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Finger of blame in Wak firing pointed right at Junior

"Three years ago when Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Safeco Field with the Cincinnati Reds, I listened to the pre-game ceremony on the radio and damn near teared up. The lengthy standing ovation was well-deserved for the man who helped save baseball in Seattle.

I loved the guy, but I'm not a Junior fan anymore. In the Go 2 Guy's estimation, Griffey is the biggest reason why Don Wakamatsu was fired as the Mariners manager on Monday.

To recap some of the dysfunctional developments, Junior struggled and slept in the clubhouse and was ultimately benched and got upset because he thought that Wakamatsu planted the whole Sleep-gate story with Larry LaRue, which is completely preposterous. And then he got even madder when Wakamatsu didn't communicate with him for two weeks after his benching or something like that.

I understand Griffey's place in the game ken griffey shoes, but was he so clueless that he needed Wakamatsu to continually explain why he was benched? Wakamatsu gave him more than enough time to produce, and when it didn't happen, what was the manager supposed to do? Keep putting him in the lineup? Wakamatsu, if I'm not mistaken, was trying to win games, and he couldn't do it with a powerless, sub-.200 designated hitter.

Griffey could have been a reasonably mature adult and hashed out his differences with Wakamatsu and stuck around as a part-time DH and full-time pinch-hitter who still would have wielded considerable clout in the clubhouse.

But no, Junior had to take his toys and go home. He said he left because he didn't want to be a distraction. Please. He left because he was in a full-on hissy-fit, mistakenly at odds with Wakamatsu.

It's interesting to note that Wakamatsu, two years ago, had reservations about signing Griffey because he feared that Griffey's moodiness might be a problem in the clubhouse griffey shoes. Last year, when things were going well, Griffey was a clubhouse enhancer who everyone loved. He was also the congenial conduit between Ichiro and the rest of the team.

Then of course, you know what's happened this year -- everything goes to hell and Griffey goes to Orlando, driving off in a huff in one of the biggest chump moves ever."

Transcript of Ken Griffey Jr.'s press conference

Here is the full transcript of Ken Griffey Jr.'s press conference today in Peoria -- although it might be stretching the term to call it a "conference." Griffey sat on a table in the press room while reporters gathered around him and asked questions.

What struck me most was how somber Griffey was, particularly at first. He relaxed as he went on, but there was not nearly as much of the bantering and wise-cracking you usually get from Griffey.

Here's what he said:

"I'm only going to do this one time, and this will be the last time I talk about it.

"Last year, I felt it was necessary for me to remove myself from the team due to, I told Chuck and Howard, No. 1, if I become a distraction or feel I'm going to be a distraction, then I will retire. Because that's the one thing I didn't want to become is a distraction to the organization.

"Second, I gave myself a little bit of a head start. A lot of people that are friends of mine would have tried to talk me out of it. I just felt it was best for me and the organization to retire. No fault of its own. Things happen. I'm not upset. I think people thought I was upset. That wasn't the case. I just felt it was more important for me to retire, and instead of being a distraction...it no longer became the Seattle Mariners. It became when is Ken doing this. When it Ken doing that. That's something that I didn't want to have my teammates who I truly care about have to answer these kinds of questions day in and day out.

"With that being said, I'm happy to be back. I'm glad that the Mariners gave me an opportunity to be part of the future and what goes on from here on out. I'm looking forward to the challenges. I think it's going to be fun.

What are your duties? "I think me coming to spring training, it's just a matter of what they need me to do. Jay's here, that's going to help me out, he's done this a couple of times. I'll follow Jay's coattails, then I'll drag him on the road a couple of times."

Are you going to work with the minor leaguers? "That was part of the plan, to be able to travel and go see the guys. Being in the organization at age 17, you don't really know the ins and outs. Now I get an opportunity to go spend some time with the kids and give them my opinion on things and the way I see things."

When you retired, did you feel you still had anything left in the tank? "That's not important. The important thing is, it was time. That's all that needs to be said."

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Do you think you could have been talked out of your decision? "Those are what if question. I wanted to not be a distraction, it became a distraction. I did what was best for myself and the team."

Reflect on your career: "Just go out and play as hard as I could every day. That's the only thing that is important to me."

Have you spoken to Don Wakamatsu since you retired? "No."

Why you're not if not upset: "My phone rings. That's just the way it is."

