Griffey gets 2 RBIs in debut with White Sox

[August 02, 2008]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Ken Griffey Jr. spent a good part of his childhood in Cincinnati, played there for nine more years. It's the place he raised his children, where he's made numerous friends, still has family. Cincinnati is home.

Yet when he was asked to leave, Griffey needed just a few hours to decide. The chance to play in a pennant race, to potentially win his first World Series ring was enough for the slugger to agree to a trade to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

"They've obviously done well, being in first place without me to this point," Griffey said Friday, before his debut with the White Sox against Kansas City. "In search of winning a World Series title, that was important. My kids are getting older and it wasn't the situation in Seattle where I wanted to get closer to home. It was a chance for me winning a title, I think that was the biggest draw."

Griffey was traded with cash to the AL Central-leading White Sox, with reliever Nick Masset and Triple-A second baseman Danny Richar going to the Reds.

Though he's struggled this season - .245, 15 homers, 53 RBIs in one of baseball's most homer-friendly ballparks - Griffey believes he still has something left. He departed Cincinnati on a 12-game hitting streak, going 14-for-44 with three homers and nine RBIs, and has 608 career homers, leaving him one behind Sammy Sosa for fifth on the all-time list.

Griffey didn't take long to help out his new team.

Playing in Kaufman Stadium for the first time since July 1999, he received a warm ovation from the Kansas City fans during pregame introductions and again when he came to bat for the first time in the second inning.

After fouling off a tough, two-strike pitch from Luke Hochevar, he lined a single up the middle to drive in the game's first run.

"There's things that I can do to help this ballclub," he said before the game. "Having a manager (Ozzie Guillen) who didn't hit very many home runs, he's very keen on making sure you get the runner over and knock him in, and that's the key to winning ball games. I've been around for a little while, so I understand the game."

The 38-year-old Griffey played the last two seasons in right field, but Guillen moved him back to center, shifting Nick Swisher to first to replace the struggling Paul Konerko.

Griffey also found himself in different spot in the lineup, hitting seventh against Kansas City Friday night after batting third for the Reds.

"I don't worry about him playing center field - that's like riding a bike," Guillen said. "You know if this guy was out of baseball, that's a bit different. He was in the outfield for a long time. He's obviously not going to be the same Junior he was in the '90s, but I don't think he should have any problems."

Griffey's biggest concern is fitting in with new teammates, perhaps messing up the chemistry of a team that won a World Series title three years ago and was leading Minnesota by a half-game heading into Friday night's game.

It's sure going to different being in a pennant race. The Reds haven't had a winning season since 2000 and Griffey hasn't seen the postseason since 1997, when the Seattle Mariners made it for the second time in three years.

"I'm a little nervous," he said. "These guys have done a great job and I just want to help them get to a common goal and that's winning a title."

That elusive title is ultimately what led Griffey to leave his hometown.

He was sitting at a table getting ready to eat dinner after hitting a three-run homer in the Reds' 9-5 win Wednesday night, when he was told a deal was in place to trade him to Chicago. Griffey asked if he could have time to consider the trade, then agreed just before Thursday's trade deadline after talking it over with his family.

He wants that title, though he understands it's still been a pretty good career even if he doesn't get it.

"It doesn't really weigh on me. You think about it, but it doesn't really define who I am," he said. "I respect the game of baseball. I enjoyed my time as a player and I will continue to enjoy it. The only I really know how to do is play baseball. I don't have Fortune 500 businesses and stuff like that. You think about it every day and now I have an opportunity to reach that goal."

 [Associated Press; By JOHN MARSHALL]

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