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The only place Cincinnati, it turns out, a perfect fit for Junior all along
Posted: Thursday February 10, 2000 04:45 PM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com Ken Griffey Jr., maybe the biggest star in baseball's over-saturated universe of stars, in little ol' small-market Cincinnati. Who'd have ever thought it just six months ago? Who'd have even dreamed it? In the end, though, as the Griffey Jr.-to-the-Reds deal becomes reality, it all makes perfect sense. Or as much sense as anything in baseball's economically whacked-out world makes. Cincinnati, it turns out, is the only place in baseball for Junior. Cincinnati, the home of professional baseball, a place where the young Griffey grew up, hanging on his dad's arm when the elder Griffey starred for the Big Red Machine of the 1970s. Cincinnati, now rid of the circus that was Marge Schott, a city that still loves even the disgraced Pete Rose -- because he was a player, for goodness sakes. Cincinnati, with a new deep-pockets owner (banana magnate Carl Lindner), a new money-making stadium a few years away and a fan base that knows baseball like no other city in baseball. It's the only place in baseball for Junior. And is there a town that wanted him more? When the Seattle Mariners first announced they would try to trade their sometimes-petulant center fielder, the big-money teams that could contend all were mentioned first. The Braves, the Yankees, the Mets, the Astros, the Orioles. All teams who could offer maybe the best player in baseball maybe the richest contract that ever has been written. But, when the asking price scared away some -- and Griffey rejected others -- he finally settled on Cincinnati as the only place he would play. And then he cleared the way for the trade, saying he'd be agreeable to signing a long-term contract way below the $18 million a year or so he could have commanded elsewhere. Maybe as much as $10 million a year less. All of the Queen City is clamoring for him -- they have been from the start -- aching to see him play with a young, scrappy team that won 96 games last season. They want to see him challenge Hank Aaron's home run record in the new ballpark on the Ohio River. They want to see Junior and his dad, now a bench coach for the Reds, reunited. They want to see maybe the best player in baseball on what could become the best team in baseball -- for years to come. In the end, we all should have figured it. Cincinnati was the only place for Junior all along.
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