Was it hard when you were driving home? "Yeah. I've been a professional since I was 17. You look at it, I had four days after I graduated from high school. People think it's easy, blah blah blah, it's not an emotional day. Yeah, it's emotional. It was best for me. I've always said I'm not going to have a big old press conference, but I guess people didn't believe me. That's not my fault. I always try to tell people the truth. I said I wasn't going to have a press conference and I didn't. No fault of its own. I just didn't think having a press conference is one of the things I really like to do."

Was it a relief when you got home? "It was just one of those things. You just don't stop becoming a dad. It was straight dad mode, picking the kids up and things like that. I had the two days to drive to think about what was going on. But once I got home it was, what do I have to do to make my kids life's easier."

Did it bother you that some fans didn't like the way you left? "I mean, you want me to apologize for something I felt was right? I felt it was right for me to leave. I'm not going to do it. It was not intended to hurt people. It was a decision I made that 15 years ago. It wasn't like it was something you guys hadn't heard before. I mean, you guys have heard it from day one. There are some people that are upset, and there are some people that are not. I can't worry about it. I had to do what I thought was best for me."

Was it weird being home in the summer? "Yeah, it was weird. I had to do what was best, drive a car to Atlanta, be around the kids and do their things. Just because a part of my life is over, I still have other parts that don't stop, and that's raising kids."

How long did it take to digest? "I don't know. You sort of get used to it now. I've been home for, what, nine months."

At what point did you reach your decision?"When I felt I was a distraction to the ball club."

Was that the day you left? "I don't know. I do know, but I'm not answering."

Are you sorry you came back in 2010, in retrospect? "No. No. I mean, things happen. No fault of its own. Things happen. I got to meet some great people last year. Am I sorry? No. If I wouldn't have done it, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet some of the people in Seattle I did meet, who still call me to this day. So, no, I'm not sorry I came back."

Is it odd to be here without Dave Niehaus? "Yeah, it's odd. If someone tell you it isn't, it is. You're definitely looking around, not seeing those white shoes, those tight pants he wears, that semi-tight shirt, and that voice. I think that's the biggest thing, that voice saying hello, teasing you, having a good time at the ballpark. That's the thing that the guys who have been here over the years is going to miss. Even the guys that have only been here a year or so are going to miss it too. I've known him since I was 17. Like I said in Seattle, he was like a grandfather to a lot of guys. He was one to me. I'm going to miss that. You're not going to be able to replace that. You can replace a player, but that voice, you can't do it. It's going to take 50 people. Even those 50, it's not going to be the same."

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Is it odd to be here without Dave Niehaus? "Yeah, it's odd. If someone tell you it isn't, it is. You're definitely looking around, not seeing those white shoes, those tight pants he wears, that semi-tight shirt, and that voice. I think that's the biggest thing, that voice saying hello, teasing you, having a good time at the ballpark. That's the thing that the guys who have been here over the years is going to miss. Even the guys that have only been here a year or so are going to miss it too. I've known him since I was 17. Like I said in Seattle, he was like a grandfather to a lot of guys. He was one to me. I'm going to miss that. You're not going to be able to replace that. You can replace a player, but that voice, you can't do it. It's going to take 50 people. Even those 50, it's not going to be the same."

Was there ever any question you would come back to the organization? "No. This is the organization I grew up in. If there was going to be an opportunity for me to be in baseball, it was going to be here. I got an opportunity to get a chance to do it. It's a lot of learning, because it is a little different. I'm still going to be the same person. I'm not going to change. You're going to now exactly how I feel. It's a chance to help kids get better. That's the one thing. You guys that have known me throughout my whole career. It's not that I'm jealous of anybody. If you work hard, you're going to get things. If you don't work hard, you're not. That's the things I'm going to express to young kids, that hard work doesn't start in the game. Hard work starts the night before."

WIll you be doing broadcasting (asked by Rick Rizzs): "I'll go up there with you a couple of times, but it's going to cost you."

Will they call you coach: "My pop warner football team did. I was coach Griffey, coach junior, coach ken. Some of them said, you just play baseball, what do you know about football? Try to answer that from an 8 year old, it's kind of tough. But we did well. No, Junior. I'm not going to change."

What will be your first lesson: "Just go out and play. The biggest thing is going out and playing baseball. That's it. Play baseball. Like I tell everybody, the game doesn't change from 7 to 8. Just the stands change. The people in the stands. The game is still played the same. You catch, hit throw. And it's how you execute that counts."

