Griffey trades stories with Freddie Adu

[CincyRedsFan30]

Griffey Jr. trades stories with soccer star Freddie Adu

By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

WASHINGTON, D.C. | The kid in the white shorts, white t-shirt and flip-flops talking to Ken Griffey Jr. in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse could have been the batboy or a clubhouse errand boy.

The kid in the clubhouse was a kid, only 16, but not an ordinary kid. It was Freddy Adu, the child prodigy professional soccer star for D.C. United, a 16-year-old making $1 million and driving a BMW.

Asked how much money he made at 16, Griffey said, "I worked one week at Queen City Speedway and brought home $83 and change and my mom said, 'Quit that job and concentrate on baseball.'"

Adu, 5-7 and 140 pounds — with ten rolls of quarters in his pockets and he said he gained 20 pounds since last season — begged an autographed bat from Griffey in exchange for an Adu D.C. game shirt.

"It's not every day you get a guy like Ken Griffey Jr. coming into your stadium and you can talk to him," said Adu. "I'm seizing the opportunity."

Adu looked at Griffey and said, "I hear you were the same size as me when you were 16. I want to get on your training program."

About that time, a room-covering shadow appeared from a corner and Griffey said to Adu, "Want to see my personal body guard?" It was Wily Mo Pena and looking straight up, Adu said, "That dude is HUGE!!!"

While Adu and the Uniteds were out practicing somewhere, Griffey collected three hits and hit his 30th home run during Thursday's game, scoring the 1,400th run of his career on the 531st homer of his career. And RFK Stadium became the 40th major-league park in which he has homered.

The weary road

Stop No. 2 on the Reds See America four-city tour is Pittsburgh, the start of a four-game series through Monday.

With his team in the throes of 16 games in 16 days, manager Jerry Narron plans to distribute some rest for his troops, most notably Sean Casey and Ken Griffey Jr., the two guys with the most relatives in the Greater Pittsburgh area.

"Casey has a lot of family there and Griffey has a lot of family there and they just might want to hide," said Narron. "Wtih 16 straight games we have to give some guys some time off. We have some day games (two in row Sunday and Monday in Pittsburgh) where we can play some other guys.

"Maybe Austin Kearns, Rich Aurilia, I don't know, maybe Felipe Lopez, too, might get some rest," Narron added. "Depends on what pitchers we face, too."

Doc's docket

Cincinnati Reds medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek's client list gets more impressive by the day.

Scheduled to pop in to his Beacon Orthopaedics Center today are Detroit Tigers outfielder Rondell White and controversial Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Milton Bradley.

White will undergo rotator cuff surgery and Bradley undergoes an examination on his left knee, which most likely will require surgery to repair an 80 percent rear of his patella tendon and to fix his left anterior cruciate ligament. Both will miss the rest of the season.

On Monday Kremchek will perform shoulder surgery on St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen.

Farm report

Remember left-handed pitcher Ty Howington, the Reds No. 1 draft pick in 1999?

It is six years later, and Howington, because of a Whitman's assortment of injuries, has yet to advance above Class AA level.

He is scheduled to make a rehab start today for the Gulf Coast Rookie Reds in Sarasota, his third rehab start this year.

For his minor-league career, Howington is 22-35, including 5-15 for the 2000 Class A Dayton Dragons.

•Former Reds relief pitcher Ben Weber gave up the winning run in the 10th inning as the Class AAA Louisville Bats lost to Columbus, 2-1, their fifth straight loss. And Class AA Chattanooga's 5-0 loss to Carolina eliminated them from the second-half race.

While Louisville is 61-72 and 19 1/2 games out of first place, Chattanooga is 49-78 on the season, 22-36 for the second half.

None of the six Reds minor-league teams has a winning record.

[Geki Ace]

Adu looked at Griffey and said, "I hear you were the same size as me when you were 16. I want to get on your training program."

About that time, a room-covering shadow appeared from a corner and Griffey said to Adu, "Want to see my personal body guard?" It was Wily Mo Pena and looking straight up, Adu said, "That dude is HUGE!!!"

Roffle. I love the attitude on this team so damn much...

[redsrbetter]

Good article. Adu is going to be as big of a star for soccer as Griffey was for baseball. Kind of a passing of the stardom sensation there. Oh ya, and I would definitely use Wily Mo as my personal bodyguard as well.