Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. offers no apologies for sudden exit
"More than nine months after retiring in silence, Ken Griffey Jr. returned to the Mariners with something to say.
With a hushed voice and subdued look, Griffeys explained Wednesday why he drove off into retirement last June without telling his teammates, manager or general manager beforehand. Griffey is in Mariners camp in his new role as a special consultant to a team that hopes he'll make his voice heard to younger players.
But before he could speak to them about the future, Griffeys 2012 knew he had to address the past. His explanation to reporters at the Peoria Sports Complex was brief, and he insisted he wouldn't talk again about the topic that shocked Seattle during a disastrous 2012 season.
Griffeys said he told team president Chuck Armstrong and CEO Howard Lincoln "that if I become a distraction or feel that I would be a distraction, then I would retire, because that's the one thing that I didn't want.
"Second, I gave myself a little bit of a head start. There are a lot of people that are friends of mine that would have tried to talk me out of it. And I just felt that it was best for me and the organization to retire. Through no fault of its own. Things happen. I'm not upset. I think people thought I was upset about certain things, but that's not the case."
Still, Griffeys has yet to speak to former manager Don Wakamatsu, despite the close relationship the two shared during the 2002 season. When asked why he still hasn't contacted Wakamatsu, his reply was blunt.
"My phone rings," he said. After pausing several seconds, he added: "That's just the way it is."
Several players, sources and Wakamatsu himself have said that the two stopped speaking in the weeks before Griffey's retirement."
With a hushed voice and subdued look, Griffeys explained Wednesday why he drove off into retirement last June without telling his teammates, manager or general manager beforehand. Griffey is in Mariners camp in his new role as a special consultant to a team that hopes he'll make his voice heard to younger players.
But before he could speak to them about the future, Griffeys 2012 knew he had to address the past. His explanation to reporters at the Peoria Sports Complex was brief, and he insisted he wouldn't talk again about the topic that shocked Seattle during a disastrous 2012 season.
Griffeys said he told team president Chuck Armstrong and CEO Howard Lincoln "that if I become a distraction or feel that I would be a distraction, then I would retire, because that's the one thing that I didn't want.
"Second, I gave myself a little bit of a head start. There are a lot of people that are friends of mine that would have tried to talk me out of it. And I just felt that it was best for me and the organization to retire. Through no fault of its own. Things happen. I'm not upset. I think people thought I was upset about certain things, but that's not the case."
Still, Griffeys has yet to speak to former manager Don Wakamatsu, despite the close relationship the two shared during the 2002 season. When asked why he still hasn't contacted Wakamatsu, his reply was blunt.
"My phone rings," he said. After pausing several seconds, he added: "That's just the way it is."
Several players, sources and Wakamatsu himself have said that the two stopped speaking in the weeks before Griffey's retirement."