Welcome back, Junior

It's 6:20 here on opening day. It's the fifth inning and Ken Griffey Jr comes up to make his second at bat in his return to my beloved Mariners. He looks a little different then he did a decade ago. His face a little rounder, as well has his midsection. He no longer possess the ability to hunt down fly balls, turning the uncatchable to catchable. He is no longer the hands down favorite to retire the Home Run King.

Putting the differences and the decade aside, the Junior I know is not completely lost. He is back to wearing 24. You can see him clowning in the dugout. Even his pre-pitch rituals, bat waggles, and that legendary stance remain un changed over 20 years of professional ball.

Ten seasons after his last at-bat in Seattle, the 39 year old was digging in again. Wiggling his bat, shoulders slightly closed to the pitcher, waiting for the Twins ace Fransico Liriano's offer. Again, nothing changed. And just as if it were scripted, Junior jumped all over on the first offering he liked blasting the pitch over the right feild wall.

It's been a long nine years for all parties involved in this reunion. For Junior, he left Seattle where he hit 398 Home Runs before the 2000 season. Since then, he has struggled to stay healthy and has managed to hit only 213 Home Runs since. When he was hear, he was known as the premier outfielder in baseball. He backed up that reputation by winning ten consecutive Golden Gloves. That streak ended when he left, and now he has nine consecutive seasons with out winning that award. Also, last year was his first taste of the playoffs since his MVP campaign for Seattle in 1997.

For the Mariners, they started off very well after the divorce of 1999. They seemingly got over the superstar quickly, making the playoffs the next two seasons and winning 116 games in 2001. Since then however, the wheels have fallen off. They haven't made the playoff since that 2001 season, and have only been competative two seasons since then.

This season was destined to be a giant failure. We have a new front office and a new coaching staff that seem committed to rebuilding. Not a bad plan, but can cause difficulties in motivating yourself to watch baseball in August. It didn't look like I was going to have anything to enjoy over the summer, and actually began entertain the idea of adopting a National League team. Then something magical happened, the Mariners did something that has been talked about for years-They brought the Griffey home.

Now we the fans, who are the forgotten party in that split a decade ago, have something to look forward to in what could prove to be a long summer. What often gets forgotten about, when remembering that trade is not that Seattle traded away their franchise player, rather that we as Seattles fans lost OUR franchise player. Junior was the reason many of us even started paying attention to baseball. He was the reason we tried to bat left handed in whiffle ball games, or we fought over who got number 24 in Little League. 

I remember that last season he was with us, there being alot of rumors floating around about a possible trade. I was young, and never thought it was possible. Shockingly, after the season it happened. When the 2000 season started, we had Mike Cameron in center and we as a whole were forced to move on, and put our faith in Alex Rodriguez ( huge mistake that turned out to be). The split was far from mutual. But now we finally get our chance for closure.

We get at least one season to say goodbye to the Kid, the Chosen One,  the natural, and the soon to be Hall of Famer. Five years from the day he retires, we get to watch number 24 get inducted into Cooperstown, and if there was ever a doubt what hat his plaque would describe, let those doubts be silenced. Because there is none in my mind that he will be wearing the Hat of where he started and ended his career. The hat he was born to wear, and the one he is wearing this season-the one with the "S" on it.

Ken Griffey Junior is not the same man he was a decade ago. We won't see him crash into walls, steal bases or blast another 56 Home Runs. We're not going to see him score from first to beat the Yankees. He won't be scaling old Tiger Stadiums fences and bringing homers back. His body won't allow it. That being said, we can still enjoy the reunion/goodbye tour of the artist formerly known as MVP. 

Here we are, back in the fifth inning and I feel like 12 year old boy again, watching Griffey blast an opening day home run for my Mariners. After the initial excitement wears down, I remember I'm not 12 anymore, and thats not the same Junior who last hit a Home Run for us back in 1999. But watching the old man as he trots around the bases for his first home run of the season, I can't help but thank him for at least pretending to be.