Experience bolsters Griffey's 'D'
By Marc Lancaster
Post staff reporter

HOUSTON - In a sense, everything Ken Griffey Jr. has done on the field this year has had a new twist to it.

He has far more experience than he would like in returning from injuries, but his current situation is unique even to him. Coming back from surgery to reattach his right hamstring to the bone had the potential to dilute Griffey's effectiveness in the one area of the game he might enjoy the most - playing center field.

Given two months to test out his leg in game action, though, Griffey said he'd rate his defense an "eight and a half, nine" on a scale of one-to-10.

He knows he might not be able to get to a few balls he might have reached in the past, but he said his overall experience allows him to remain effective patrolling the middle of the outfield.

"I don't feel that I'm any different out there," he said. "I may not see a ball here or there, but I'm still going to go out there and dive or run into a wall if I have to. That's the only way I know how to play."

Griffey hasn't had occasion to go to the turf for a ball very many times this season, but he doesn't think that has anything to do with range issues.

"People forget that, at age 19, everybody's a little faster, but you're not as smart," said Griffey. "I understand what a pitcher's trying to do to the hitters at 35. I understand where to play at and what the tendencies are. You see less and less great plays from older guys, because they understand how to play these guys. When you play somebody for 10 years, you know where to play them. This is my 17th year, and I know how to play certain guys."

Aside from those hitter-to-hitter adjustments, Griffey said he has not altered his positioning or approach in the field. The only major difference in his routine as a result of the surgery has been a different type of pregame warmup.

Where he used to go out on the field and just run a few sprints, he said, he now uses a more gradual buildup, "so by the time I do go out there, I feel pretty good."

About the only obstacle he has seen in playing center field is the occasional home-field glitch. Griffey said the first few innings of day games at Great American Ball Park are difficult on all three outfielders because the ball can be difficult to pick up off the bat.

Griffey said he thinks it might have something to do with the concrete in the concourses behind home plate being so new that it hasn't had time to darken yet.

"There was a ball that was hit down the left-field line foul that I took off towards right-center," he said. "I mean, I had like five steps (the wrong way), and (Austin) Kearns and (Adam) Dunn just start laughing at me. I thought it was hit to right-center field and it was hit behind me."

If that's the worst of his problems in the field, though, he'll take it.
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