Grifey takes command

[missionhockey21]

Grifey takes command
He shows Colorado there's 'a lot of gas left'
By C. Trent Rosecrans
Post staff reporter

From either dugout at Great American Ball Park, the view is clear - and managers from each side Friday night said Ken Griffey Jr. is once again one of baseball's best players.

"He's making a statement this year," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said following the Reds' 4-3 victory over the Rockies. "Clearly, there's a lot of gas left in that tank."

Griffey hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth and then preserved the Cincinnati lead in the eighth, throwing Colorado's Eddie Garabito out at the plate to end the inning.

"He took over the game," said the Rockies' Todd Helton.

Last season Griffey was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and voted a starter in the All-Star Game. Despite spending the All-Star break with his family instead of Detroit, Griffey's been better in 2005.

"He's still one of the elite players," Reds manager Jerry Narron said. "Anybody who saw him before the trade over here knows how great he was. It's a shame he hasn't been healthy since being here, but now he is."

After Friday night's performance, Griffey has played in more games this season (84) than any since 2001. He has two fewer home runs (18) than he did last season and one less RBI (59), but his batting average is 35 points higher (.288), and he also has more hits (92), fewer strikeouts (64) and higher slugging (.530) and on-base percentages (.359) than last season, in which he appeared in 83 games before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury.

"People have to understand I've just been hurt," Griffey said. "I haven't forgotten how to play baseball. I just haven't been able to do it as much as I'd like."

Since a slow start to the 2005 campaign, Griffey's been the Reds' best player. In his last 41 games, he's hitting .344 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs.

Twice Friday he came up big when his team needed him the most.

The Rockies tied the game at 1 in the fifth inning with starter Jason Jennings cruising. After a first-inning run on two hits, Jennings allowed just one more hit over the next four innings.

"He was his typical self," Griffey said of Jennings. "He moved the ball around, he's a smart pitcher. He just made one mistake."

That one mistake was his first pitch to Griffey in the sixth, which Griffey drove 374 feet to right-center and a 2-1 Reds lead.

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[CincyRedsFan30]

What a great story this is with all of the Bonds/steroids issues this year! I'm glad for HIM that he's playing well more than anything. He is proving to the doubters that he can still play well when healthy. Go Junior!

[redsrbetter]

Yes, this is awesome isn't it? Griffey has looked like damaged goods the past 4 years, and now he has come back to take the crown. I just hope he can make it through this entire season.

[Wally Mo Pena]

i have to say, i've been one of the people that has doubted griffey a lot these last years. When he played well last year i was impressed, but not wowed. He looked like an above average player at best, and then he got hurt again, and i thought that i'd seen the best Jr. had to offer. Above average and very injury prone.

I was wrong. Watching the games this weekend, it was a different JR. He wasn't above average, he was elite. For several years we've been saying that Dunn was our best hitter, but this year griffey is right there with him, if not ahead. He's playing the field with authority, and is carrying this team as a leader. It's really really impressive. I didn't think he had this in him, and i think it says a lot that he does.