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CINCINNATI | When the charter carrying the Cincinnati Reds to St. Louis departs this evening, Ken Griffey Jr. will be aboard and it isn't likely he is going so he can visit the Gateway Arch.
Indications are that Griffey is ready to play and there is a strong and distinct possibility he will be activated while the Reds are in St. Louis Tuesday through Thursday.
Manager Bob Boone's eyes sparkled when asked about Griffey's likely return.
"I'll play him," Boone said. "I'll use him. We'll see how he does, see how he swings. The problem is that I'll have to take a star out of the game."
The outfield is Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns and Jose Guillen and Boone plans some rest for some of his outfielders.
"Jose Guillen and Austin Kearns both have gone hard and need some rest, so we'll be able to rest people with Junior back," Boone said. Guillen is hitting .312 with seven homers and 21 RBIs in only 93 at-bats and Boone believes there is enough playing time to spread around.
Griffey has been surreptitiously taking batting practice when few people are around and one observer said, "He's been taking a ton of batting practice, a lot of it, and he is crushing the ball."
Early this week, Griffey worked for 15 minutes in the outfield with coach Jose Cardenal, who stood at second base and hit short line drives on which Griffey charged and long fly balls in the gaps on which Griffey chased down.
Griffey also made long, strong throws from center field to third base and second base.
With Griffey's return, a roster move must be made and the logical move is to put outfielder Ruben Mateo on waivers, which means the Reds probably will lose him to another team, something General Manager Jim Bowden wishes wouldn't happen. But with Wily Mo Pena locked onto the roster, there are no other viable moves.
Griffey, 33, landed on the disabled list April 5, the first week of the season, when he landed on his right shoulder trying to make a diving catch on Chicago catcher Paul Bako in the eighth inning. The Reds trailed, 6-4, with two outs and the bases load and Griffey was trying to save runs. It went for a three-run triple.
At the time, Griffey was hitting .263 in 19 at-bats with a home run, three doubles and an RBI. Also at the time, the prognosis was that he would miss four to six weeks. He has missed five weeks and two days.
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Give the dude a break guys!
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