Ken Griffey Jr. announces retirement

"The players didn't hear the news – Ken Griffey Jr. had just announced his retirement – until manager Don Wakamatsu huddled his Seattle Mariners around him just before batting practice Wednesday.

Milton Bradley glanced at the gray sky above Safeco Field and turned to teammate Mike Sweeney.griffey shoes

"It ought to rain on this day," he said.ken griffey shoes

The face of the Mariners organization since being drafted as a teenager in 1987, Griffey retired Wednesday with a telephone call to friend and team president Chuck Armstrong.ken griffey jr shoes

"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field, and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners … I will never allow myself to become a distraction," Griffey said in a written statement.

"Without enough occasional starts to be sharper coming off the bench, my continued presence as a player would be an unfair distraction to my teammates."griffeys

Griffey left the game at age 40, after 22 big-league seasons in which he became one of baseball's most recognizable players. He retired with a .284 lifetime average, 630 home runs and 1,836 RBI.griffeys 2012

"Speaking for every other player on this team, I love Ken Griffey Jr.," Sweeney said. "It's hard, there's a void that will never be filled. Ken's heart, his charisma, you can't replace that – on or off the field."

This season, Junior batted just .184 in 33 games – 98 at-bats – and had seen his role diminished from primary designated hitter to occasional pinch-hitter.cheap griffeys

"It's a sad day for all of us with the team, because he's not just been a great baseball player, he's been a personal friend," Wakamatsu said.king griffey shoes

It wasn't long after the news became public that people began talking about Griffey and his remarkable career."

Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson's return sparks memories of Mariners' golden era

One complaint about the Mariners and their fans (and some media, for that matter) is that they live in the past, specifically clinging too tightly to 1995.

There's some truth to that, but the obsession with their (relative) glory days will dissipate when there's a better present. And 1995, along with the era closely surrounding it, was pretty darned amazing. So was the cast of characters that populated that vintage of Mariners baseball.

I was reminded of that anew on Friday while watching a video tribute to Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson at a luncheon to honor their induction into the Mariners Hall of Fame, which took place Saturday.griffeys

It was hard not to be stirred by the images of Johnson storming off the mound, eyes ablaze after a big strikeout, gesticulating and screaming to no one and everyone. You can count Wilson — an integral, if much less flashy, part of those teams — as one of those stirred as he watched from the podium.

"I think the thing that struck me, as a player you understand that intensity," he said. "But having been out of the game, to see Randy's intensity, the fire, I'd kind of forgotten about that, and how awesome that is.

"For me, that's what struck me — and how fun it was."griffeys 2012

Fun — that's a condition too often missing from Safeco Field these days. It takes a pennant race to truly reach the pinnacle of enjoyment in a baseball season, and that one was our first, and still our best.

Johnson was asked about one particular, iconic image: him embracing Wilson after finishing off the Angels in the one-game playoff for the division title at the Kingdome. You know the one.cheap griffeys

"That was the most powerful moment while I was here, '95," he said. "Had we not won the division, we never would have played the Yankees. We got more fan support, more attention, when we won that one-game playoff. We gave fans and national media more time to figure out who we were up in Seattle."

What they discovered, among other things, was an endearing battery comprised of two guys who couldn't have been more polar opposite. Wilson was mannered and smooth, so baby-faced that Ken Griffey Jr. joked in a video message Friday that "when Dan was traded here from the Reds, Jay (Buhner) and I looked at each other and said, 'Did they throw in the bat boy, too?' With that boyish look you had, we thought you were part of a boy band."

Johnson was rough around the edges, mulleted and mean, someone you didn't want to cross on game day — or any other day. He played with a grudge and, all these years later, wasn't apologizing for it.griffey shoes

"I wasn't the easiest to work with, I'll admit that," he said. "I wouldn't change that, because that's what made me me, and why Dan is him, because he could handle me back then. Some catchers couldn't. I'll make up for not being nice back then by saying, 'Dan, let's go get a beer tonight.' "

Both Johnson and Wilson thrived under Lou Piniella — another of the charismatic characters who make that era so compelling. Wilson mentioned playing with four first-ballot Hall of Famers — Johnson, Griffey, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro — before turning on the podium to Edgar Martinez and saying, "Gar, we know you're going to be the fifth one in the Hall of Fame. Can't wait for that day. Coming soon."