Will you wear a uniform the rest of spring? "No, I get a chance to hang out in street clothes. I don't think Rizzy would like me doing the broadcast in full uni."

When was the last time you swung a bat? "Two weeks ago in the Philippines. I went over there and did some US ambassadorship camps. I actually was at the same field Babe Ruth and a couple of other guys hit some home runs. I hit a few out. It was good. It was fun. We ran seven camps in four days. In between 75 to 125 kids, ranging from age 7 to 20. Had some kids who can really play baseball over there. A couple of girls softball teams were really unbelievable. They've got some kids who can play. It was very refreshing to go out there and not worry about what's right and what's wrong, just go out and teach. We had a blast. I didn't get a chance to go where Ali fought. They asked me to come back again, and I said that's the one spot I'd like to go."

It was fun. I really want to thank everybody... Even the Mariners helped out by telling me, you have prior obligations, go there and do that before you come here. Just come here when you can, and I was able to do it. And I'm here.

Wedge wants you to remind players of Mariners history: For the most part, it's baseball history, period, no matter what organization. Sometimes you forget who was here before you to help you out. I was fortunate growing up having guys like Joe Black and Brooks Lawrence and those guys at my house. Telling me about baseball. Willie Mays being at the house. People forget about that. It is different a little bit, it's just a mentality, but baseball hasn't changed. It's going out and playing. To have guys who have been through some of the things these guys are going to go through gives them a little heads up and a little warning, if you do right and do things well, you're going to be rewarded. If you're not, you're not going to make it. Everyone is here with one goal and that's to make it to the big leagues and ultimately play for a world championship. That doesn't start right when you get here. The preparation is the night before, or the offseason before you get here."

WIll you come out of retirement like Michael Jordan? "I was thinking about that in basketball. I was think about going to basketball. Much safer."

Is your commitment to the Mariners open-ended? "I still got the Woody Woodward contract for Trey, so it's around that. I think you have to look at it, I've been with this organization since I was 17. Whatever I can do, on and off the field, I'm going to do it."

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Mariner fan inks a tribute to Ken Griffey Jr.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Ken Griffey Jr. show up at Mariners' camp in Peoria, Ariz., at some point this spring tiger shoes, as he and the organization are working toward formulating a position for him. Team president Chuck Armstrong told me a couple of weeks ago that he envisioned Griffey as a "consultant on baseball,'' and added that they were still working on the specifics of his role. "It's all still to be deterimined. We have to talk to him about what he feels comfortable with. We want him to be comfortable, and he wants to be productive.''

I think having Griffey back in the organization will be a win-win. It's time to put the messy ending to his career aside and remember that he was the most important player in franchise history (with due respect to Edgar Martinez, Ichiro or any other Mariner stalwart of the past. Griffey was, for a time, the most famous and popular baseball player in America, and he put the Mariners on the map when they were, to the vast majority of the country, nothing more than an afterthought). Having him play a permanent role in the organization, as an advisor/instructor/goodwill ambassador, is a no-brainer.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this photo sent to me by 20-year-old Tanner Detschman of Lynnwood asics tiger shoes, who is a junior at the University of Washington studying to be a history teacher.

Detschman writes that "growing up was amazed by Griffey and his work on and off the field. To me, Ken Griffey Jr. is Seattle so I had my tattoo artist asics tiger, Jason Middleton of Deep Roots Tattoo in Seattle, place the Seattle skyline in the background of the tattoo."

Detschman said that Middleton worked off a Griffey sketch he found online. Detschman adds that he has just one other tattoo -- his last name. "This was a really important tattoo for me. In short cheap asics tiger, to me the tattoo is really important as Griffey is and always will be Seattle to me.''

Impressive work by Jason, and an extraordinary show of Junior support by Tanner. Me, I think I would have limited my devotion to a scrapbook.

It's Jackie Robinson Day: All players wear No. 42 today, thanks to Ken Griffey Jr.

Today is the day that baseball celebrates Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947 when he debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

All field personnel -- players, managers and coaches -- will again wear No. 42 in Robinson's honor, an idea that's credited to Ken Griffey Jr., pictured above with Mariner and Angels players before the Jackie Robinson Day game on April 15, 2009. In that game, Griffey was one of 12 major-leaguers to wear specially designed cleats featuring an engraving of Robinson sliding into home plate, and Robinson's No. 42 stitched on each heel.

