting coach Yankees grab home field Postseason Baseball Schedule

Buccaneers 35, Bengals 7
Bengals-Bucs photo gallery
Game statistics
DAUGHERTY: Bengals good for laughs if not points
Bengals Report Card
Akili laments offense's struggles
Defense finally creates turnovers
Record little consolation to Dillon
Misery continues for Bengals' fans
Alexander sets TD record in Seahawks' rout
Monday Night Preview: Sharpe returns to Baltimore
Huggins improving after heart attack
Speed of treatment key in preventing heart damage
Send get-wells to Huggins
Huggins needs to take timeout
Huggins' friends, colleagues stunned
Miami coach knows Huggins' plight
UC 35, Temple 22
UC-Temple statistics
Miami 48, Akron 31
Ohio State 45, Indiana 17
Florida 41, Kentucky 34
Kalamazoo 27, Mount St. Joseph 13
Wittenberg 31, Thomas More 6
Prep football scores & game reports
How Enquirer poll teams fared
CovCath 38, NewCath 7
The Week Ahead in High School Sports

• Return to Reds front page...