Details on the Great Griffey Slumber

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I wish the title of this post was “the Great Griffey LUMBER.” But that’s certainly not been the case this season. He’s batting .201, slugging .234, and has 0 HRs and 2 doubles. He belongs in AA (or better, retired).

So what happened last week when Ken Griffey Jr. fell asleep in the clubhouse and missed a pinch hitting opportunity?

It was the Saturday, May 8th game versus division rival LA Angels. The Mariners went on to lose the game in the 10th inning 4-3.

Griffey missed his chance in the 8th inning of the tied game. The Mariners had runners on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 outs. Kevin Jepsen (a righty) was pitching, and had already given up a walk and a single.

Rob Johnson was due up at the plate, and with backup catcher Adam Moore available, it was the perfect chance to pinch-hit Junior and then have Moore finish up the game. Griffey batted .500 versus Jepsen in previous matchups. Johnson had never gotten a hit off Jepsen.

Griffey napped and Johnson struck out, ending a great scoring opportunity for the Ms. What would have happened if Griffey was awake and ready to bat? No one knows, and with a .208 batting average, the same result was likely, but Griffey had to have a better chance than the right-handed, .140-batting catcher.

It’s not only unfortunate, it’s unacceptable. If Griffey can’t stay awake for games, it’s time for the Ms to put a player on the roster who can.

FWIW, here’s what Wakamatsu said after the game about why he did not pinch hit Griffey for Johnson…

“The biggest reason is he lined out the first at-bat and had a base hit. At some point, we can pinch-hit for everybody in this lineup, but somebody is going to have to step up and get a big hit.”

via Seattle PI

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