All but Ichiro intertwined with Johnson and Wilson between 1995 and 1998 (and all but Martinez eventually left Seattle). The fact that period produced just two playoff appearances, and no World Series, is an enduring mystery and the organization's ultimate underachievement. Johnson says flatly that the 1995 Mariners were more talented than his 2001 Diamondbacks, who won the World Series over the Yankees (the Yankees knocked out the 116-win Mariners in the American League Championship Series)

"The (Mariners) team we had, the amount of talent we had, was unparalleled to any team," Johnson said. "All that being said, yes, I'm surprised we didn't do more. Not a lot materialized, not as much as everyone hoped."ken griffey shoes

Wilson has the distinction of being on every Mariners playoff team — 2000 and '01 in addition to '95 and '97. He talked about how his buddy Rich Amaral, who made the trip to Seattle for the ceremony this weekend from his home in Southern California, used to give him surfing lessons.

"He'd say the key is to be patient and catch a good wave," Wilson told the crowd at Safeco Field during the luncheon. "As I look out over my baseball career in Seattle, what a great wave it was for me in Seattle."ken griffey jr shoes

It was the greatest wave this organization has ever known, cresting in 1995. And while we wait for the next one, we'll keep reminiscing about the Big Unit, Dan of Steel, and the rest of those bygone players. It might be nostalgia overkill, but at times like this, with Johnson and Wilson at the forefront, it still seems right.

Australian Sparks shine in Barcelona

Congratulations to the Australian Sparks, Australia’s Junior Athletic Team who recently competed at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona.tiger shoes

The team have managed numerous top performances to make this one of their most successful championships to date.asics tiger shoes

At the close of the championships, Australia had achieved 14 top-eight performances to rank 8th on the overall placing table with 60 points and came home with an impressive five-medal haul.asics tiger

Additionally, 13 athletes improved their personal best, and three performances – Damien Birkinhead (VIC, shot put), Nick Hough (NSW, 110mH) and the boy’s 4x100m relay – eclipsed the previous national under 20 records.cheap tiger shoes

The medal winners were:

Liz Parnov (silver – girls pole vault)

Nick Hough (silver – boys 110m Hurdles)tiger shoes 2012

Steven Solomon (bronze – boys 400m)

Jake Stein (silver – boys Decathlon)

Damien Birkinhead (bronze – boys Shot Put)

onitsuka tiger shoes are proud sponsors of Athletics Australia and the Australian Spark’s and we look forward to seeing these junior athletes progress onto the next level.

For a full list of athlete results visit www.tigershoes2012online.com

Mariners' Eric Wedge will hold players to a higher standard

If you fear the Mariners' youth movement is an aimless attempt to waste time, don't tell Eric Wedge. His eyes, which seemingly talk louder than his booming voice, might pop out and berate you.

Actually, Wedge is quite mild-mannered, even though he's so passionate. But he's bullish on the idea that the Mariners can be young and progressive instead of young and reckless. You look at another season of development as more of the same for a franchise that hasn't been to the playoffs in 11 years. He looks at it differently.

In short, Wedge expects and will push for more even as the Mariners try to sell the importance of patience. For Wedge, this season won't just be about tossing a baseball to the kiddies and seeing what they can do with it. It's about expediting their growth process by holding them to a higher standard.ken griffey shoes

"I want these kids to understand it's about going out there and getting it done," the second-year Mariners manager said recently. "The expectations are coming from me right now. I'm not waiting.ken griffey jr shoes

"The difference between last year and this year is all about advancing and achieving. It's not about surviving, which many of them had to do last season. It's not about getting to the big leagues and seeing what you can do. Now it's about performance and production. And that's what leads to winning."

This is an important footnote as spring training begins this week in Peoria, Ariz., with pitchers and catchers reporting Saturday. The common concern about a rebuilding process heavy on player development is that a team can fall into the disappointing cycle of always being a year away. The Mariners need to speed up the process as much as possible.cheap griffeys

To do that, Wedge needs to get more out of players such as second baseman Dustin Ackley, catcher Jesus Montero and first baseman Justin Smoak as soon possible. And in the front office, general manager Jack Zduriencik needs to have the proper foresight to make decisions on which players to build around and which ones to use as assets to acquire the right pieces to build a winner.

It's a misperception to believe the Mariners are only interested in methodically developing a 25-man roster full of homegrown players. That's not realistic. They need to identify stars, put them in a position to succeed and trade some potential for certainty when appropriate. As much as anything, the Montero/Michael Pineda trade served as a difficult-to-accept reminder that every intriguing young star won't get to grow up fully in the organization.

While the Pineda move was a deal made because the Mariners are desperate for hitting, the guess is the future deals won't be young-talent-for-young-talent swaps. Moving forward, the Mariners will need to be shrewd in determining when it's right to swap promise for immediate help. Just as important, they'll need to know when it's right not to do so.king griffey shoes

"I could pick up the phone right now and trade a Taijuan Walker or a Danny Hultzen or a James Paxton," Zduriencik said, referring to his top three pitching prospects. "But would it be the right thing to do? No, it wouldn't. We're trying to build an organization, and part of that is knowing who to build this thing around. We want to be the best at it. We want the Ken Griffeys, the A-Rods, the Felix Hernandezes."