Griffey rose to the occasion, hitting his 613th career homer (No. 400 as a Mariner, his second since returning to the club) in an 11-3 win over Angels. And Ichiro, in his first game off the disabled list from an ulcer, hit a grand slam. The win was the Mariners' sixth straight and lifted their record to 7-2. Ah, those were the days.

Griffey was actually the first player to wear No. 42 for a day in honor of Robinson, doing so on April 15, 1997 while with the Mariners for a game against Cleveland. That was the day in which commissioner Bud Selig announced that baseball was retiring No. 42 in Robinson's honor on the 50th anniversary of his debut. Griffey told reporters back then that the Jackie Robinson Foundation called his agent in spring to ask if he would considering wearing 42 (a reversal of his 24) all season in 1997.

"I talked to my dad and he told me numbers are special,'' Griffey said. "This is Jackie's number, not mine. I wanted to wear it for him (for one game) for all he did for the game."

Griffey wore his pants legs high and blacked out the Nike swoosh on his shoes and collar.

"This is the way he wore his uniform and his shoes, but, if he had had a shoe contract, it would've been Nike,'' Griffey said -- and the news reports said he winked.

Flash forward 10 years to 2007, the 60th anniversary of Robinson's debut, when Griffey, then with the Reds, called up Selig and Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widow, to again request wearing No. 42 for the day. That idea prompted Selig, two years later, to have all players wear the number.

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Mariano Rivera is the last player still active wearing No. 42 permanently. All players who were wearing No. 42 when it was retired in 1997 were given the option of keeping the number. Those players were Mo Vaughn (Red Sox), Tom Goodwin (Royals), Rivera, Mike Jackson (Indians), Scott Karl (Brewers), Marc Sagmoen (Rangers), Dennis Cook (Marlins), Butch Huskey (Mets)< Jose Lima (Astros), Kirk Rueter (Giants) and Jason Schmidt (Pirates).

Sagmoen (who is from Kennedy High School in Burien) had an interesting story. He was called up from the minors and made his major-league debut on April 15, 1997, the day Selig announced No. 42 was being retired. That happened to be the number he was issued for his first game, in which he made two outstanding catches, walked with the bases loaded, and was given the game ball by teammate John Wetteland after a win over the White Sox.

The next day, Sagmoen switched to No. 37, even though technically he could have kept it under the grandfather clause.

"I just didn't think it would be right,'' he told reporters. "I thought it would be better to retire it now. It was nice to wear it for one game, but I wouldn't have felt right to wear it every game.''

Sagmoen had actually been in the on-deck circle when the scoreboard in Arlington ran a clip of Selig announcing the decision to retire Robinson's number.

"If he had been in the dugout, we would've torn the jersey off his back,'' Rangers manager Johnny Oates said after the game.

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Ken Griffey Jr. arrives in Peoria

The only real "news" going on here today is that Ken Griffey Jr. walked into camp just about an hour ago. The Mariners have yet to give any indication whether he'll speak formally to the media and answer questions about his abrupt retirement and falling out with former manager Don Wakamatsu.

Until we know, I guess no news is...no news, right?

For those who don't understand no-trade clauses, there was some quasi-news today about Felix Hernandez and the teams on his no-trade list.

This doesn't matter because:

1. Hernandez isn't getting traded in 2011

2. The teams on his no-trade list are about the only ones that can afford to deal for him

The only thing worth noting about no-trade clauses for prime-time guys like Hernandez is that they'll usually put the wealthiest, most-likely destinations for them on the list so they can jack those teams up for more cash if a deal is about to be made.

We go through this every time the no-trade issue comes up. Unless we're talking about Kansas City or Cleveland, the no-trade lists are usually just a gambit by better players to maximize their conditions with a new club.

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If you didn't know this, it's OK. Most people get all worked up when no-trade lists are made public. Most of the time, it turns out to be nothing.

And like I said: Hernandez isn't going anyplace. It was good work by the story's author to get the list and make it public. And yeah, it might make sense to deal Hernandez. But the M's aren't about to do it.

End of story.

Until the next time.

So, what's going on for news? Well, Michael Pineda pitches tonight for the first time since we wrote that the fifth starter's job is his to lose. Pineda reads the papers and has good ears, so he's probably heard that he's the frontrunner by now. It will be interesting to see how he responds. Does he keep intimidating hitters, or does his stuff start flying all over the place? Does the fastball-changeup differential drop to 6 mph?

