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| Sunday, July 9 | |||||
| Griffey will compete in HR Derby | |||||
| CINCINNATI -- Junior can play Home Run Derby, but he can't
play in his 11th All-Star game.
The Cincinnati Reds told Ken Griffey Jr. to sit out the All-Star
game Tuesday in Atlanta to rest his sore right knee. He'll be
allowed to defend his Home Run Derby title, but that's all.
"I have no say. Well, I do to a certain extent," Griffey said
Sunday. "I guess they feel I don't need to aggravate it anymore.
I'll do the home run competition, then rest for two days."
Griffey has been wearing a protective brace for the last couple
of weeks because of his sore knee, Dr. Timothy Kremchek. Kremchek
and general manager Jim Bowden talked to Griffey before a 5-3 loss
to Cleveland on Sunday and told him to sit out the All-Star game.
"We think it's in the best interests for the baseball team that
he not play, not run the bases, not play the outfield, take the
three days off," Bowden said. "We're in a pennant race and he's
an important part of this team and it's about winning games."
Arizona's Steve Finley was chosen to replace Griffey on the NL
All-Star roster.
Griffey hurt his knee when he pulled up in the outfield on July
1 in Arizona. He argued with his father, bench coach Ken Sr., when
the Reds decided to remove him from the game later on.
Kremchek said Griffey aggravated the knee while rounding third
base in a game in St. Louis last week, forcing him out of the
starting lineup for one day. The Reds said at the time that Griffey
was sick, and Griffey said he had a headache and stomachache.
The outfielder hopes the knee heals to the point where he can
stop wearing the brace, which limits his movement.
"I don't like wearing that brace," he said.
Despite the injury, the Reds let him play all nine innings of a
14-5 victory over the Indians on Saturday. Griffey homered twice
and drove in a career-high eight runs.
Griffey was in the lineup Sunday and made a nice running catch
on Travis Fryman's sinking liner to center in the fourth inning. He
went 0-for-3 and was ejected after arguing a called third strike
with home plate umpire Justin Klemm.
Kremchek said Griffey was disappointed he couldn't play in the
All-Star game.
"He wanted to play in the All-Star game," Kremchek said. "We
felt batting in the home run competition was not going to aggravate
it. We thought Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off should have him
as close as he's going to be for the second half."
| ALSO SEE Griffey ejected as Vizquel, Indians top Reds Griffey, Bonds join All-Star Game absentees list | ||||