It all starts with Wedge. A few weeks ago, he invited nine players to Seattle for several days of meetings, which included tough love, bonding and clarity on their roles and what he expects. The nine players were a combination of veterans and youngsters who need to show significant improvement if they want to improve on their 67-95 record of last season. They were: Chone Figgins, Franklin Gutierrez, Miguel Olivo, Casper Wells, Kyle Seager, Brendan Ryan, new catcher John Jaso, Smoak and Ackley.

Wedge's standard will be much higher this season, and he wanted those players to be the first to know it. The manager did a solid job a year ago helping the Mariners return to an acceptable level of accountability and professionalism. But he had to work with 18 rookies, and struggles were inevitable.griffeys

In 2012, that won't be an excuse. He won't have nearly as many rookies this time. And now that many of those 2011 rookies have major-league experience, he wants more — especially at the plate, where the Mariners have had one of the worst two-year runs in history.

"I'm sticking my neck out, but I think this should be a year we take a significant leap forward offensively, and I'll be disappointed if we don't," Wedge said. "That's how confident I am in this plan and in our young kids."

The words sound like music now, but in practice, it will be much more difficult. This season can't be a 162-game exhibition of weighing what they've got. They're still in the business of projecting with so many youngsters, but they need production, too.

Will they get it? It's a must to avoid the cycle of always being a year away.

Ken Griffey Jr. returns to Seattle a grown man

Ken Griffey Jr. is back, and it's tempting to add the traditional addendum: It's like he never left.

On the surface, that seems to be true. The face may be a bit more weathered, and the body a little more padded. But when he puts on the iconic No. 24 and steps in the box, bat cocked, Griffey still strikes the same imposing image.

Griffey once again is the hub of the Mariners' clubhouse, just as he was in his Seattle glory days, minus the recliner — a veritable magnetic field that attracts players, media, team employees and anyone else who wanders by into his web.cheap griffeys 2012

"When he starts talking and telling stories, you'll see everybody in the locker room just start circling around him," observed Mike Morse.

He still gives off that intoxicating mix of energy, humor, bravado, charisma and, when something crosses him, flashes of rancor.cheap ken griffey shoes

"To me, everything seems the same," said longtime Mariners trainer Rick Griffin. "I think he's glad he came back. I think he's very comfortable."

That much is undeniably true. Griffey noted that his adjustment period in his second Seattle incarnation is greatly accelerated from that of the traditional free agent trying to find his place among new teammates and team personnel.

"Who's who, who can you trust — I pretty much have that down pat," he said.griffeys for women

But let's get past the notion that Griffey has somehow been frozen in time and will be unleashed on Monday as a slightly grizzled version of his old self.

Obviously, from a baseball standpoint, his career has been in steady decline since he left Seattle after the 1999 season, ravaged by a staggering rash of injuries. Griffey is 39, coming off a season in which he was hampered much of the second half by a gimpy knee that required October surgery.

The Mariners know they're not going to get the Griffey who ruled baseball in the 1990s, the one who averaged 52 homers from 1996 to 1999, won the 1997 Most Valuable Player award and vied with Barry Bonds for the title of Best Player in the World.

And their more realistic fans know it, too.griffeys for kids

"What I'd like to have is have Ken Griffey for 162 games," said general manager Jack Zduriencik. "We as a group have to be cautious and careful, realizing he's had injuries in the past. He's coming off a surgery this year alone.

"We acquired him because we think his at-bats are going to help us. If he's healthy for 162 games, he can be a productive player for us, and that's what we're counting on."griffey shoes

But beyond what Griffey has to offer on the playing field — and remember, his career arc is not abnormal, although conspicuously different from peers like Bonds and Roger Clemens who had miraculous upswings in their late 30s — are the unseen changes.

Not from the amalgam of knee, hamstring, calf, ankle and wrist injuries that derailed him in Cincinnati, leaving Griffey with 611 home runs that somehow feel like a mere shadow of what could have been.

The ones in his heart. The ones in his soul.ken griffey shoes

"I don't think people realize how much I've changed since I left," Griffey said in a wide-ranging, 90-minute interview during spring training. "They just think of me as a 19-year-old kid.

"I have a son now that's 15 — four years younger than I was when I was there. He's at that stage of his life, a lot of people can be an influence on him. I have to be there to guide him."