This is all part of the evaluation process. Probably no coincidence that word is getting out the team feels Pineda can be a fifth starter. They'll want to see how he handles that pressure before these games start to count for something.

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Bryce Harper learns how not to vent anger

Bryce Harper's frustrated swing cost him a little blood and a little embarrassment, but no time on the field.

The teenager was lucky.

Harper took out his frustration on a wall Friday night, slamming his bat hard against the side of the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. The barrel smacked off the wall and hit his temple just above the left eye, causing a gash that needed 10 stitches after a 7-3 win over Cincinnati.

He was in the starting lineup again on Saturday night, wearing a white bandage over the lump just above his eyebrow.

"No problem, no headache," the 19-year-old outfielder said. "I feel great. Ready to go."

Manager Davey Johnson initially thought Harper would need a couple of days to recover. Harper texted him after he got stitches on Friday night and said the doctor had cleared him to keep playing.

When Johnson saw him on Saturday, he relented.

"There wasn't any swelling around the eye to speak of," Johnson said. "So he can take out that anger on the opposing pitcher instead of the walls around here.

"He's real lucky, real fortunate. It could have been a heck of a lot worse."

It's been quite a two-week debut for Harper, who has been plunked and, now, has plunked himself while getting accustomed to the major league spotlight. Harper, the first overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft, had handled it well until Friday night.

His first promotion to the majors on April 28 drew comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr., the last 19-year-old to hit a homer batting left-handed. Harper hasn't hit a homer yet, but his two-week stint has been all about hitting.

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Philadelphia's Cole Hamels hit him in the back with a pitch last Sunday as a way of welcoming him to the majors. Harper responded by stealing home later in the inning. Hamels got a five-game suspension.

When the Nationals arrived in town on Friday, Harper was brought to the dugout for a session with local media covering his Cincinnati debut. Johnson praised the way he's handled all the attention.

Then, a rare night of frustration got to him.

Harper went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts. After he grounded out in the seventh inning, he went into the tunnel connecting the dugout to the clubhouse and took a whack at the wall. The bat flew back and hit him.

He stayed in the game even though blood was trickling from the cut, and struck out in the ninth inning.

It's common for players to vent frustration by throwing or swinging something. Most times, nothing happens. Harper's gash above the eye was a reminder that it's important to vent safely, a lesson the New York Knicks' Amare Stoudemire learned after punching a case surrounding a fire extinguisher after a loss to the Heat in the NBA playoffs.

One frustrated swing can make everything much worse.

"I've had teammates punch walls and break their hands," Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs said, referring to his days in the minor leagues. "You have to be careful or you could end up missing time."

Harper's gash got the attention of Reds rookie shortstop Zack Cozart, who has never hurt himself while throwing a fit.

"I've thrown helmets," Cozart said. "You get frustrated in the heat of the moment. I've never had anything like a bat come back and hit me. That's kind of scary."

Maybe he should be more like Reds All-Star second baseman Brandon Phillips, who doesn't see a point in throwing or hitting anything after a bad at-bat.

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"I laugh at myself," Phillips said. "I don't throw my helmet. It's not the helmet's fault. It's not the bat's fault.

"He's just trying hard. He's young. He'll learn. The older he gets, he won't do that. That just shows he's wearing his emotions on his sleeve."

Reds manager Dusty Baker learned how to handle frustration from a Hall of Famer early in his playing career.

"Everybody, when they're young, has a temper," Baker said. "I've seen guys throw their helmet on the ground and it bounces back up and hits them in the face.

"I remember one time I threw my helmet and Hank Aaron put his hand on the back of my neck and said he never wanted to see me do that again. I said, `OK, if you'll take your hand off my neck.' He said it's not the helmet's fault. Pick it up, put it where it belongs, go over and sit down and figure out how you're going to get him the next time."

Johnson attributed Harper's outburst to frustration brought on by trying too hard at the plate.

"I thought last night was one of the few times he was overly aggressive," Johnson said. "He's been patient, making them throw in the strike zone. Last night they threw a lot of off-speed stuff and he was chasing it.

"Obviously the whole night he was overly aggressive. He hit that wall pretty hard and maybe it knocked some sense into him."

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Lake Washington's Theo Alexander poised to take next step in baseball

For Theo Alexander, everything came together during one at-bat last summer.

