MLB ALL-STAR GAME

July 12, 1999

Ken Griffey Jr.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: Ever since the article came out about the League not being able to afford Alex or I, I think teams that have always respected that, that's where we're going to do. People write things saying I want this, I want that, but like I've always said, I have a contract until the end of next year, and when I decide to leave I think I'll pretty much make it known to everybody, not just one group.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: Well, I don't change my approach to hitting, I try to stay back up the middle and if it is outside, try to hit it off the wall, if it's inside, I try to hook it around that pole. I don't think I change that much when I come here.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: Taryn, T-a-r-y-n.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: Well, I don't think it's becoming too offensive. I think guys are bigger, stronger and faster. I can go to a cage or any hitter can go to a cage and work out three or four hours on hitting or go to a gym and lift weights. But a pitcher, he can't go out in his backyard and have a catcher available to him as easy as a guy going to a cage and hitting. So I think the guys are coming into Spring Training in shape, instead of going to Spring Training to get in shape. Guys are working harder all year-round, not just in the spring.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: That's Juan's decision. I don't know what he's thinking. I'm not him, so I can't comment on what he wants to do. I know yesterday that he spent some time with his sick daughter. That's all I know.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: We had a little mishap (laughter.) I think sometimes it gets frustrating and things like that happen. We try to resolve them as quick as possible without losing. We lost Charles Gipson and we don't know how long Hunter is going to be out or if he's going to be out. Sometimes things like that can get a team back together. And I know yesterday after what happened a lot of guys were helping each other on and off the field.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: Yeah. I've faced him twice, and both times basically just said I can do it. He's going to come after you, and he knows how to pitch. If he gets in trouble he knows what he has to do to get out of it.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: They haven't asked me. I don't know. I haven't heard.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: That I don't know. A lot has to do with how I feel today at the ballpark. I've got to start running, and see how my knee -- I've been playing with a sore knee for the last three weeks, and see how that works.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: I don't know. I haven't really thought of it. It's an All-Star Game, and it's supposed to be fun. So I'll go out there and they'll throw their best and we'll throw our best, and see what happens after that.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: It never losses its glamour, simply for the fact that the fans pick you. It's not just someone, the coach, the manager having something to say, it's the fans who go out of their way to punch your name out on the ballot. So that in itself is an honor. Since they do it like that, it never losses the glamour. About the three days off, I've had 73 days off with a broken hand, 20 days off the following year. I've had enough time off.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: That's a good question. I never really thought of that. It's a classic. And no matter where you play it, it's still the same. But there are certain ballparks that have a lot of tradition behind it, and this is one of them. And before they tear it down they're having an All-Star Game here, so this is probably an important moment for a lot of us, and as we go out there, maybe take something, chip some paint off the wall, stick it in the bag and take it home. There's something that I will take out of this ballpark before I leave.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: I've never really thought about that. The person that I wanted to beat was my dad, over 2,000 hits, World Championships, played every day, played hard, played hurt, and that's the only person that I patterned my game after was him, because that's the person I wanted to beat, because he was the guy that I can physically touch. Now they're talking about me breaking Hank Aaron's record, and I just say, okay. It's an honor that he says it and you people say it, but I still take one day at a time and see what I can do to help my team. I come to situations, and our manager said just bunt, so I've got to do what's best for the team, and take whatever opportunity I have. If I hit one out, I hit one out, if I don't, I can still go out there and play defense. I take more pride in my defense than I do swinging a bat, because defense is probably the most -- I can show more emotion playing defense than I can playing offense, without getting hit in the head (laughter.)

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: No, not disappointed, because I gave it a hundred percent on what I had. And that's all I can do. I'm the one who has to look in the mirror the next day or any other day and ask myself, did I give a hundred percent; yes, I did give a hundred percent. It was a lot of fun to watch. Every time you turned on the TV somebody was getting excited. And I think that was a lot of fun not only for myself to watch but for baseball. After making an out and turning on the TV in the clubhouse and there's go Sammy, there goes Mark. And to turn around in the outfield every time you hit one and watch it on the big screen.

KEN GRIFFEY, JR.: I got to do something that no one else has done, and that's to get out there and run around in the outfield, I got to go to work with my dad, basically. The first game we had a little bet for dinner, whoever got the first hilt, the other person had to pay, but I had a chance to tie. We both got singles off our first bat. It was a lot of fun. He was my dad, first. So he would pick me up and take me to the ballpark. And it was just like going to Little League games, for him, some days he didn't play, but he still got to go out there and cheer. And he was the first at bat, and I was saying let's go dad. And I turned around and said to the bench, "What are you laughing at?" And they said, "This is the first time we heard Dad, let's go Dad." Usually it's, "Let's go, Ken." But I got to call him dad for six weeks.

End of FastScripts….