Talk about déjà vu — just as when he pushed for his Seattle departure a decade ago, Griffey had to wrestle with family considerations when his decision for a 2009 destiny came down to Seattle or Atlanta.ken griffey jr shoes

The Mariners offered roots, the completion of a journey. But Atlanta offered a much more feasible opportunity to watch his three children — Trey, 15; Taryn, 13; and Tevin, 6 — in their sports and school ventures.

It was, as has been well-chronicled, an agonizing decision, one in which just about everyone seemed to have a tip or piece of advice. Harold Reynolds, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, et al.

In the end, however, it came down to Griffey, wife Melissa, and the three children. And, at its fundamental level, to Junior himself.air griffey max fury 2012

"It was just a matter of what I felt was best," he said. "Not what everyone else bleeping wanted me to think. Everybody calling my house — 'you should do that, you should do this.'

"I can't be persuaded by what someone else says. I'm going to make up my own mind, because I'm the one that has to live with it. How can someone tell you where to go, someone who had nothing to do with my life, never been inside my walls?

"At 19, that might have happened. At 39, no. Like I told everybody, I'm a grown-ass man. Simple and plain."king griffey shoes

In the end, Griffey laid out all of his kids' sports schedules — high school football for Trey, AAU basketball for Taryn — on the kitchen counter, juxtaposed against the schedules of the Mariners and Braves, and hashed out the logistics.

Hard as it was to give up the proximity to Orlando that Atlanta would have brought, it might have been the wisdom of Taryn that sealed the deal for Seattle.

"It was Wednesday, and Kenny had promised by the end of that day to make a decision," related Brian Goldberg, Griffey's longtime agent. "That was when he had his conversation with Willie Mays, who asked him about all the years left in his life, how he wanted his legacy to be remembered.

"Taryn came home a couple of hours later. Melissa said, 'Ken, Taryn has something to tell you.' She said, 'Dad, I know you want input from all us kids. I have to tell you, even though my games are the ones you'll miss the most, I think you should finish up your baseball career in Seattle.'

"That seemed to put things right over the top. It was just an hour or two after that Junior decided Seattle was where he wanted to end up."griffeys

And so now Junior returns — a senior, really; just a year younger than his father when he joined Ken Jr. in Seattle in 1990 as the first father-son pairing in baseball history. Griffey has been tempered, as so many middle-aged people have, by tragedy and family trauma.

His parents, Birdie and Ken Sr., both have had cancer battles. One close friend died of sickle-cell anemia, and another acquaintance, a stuntman, died recently in a motorcycle accident.

His best friend — the man that Griffey says was the solitary member of his "inner circle," Frank King — died of cancer last May at age 38.nike air griffey max 1

"I've probably learned a lot over the last three years — both my parents having problems, my best friend dying," he said. "A guy I know decided to do a back flip and not make it and die. Payne Stewart. I've had some people check out on me.

"You really learn not to take things for granted. One day, your best friend is there, looking at you and laughing. The next day, he's lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. Five months later, you're planning for his funeral."

King and Griffey met as kids in Cincinnati and forged a lifelong friendship. When Griffey was drafted by the Mariners, King joined him in Seattle, and he followed him back to Cincinnati when Griffey signed with the Reds. He lived just a few miles from the Griffeys in Orlando.

"This is my first spring training since 1990 [that] Frank hasn't been here," Griffey said quietly. "One of my friends drove my car in; usually, that would be Frank. There's certain things I do, and I'll just start laughing, because I'd know, that's Frank."air griffey max 2

From King's cancer diagnosis early in 2008, to chemotherapy, to surgery, to death was just a matter of months. His last call from the hospital was to Griffey, who was with the Reds. Melissa Griffey was with King in the hospital when he died. Although manager Dusty Baker gave Griffey the opportunity to sit out, he played that night for the Reds.

"Everyone said, 'Man, take the day off.' I looked at them and said, 'No, because Frank King wouldn't want it that way.' So our motto is, 'Frank King wouldn't want it that way.' "

The hardest part, Griffey said, was telling his children, who had grown close to King.cheap griffey shoes

"Taryn's my rock. Oh, my God," Griffey said, smiling. "Melissa brought Taryn and Tevin, and Taryn said, 'Frank died.' Before Melissa even said anything."

Griffey attended two funerals for King, one in Florida and one in Cincinnati.

"Everyone wanted me to say something about Frank, and I couldn't," he said.

But he reminisced warmly about King this spring, his fondness for his buddy evident.ken griffey shoes 2012

"Frank fixed a whole lot of stuff in other people's houses," he said. "Well, all the stuff he fixed? Within a week after he died, something else broke in their house. Something was wrong in about five people's houses — like a pipe busted behind the toilet, the fan broke, the garage door. Everything Frank knew how to fix. Everyone was like, 'Damn it, Frank.'