The Lake Washington High School center fielder stepped into the batter's box at the prestigious Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif., to face a power pitcher from California. Alexander doesn't remember his name, but he remembers the first pitch. It was clocked at 97 mph.

It was the first time Alexander had faced a pitch that fast. He didn't swing. The pitcher mixed in a couple of curveballs, but Alexander wanted to hit the heat.

When he got another fastball, he smacked a line drive that landed just in front of the right fielder. That solid single gave him a sense of relief, and confidence.

He said he knew then that he could "hit anything" and channeled that into every batting-practice session leading up to his senior season.

"I realized I had to really work to achieve what I was trying to achieve," said Alexander, wearing a white and purple Lake Washington hat with a pair of sunglasses perched upside down on the bill.

Alexander has blossomed into one of the state's top prospects, playing with focus and confidence that has produced numbers, and moments, that continue to surprise Kangaroos coach Derek Bingham.

"He'll do something in practice or in a game that makes your jaw drop," Bingham said. "We had a round of batting practice here a week ago. I was just sitting up here, making the lineup, watching him hit and, out of 25 balls, he probably hit 18 of them out. It was amazing. It was something I've never seen before."

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Through 15 games this season, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound standout was hitting .525 with an OPS (on-base-plus-slugging percentage) of 1.738, 11 extra-base hits (four home runs), 22 runs batted in and 22 runs. Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara made a trip to his school last week. Scouts have been frequent visitors to Lake Washington games, and Alexander keeps giving them reasons to come back.

"If he doesn't go in the top five rounds (of the June MLB draft), I would kind of be surprised," Bingham said. "Nothing would shock me with him. He's as good a physical talent as I've been around in 10 years coaching high-school baseball."

Ask Alexander about his goals, though, and he starts with his teammates. He wants to help the Kangaroos win a KingCo Conference 3A title and a state championship.

Getting him to talk about his desire to be drafted and start playing minor-league ball right away, that takes some time.

"I want to play with the best of the best as soon as possible," he admitted after a little prodding.

An only child raised by a single mother, Alexander has never met his father.

"Never wanted to," he said. "I've just been trying to live my dream playing baseball."

Alexander's mother, Erin, said her son found father figures through coaches and other family members who served as mentors.

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"He's been blessed with strong men in his life," Erin said.

But Alexander credits his mother for getting him to this point.

"She is the most important thing in my life," he said. "Without her, I wouldn't be where I am today."

The left-handed hitter started playing when he was 5 and idolized Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. He continues to wear No. 24. Alexander had a Griffey-esque moment recently, crushing a grand slam in the Kangaroos' come-from-behind victory over Juanita.

"Big stages haven't bothered him," Bingham said. "He's hit well when we've been ahead. He's hit well when we've been behind. He's just been tremendous for us."

Scouts tell the family they project him to be drafted in the first 10 rounds.

"He can get there," Bingham said. "If he doesn't make it, who is going to? I hate to put that kind of pressure on him, but I've been in this league eight years and I don't know if I remember seeing too many guys who are as talented as he is.

"He's the total package."

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Thankfully, Felix Hernandez is a dominant Seattle sports star

I have this argument with friends all the time. Actually, it's more like a lament.

When the Sonics left four years ago and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, the most unfortunate part was that we lost Kevin Durant, who was destined to be the city's next transcendent star, an enchanting athlete who would brand Seattle sports in a positive manner, the next Ken Griffey Jr., Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, Ichiro, etc., in terms of making us undeniably relevant. Without Durant, Seattle is currently a city without a superstar, and not coincidentally, it's a city without a marquee team.

But the argument is where Felix Hernandez fits into this conversation. He's something short of a superstar, but he's one of the best pitchers in baseball, a 2010 Cy Young Award winner, and at 26, he's only getting better and more mature.

Does he influence winning? Well, that's the problem. The Mariners have yet to even sniff the playoffs with King Felix, but in baseball, it's impossible to expect a starting pitcher,who makes 32-35 starts a year, to carry a team. Hernandez has done his job. Over the past four seasons, Hernandez has a 49-32 record with a 2.67 ERA, 13 complete games and 722 strikeouts in 774 1/3 innings. And during this span, the Mariners have just one winning season and an overall record of 225-290 (.437 winning percentage). Hernandez is the ace of, well, what?

What are the Mariners? A frustrating, humiliating mess most of the time. But on nights that King Felix pitches, they're a competent baseball team, even though they've blown so many possible victories over the years by not scoring enough runs to support his stellar pitching.

