“Refuse to Lose!”
It’s a nice, catchy slogan that has been highly useful for the Seattle Mariners, who had gone unbeaten in their last four games. But what happens when you’re confronted with Cleveland’s Orel Hershiser, one of the best clutch pitchers in recent baseball history?
You lose, which is what the Mariners did here Wednesday night, 5-2 in Game 2 of the American League pennant playoffs. The 37-year-old Hershiser stopped the Mariners on four hits over eight innings and could have gone the distance. But Jose Mesa, the Indians’ star closer, who has been rusting in the bullpen, was summoned in the ninth.
The Mariners hit two home runs, by Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner. But Buhner’s came in the ninth, after the game was gone. Griffey’s was his sixth in the Mariners’ seven playoff games, tying a record for most homers by one batter in one postseason. The Phils’ Lenny Dykstra (1993) and the Pirates’ Bob Robertson (1971) also performed that feat.
Griffey had two of the Mariners’ six hits Wednesday and is 4 for 7 in the first two games against Cleveland, which raised the question: Is he as outstanding a ballplayer as Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle were?
My answer is in the affirmative. Junior is as good, but it’s too early to rank him with baseball’s all-time greats.
Or as Woody Woodward, the general manager of the Mariners, said here before Wednesday’s action:
“He has the talent to be compared with Mantle and Mays, or any superstar. But the true test comes after a long period of years.”
Griffey, 26 next month, is finishing his sixth major-league season, long enough for us to realize he is the best all-around player in the American League but not long enough to earn a ticket to Cooperstown.
The only department in which he isn’t among the league leaders is stolen bases. He has never had as many as 20 in one season but nonetheless is a superb baserunner, as he demonstrated last Sunday when he scored the winning run in Game 5 against New York, coming in all the way from first on Edgar Martinez’s double down the left-field line. To make it, he had to cut the corners perfectly, which he did.
“I was shocked,” said Woodward. “There were no outs. I thought Sam would hold him.”
But Griffey made it with a feet-first slide, providing, to this point, the most famous television footage in Seattle’s 18-year big-league baseball history. Griffey’s slide and its joyous aftermath have been replayed here dozens of times.
So there is no doubt of Griffey’s speed. Running the bases well, particularly the ability to take the extra base whenever possible, is more important than the stolen base, which often is without consequence.
Griffey is also outstanding defensively, has a strong and accurate throwing arm and hits for both power and average. He has a .302 career average, has driven in more than 100 runs three times and has had two 40-homer seasons.
The only thing lacking is Mays’ flair. When he went back on a ball, Mays usually ran out from under his oversized cap. Griffey has not produced such theatrics.
Jim Kaat, who won 283 big-league games and is now a network broadcaster, insists Griffey “has as much raw talent as anyone I have ever seen.
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“Junior isn’t flashy. Mays, when he was losing his cap, looked like he was running 100 miles an hour. Junior is just as fast, maybe faster, but he makes things look easy. He plays with a lot of grace.”
Before this season, Griffey several times indicated he would, at the first opportunity, try for a new connection because, in his mind, the Mariners were strictly a second-division club. It was important to him, Griffey said, to play with a winner.
Junior presumably has since had a change of heart. He has one year to go on his contract, which awards him with an annual compensation of $7.5 million. There has been considerable speculation as to who will be baseball’s first $10 million player. If anyone scales this financial Everest, Griffey would be the best bet.
Only Griffey and his agent know what he’s going to be asking for, but Woodward apparently has some idea where they will be coming from.
“We did have some brief discussions before the end of the regular season,” Woodward revealed. “But we decided to put the money talks aside. There will be plenty of time for that.”
A winning team supplies the city and its fans with much excitement and, in addition, brings in millions of tourist dollars. But it is always a big headache for club management, because many of the players anticipate and usually receive big salary increases.
Woodward said he didn’t know if the Seattle ownership could withstand the possibility of employing baseball’s first $10 million man.
So, in the spirit of good fellowship, I offered a suggestion: If Griffey wants a $10 million salary, give it to him–on the condition he invests in the club.
“That’s something I never heard before,” Woodward said.
He thanked me for the idea and went on his way.