"His prized possession was his toolbox. And I have his toolbox. Jen, his wife, was like, 'What's the one thing you want?' I said, 'His toolbox.' So I got it. I put it in my trailer. He cared about his tools. I could call him to fix something, and he'd say, 'I'll be there in a minute. Got to get my tools.' "

Any conversation with Griffey, he invariably reroutes to friends and family, and it rarely takes long. While he is loath to talk about himself, and merely tolerates talking about baseball, he absolutely adores discussing his family, which dovetails with the description of himself he offered.

"I'm a parent with an abnormal job," he said. "That's all I am. If I wasn't on TV, and I didn't hit a home run, would you really care who I was? Probably not."griffeys for sale

Griffey has long rebelled against the lack of privacy that comes with being a celebrity. He regrets that caution and prudence in dealing with the public has at times been misconstrued as petulance.

"It doesn't mean I'm a [jerk] at all," he said. "It's just in the back of my mind, I wonder what you're thinking when you run up to me. You know what you're thinking when you come to me. I have no idea. And I think people don't understand that."

It's no wonder, then, that his happiest times are at home with Melissa and his "rockheads," as he affectionately calls his children.

"There's no interviews, no contracts," he said. "I'm just Dad."griffey shoes 2012

Now that Trey has entered high school, "I think he still considers me one of his friends. I told him, 'When you go to college, I'm going with you. You can introduce me as your older roommate.' He didn't like that. 'No, you can't do that, Dad. Please.' "

One of Griffey's concerns this year is to keep the Mariners' season from turning into a wave of Junior nostalgia, aimed backward rather than at the Mariners' present and future.

"This is a baseball decision, bringing him here," team president Chuck Armstrong said. "Ken told me he didn't come back for some sort of Cal Ripken farewell tour.

"We lost 101 games. Jack and [manager] Don [Wakamatsu] are looking to turn this thing around and establish our own foundation of success. When Jack came to me and said, 'We really think Griffey will help us; he can be the bat and personality we need,' only then I went to work to sign him."

Griffey comes back knowing that, at least initially, everyone will want a piece of him.women ken griffey shoes

"I can hide really well," he said with a glint.

Griffey, of course, is being counted on by the Mariners to facilitate a different sort of interaction. Their clubhouse was a toxic mess last year, and they hope that veterans like Griffey and Mike Sweeney will help forge a new cohesiveness — a role Griffey embraces.

Under Griffey's watch, the clubhouse in spring was an inclusive place, and will continue to be, he vowed. It can also be a raunchy place, where no one is safe from his needle.griffey shoes for women

"For the most part, from No. 1 to number ... how many other guys are in here ... 45? Nobody's untouchable," he said.

Including Griffey himself? "Yeah. The difference is I've been around, so I'm a little more witty about what I can say."

Griffey's firm belief is that horseplay and ribbing in spring fosters meaningful dialogue when issues inevitably crop up.griffey shoes

"It's all about getting together, making good friendships, and carrying that onto the field," he said. "It's trust — like, hey, if he can get on me, and I can get on him, we can talk later if there's something I need to bring up. Instead of not talking to somebody, and all of a sudden you need to confront him on something. If you don't have that friendship, they'll look at you like you're crazy.

"It's a little different with me, because I have 20 years. People look at it a little differently than someone with four or five. But I'm not going to be the guy to embarrass somebody. I've never done that. If I have something to say, I'll pull them aside. Because that's the way I'd want someone to do it to me.

"We can agree to disagree, or come to some sort of understanding. But there's not 15 guys trying to take sides. It's just two guys. No one wants to be backed into a corner. First thing they do is come out swinging."

After one game this spring, a weary looking Russ Branyan entered the clubhouse.

"Where do you find the energy to lift after these games," he asked Griffey.griffeys 2012

"You just got to dig deep. Dig deep," Griffey responded.

Branyan turned to the writers surrounding Griffey at the time. "See the type of leader we've got?"

He was being whimsical, but the M's hope there's truth behind that statement as well.

Wakamatsu has been delighted with what he saw from Griffey in spring.

"When you talk about some of the anxieties or pressures that come with this game, I think Ken takes some of that away," he said. "Just by his presence and his calmness and, really, his spirit, being there every day. He's been a joy to be around."

Adds Armstrong, "I think he's become a very wise man, a baseball sage. He understands the game and its importance."

Junior, who came here to Seattle as a teenager, returns as a parent with an abnormal job.

A grown-ass man.www.griffeyshoesny.com