MARINERS' GRIFFEY IS A BARGAIN.Byline: Larry LaRue Tacoma News Tribune A year ago, the conversation between neighbors sounded fiercer than it was. Ken Griffey Ken Griffey may refer to:
"We were talking on the telephone every night last week and I reminded him of last year," Buhner said. "I told Ken, 'This time it's my turn. If you leave I'm going to kick your ass.' " Griffey stayed, and after agreeing to a four-year, $34 million contract extension on Wednesday, the center fielder admitted Buhner's threat had some impact. "He's a large person," Junior said. "I'd have had to try and talk him out of that." Buhner, the Texas redneck with the buzzcut buzz·cut or buzz cut n. A closely cropped haircut. [From the use of electric clippers instead of scissors.] , and Griffey, the franchise player who's into clothes and cars and rap music rap music or hip-hop, genre originating in the mid-1970s among black and Hispanic performers in New York City, at first associated with an athletic style of dancing, known as breakdancing. , have become best friends over the years against the odds. Griffey's extension through the year 2000 was a huge relief to Buhner. "People only talk about him as a player, but he's every bit as good a person as he is a player," Buhner said. "He cares about Seattle, about the community and the team. I can't even imagine what it would have been like not having him there. "For a lot of years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time big days in Mariners history were few and far between. This is one of them." Half a country away from Griffey, who's in Florida, and Buhner, who was in Seattle, reliever Norm Charlton "I hadn't heard," he said, "because I was out working on one of my trucks. But I'll tell you something about Ken Griffey Jr. "When I first came up in Cincinnati, I played with his dad - and Junior would do his homework in the clubhouse. He was still in high school. He hasn't changed. I mean, he's grown up. We've all grown up. But his love for the game, the way parents brought him up, he really hasn't changed." Charlton laughed. "And if he tried to change, his mom would kick his butt. Junior met us back then, and he still calls my wife 'Mrs. Charlton.' " Mariners CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. John Ellis John Ellis may refer to:
"Ken is the man around whom this team will be built," Ellis said. "The decision he made was important to him, to us and to the game of baseball. We proved our commitment to baseball, he showed his to this team." "I can't imagine baseball in Seattle without Junior," Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975 in New York, New York), commonly nicknamed A-Rod, is a Dominican American baseball infielder. He is the starting third baseman for the New York Yankees, after having played shortstop for the Texas Rangers and Seattle said. "Who could?" Not Charlton. "He's one of those players you can't trade," he said. "You do, your attendance drops, period. Why? Because he's better than anyone else. He's better than the rest of us. I have an ego, but I have no trouble saying that. "For Seattle, he's great. He's not in jail, he's not in trouble every other week, he just has that positive image. Again, it goes back to his parents, to his role models. Junior is fun to be around, and whether you win or lose, he's the same. "He hates losing, but he doesn't change as a person when he loses." CAPTION(S): PHOTO All-Star outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. will be a Mariner through the end of the century, thanks to a $34 million contract renewal. Associated Press |
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