By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADELPHIA - The last three years have been "The Lost Years" of Ken Griffey Jr.'s career.

Injuries kept him from being anything near the player he was in his previous 12 seasons.

But to say Griffey has lost it is another matter.

HUH?

"Griffey clearly has been trying to lift too many pitches, perhaps to compensate for what appears to be declining bat speed. In his prime seasons, he would crush pitches to all fields with a more level stroke that produced home runs in the course of hitting .300. Lately, Griffey appears to be trying for the long ball, with the result being a longer swing that can be handled by average hard stuff and too often produces weakly hit grounders to the right side." Stats. Inc.

Griffey's start this year - he's hitting .318 with two home runs and five RBI after Cincinnati's first seven games - would seem to indicate he has something left at 34.

Various unnamed scouts in various publications questioned the Reds center fielder this spring.

"They base their opinions on what they've seen the last three years," Griffey said. "It hard to put up numbers when you're on the disabled list or rehabbing."

Griffey also had an awful spring. He hit .158 with a home run and five RBI in 38 at-bats.

"That's spring training," he said. "I was trying to get my legs and ankle and shoulder ready."

But when Griffey strained a calf muscle on March 29, fans had that here-we-go-again feeling, which only intensified when he missed the Opening Day game.

Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. has a bright outlook these days. (Jeff Swinger photo)

But Griffey started Game 2, and hit a two-run homer off Greg Maddux for the key blow in a 7-4 win over the Chicago Cubs. And everything has been hunky-dory since. The Reds are off to a 5-2 start and are in first place in the National League Central, and Griffey has started every game but the opener.

And, more important, he's looked like the Griffey of the 1990s.

"He looks great," Reds hitting coach Chris Chambliss said. "He's had good at-bats. What's impressed me is he's taking the ball to left field. He's no different from the other guys. He has to stay through the middle. One of his home runs was to the opposite field. That's a good sign."

Chambliss served as the Yankees' hitting coach from 1996-2000, so he knows how Griffey looks at his best. Chambliss gives no credence to talk of diminishing skills.

"His bat is as quick as ever," Chambliss said. "He's had some sessions in batting practice that have been incredible."

Reds general manager Dan O'Brien says the same thing.

"He's playing as well as I've seen him, and obviously my frame of reference is when I was in Texas and he played for Seattle," O'Brien said.

"He's doing all the same things. He's added a dimension that wasn't as obvious in Seattle. He's taking advantage of the overshift and driving the ball the opposite way, particularly in RBI situations and when he needs to get on base."

Griffey's injury history is well-documented. A torn left hamstring limited him to 111 games in 2001. A torn patellar tendon in his right knee and a torn right hamstring limited him to 70 games in 2002. A dislocated right (non-throwing) shoulder and a torn tendon in his right ankle limited him to 53 games last year.

THE NUMBERS

Ken Griffey Jr.'s career with the Reds in April Year G AB R H HR RBI AVG  2000 25 92 14 20 7 24 .217 *2001 16 12 0 0 0 0 .000 *2002 6 22 3 6 1 3 .273 *2003 5 19 3 5 1 1 .263  2004 6 22 5 7 2 5 .318 *On disabled list

As a result, he's averaged 14 home runs and 38 RBI over the last three years.

That's severely slowed his career paces. Consider: Going into the 2001 season, Griffey was 56 home runs behind Barry Bonds. Now, he's 177 behind Bonds.

You never know how fate is going to play out. But Monday's game was a positive one for Griffey. For starters, he was in the lineup despite soggy conditions. Former manager Bob Boone admitted to being "paranoid" about playing Griffey in all but ideal conditions.

"He was comfortable with it," Reds manager Dave Miley said of Griffey playing Monday. "He wanted to be out there."

Griffey had an opposite-field RBI double in the game, but his biggest play came on defense. He dived to stop a line drive by pitcher Randy Wolf from going into the gap. Wolf was caught in a rundown, derailing what could have been a big inning.

"It was tremendous play," Miley said. "I'm just glad he got up."

It was the first time Griffey dived for a ball since dislocating the shoulder April 5, 2003 on a similar play. But Griffey said he never hesitated on Monday.

"This counts," he said. "Knocking it down was half the battle. Then I was able to get up and make a throw."

Griffey is putting both his and the Reds' strong starts in perspective, but early success beats the alternative.

"You've got to take it one day at a time," he said. "The biggest thing is we're having fun. We haven't been able to say that the last couple of years."

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Jr. not on trade radar

Reds general manager Dan O'Brien does not discuss possible trades, but he did say Tuesday that there were no discussions involving Ken Griffey Jr.

"I normally don't address those issues, but because I've been asked 1,001 times, I'll say that his name hasn't come up in any of the discussions we've had in spring training up until now."

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com