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So, the easy argument-- which I disagree with --is to say that Hernandez isn't a superstar because the Mariners don't win enough, and he isn't a can't-miss performer who dominates highlight reels across the nation. Even though he's been among the game's best for a while, I'm not sure the nation even understands how great this kid is because others probably look at his record and think, "What's the big deal?" Of course, pitchers can only control half of what it takes to win, and Hernandez has done enough over the past four years to have much more than 49 victories on his record. But these circumstances shouldn't limit how special he is, not to the people who watch him regularly and rely on him to provide some rare Mariners' excellence once every five days.

King Felix, the ace of despair, was at his best Saturday night, throwing a one-hitter over eight innings, striking out nine Minnesota batters, as the Mariners snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 7-0 victory at Safeco Field.

In his last five starts, Hernandez is 2-1 with a 0.95 ERA. Only one of his seven starts this season has been sub-standard. On April 7 against Oakland, in the middle of a stretch of three straight starts against the same team, Hernandez allowed six earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Since then, he has been ridiculous. Overall, Hernandez is 3-1 with a 1.89 ERA, and really, he should be 6-1. In his three no-decisions, King Felix has an 0.75 ERA.

This incredible early start is a positive sign for a pitcher who traditionally picks up steam as the season progresses. It's even better for local sports fans who are starved for excellence. Hernandez's numbers speak for themselves, but during the prolonged period of transition in Seattle sports, it's appropriate that we say more to Hernandez for what he has done to entertain the frustrated masses.

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Pedaling past tornado-tossed homes and broken trees, Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson and about 100 bicyclists started a five-day, 300-mile bike trek across north Alabama on Tuesday to raise money for storm relief in the state.

The ride - dubbed "Bo Bikes Bama" - will pass through some of the communities hit hardest by more than 60 twisters that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed about 250 people last April 27. It coincides with a week of observances of the anniversary of the devastating onslaught.

The ride will include several celebrities, including former Major League Baseball player Ken Griffey Jr., seven-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, NBA star Scottie Pippen and downhill skier Picabo Street.

"They say there's a couple of areas we're gonna pass through that look somebody took a weed whacker and just took out a hundred yards or so," said Griffey, who has never seen tornado destruction up close.

A crowd of about 200 people cheered "Go Bo, Go," as the ride began in tiny Henagar, located in northeast Alabama's DeKalb County, where more than 30 people were killed. Before going to the starting line, Jackson met privately with 11-year-old Bryce Ferguson, whose parents and little sister Emma were among the dead.

"Everybody asks me why I decided to do this ride. It's because of people like Bryce," Jackson said. "He lost everything, but he is standing tall. He is going on with his life, and he's got people in his life that care about him and are loving him."

Jackson rode a specially made bike painted orange and blue, the colors of his alma mater, Auburn University. It also bears the name of every person who died in the twisters.

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The storms left a path of destruction that, all put together, stretched 1,000 miles long and 20 miles wide. The ride ends Saturday in Tuscaloosa, where more than 50 deaths were blamed on a tornado.

Riders got a glimpse of the way twisters hop-scotched across the state a year ago, passing from unaffected neighborhoods into zones that looked like logging crews had cut down every tree and left bare, scarred dirt.

The group passed a splintered green house that doesn't appear to have been touched since the twister yanked it from its foundation; riders pedaled past the roofless remains of a country store. Speeding down a hill, riders came within yards of an old yellow milk truck that has been buried in a hillside to serve as a tornado shelter.

Jackson, who grew up near Birmingham in Bessemer but now lives in Illinois, said he hopes to raise $1 million for the governor's relief fund and increase awareness about the continuing problems caused by the twisters. Gov. Robert Bentley said the state still has some $140 million in unmet needs.

Organizers will auction off five different bicycles Jackson plans to ride during the event, and individuals can ride along for a donation of $200.

Bicyclist John Maples, who rode with two friends on the first leg, said the region needs a boost like "Bo Bikes Bama."

"It means a lot to me. We had a lot of people affected," said Maples. "It's great. It's appreciated."

Shannon Pruett, a fan of Auburn, where Jackson won the Heisman in 1985, kept her three children out of school to stand along the roadside and cheer the riders as they passed a road still lined with tornado debris and twisted, splintered trees.

"I told my husband this isn't going to happen again, they needed to see it," said Pruett.

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