By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's impossible to know whether Ken Griffey Jr.'s latest injury will keep him from being the player he once was.

But what was clear after Friday's surgery to repair a ruptured ankle tendon was that Griffey wants to be that player again.

"The burning desire is still there," his agent, Brian Goldberg, said. "No question about it."

"He told me he has the eye of the tiger," Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek said.

Click here to view an Acrobat PDF file (472k) showing a detailed look at Junior's injuries since joining the Reds in 2000. (Gail Koch illustration) | ZOOM |

The injury, suffered Thursday night as Griffey rounded first base on a double, was serious. Griffey "shredded" a peroneal tendon on the outside of his right foot. It was surgically repaired by Dr. James Amis and Kremchek. Although the injury ended Griffey's season, it is easier to come back from this injury than other injuries he has sustained the last three years.

"He'll come back," Kremchek said. "He'll be fine."

But there's a cumulative-injury factor. Griffey, 33, will have surgery in about two weeks on his right shoulder, which he dislocated April 5. He has also suffered tears to both hamstrings and a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.

"Injuries have a way of changing what we're able to do," Barry Larkin said. "After the shoulder injury, he wasn't able to dive or bang into walls. Injuries have impact. They do change us as players."

Any talk of Griffey being through, however, is premature.

"I would never accept that," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "It depends on him rehabilitating. ... This guy is really a tough guy."

Griffey once was known for his durability. He was on the disabled list only three times in 11 years in Seattle. He played 157, 161 and 160 games in his last three years with the Mariners.

In 31/2 years with the Reds, he's been on the disabled list five times. He's played 145, 111, 70 and 53 games the past four seasons.

This season seemed like the one in which Griffey might turn it all around. He worked harder in the off-season than he ever had. He had a great spring training.

Then, four games into the season, he dislocated his shoulder attempting a diving catch.

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There were a few boos when that happened. There were more boos Thursday when Griffey limped off the field.

"That was difficult to watch," Kremchek said. "This was a man in a lot of pain. He didn't show it on the field as much as he did in the locker room."

Griffey's is one of a spate of recent Reds injuries. Right fielder Austin Kearns and reliever Scott Sullivan went on the DL the last two days with shoulder injuries.

That has a direct effect on the Reds' plans for the rest of the year. They entered Friday's game with Houston 7 1/2 games behind the Astros in the National League Central.

The Reds gave one sign they were playing for the future when they called up No. 1 draft pick Ryan Wagner, a pitcher, to take Sullivan's spot on the roster.

The injuries and Griffey's contract - he has five years remaining at $12.5 million a year - make it unlikely he will be traded before his contract runs out.

The Reds could collect 75 percent of Griffey's salary through an insurance policy if he were out 90 straight days with the same injury. But from Thursday to the end of the season is 73 days.

Given his contract, which accounts for more than 20 percent of the team payroll, the Reds obviously hope his luck changes.

"Maybe this is the end of (Griffey's injuries)," Boone said. "It doesn't have to keep spiraling. None of us knows. I know the skills are still there."

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com