By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Aug. 20, 1998

SEATTLE -- Maybe late at night, in the confines of his home, with his wife and children asleep, Ken Griffey Jr. looks at films and considers his impact on baseball history, and those before him. He might even get wistful in those rare moments of solitude, considering what is and what might never be.

But not in the clubhouse of the Seattle Mariners, or at batting practice, or even watching the scoreboard as Mark McGwire smashed his 50th and 51st home runs of the season. For Griffey, who has 42 homers and went 54 at-bats until that 42nd this week, claims he really doesn't care about his home runs, let alone those that leave the bats of McGwire or Sammy Sosa.

Griffey is having trouble enjoying the game as the Mariners keep losing. (AP)

HE IS DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE HE AND the Mariners aren't in a pennant race. It's his priority to be concerned about the future of his team -- one year removed from being the AL West champs -- and now eight games away from having the worst record in the league. As for reaching Roger Maris' home-run record of 61, that really doesn't matter. He concedes being the son of an All- Star in Cincinnati put a lot of attention on him. But it wasn't about individual records or home runs then, and it isn't now.

"I play the game because I love baseball, that's it," Griffey said. "I've been playing since I was a little kid and I still feel the same way about the game -- I love being out there. I'm not doing anything different than I ever have and I just play the game. I don't want to talk about home runs. I don't know why I can't get it through everybody's head. I know people have always been watching me.

"Listen ... here I am a 130-pound high school kid, knowing my dad only hit 21 career home runs (at that point). Who am I going to pattern my game after? Some guy I never met, Roger Maris, or my dad, the man who came home at night. Man, it doesn't make any sense why people don't get that. When my dad came home, the last thing he wanted to do is talk about baseball and I'm the same way."

Junior has made it clear all right. He has bellowed long enough and loud enough that he doesn't care about the accolades that you would expect people to believe him. But he also knows baseball history like the career home runs of Rod Carew and Ted Williams hitting .406, and can visualize oh so many of the fabulous catches Willie Mays made.

He also has 336 home runs and he's just 28 years old. Too bad he broke his left wrist in 1995 and right hand in 1996 -- and that followed the strike year in 1994. He very likely could be right on 400 home runs before his 29th birthday -- something that's never been done in major-league history. Maybe Hank Aaron's record of 755 wouldn't seem so far away, although there seems little logic in mentioning that concept.

NONETHELESS, THAT'S THE OBVIOUS REASON why people want to talk home runs with Griffey. A reporter mentioned he witnessed Griffey's home run as a 6-year-old in a father-and-son game in Riverfront Stadium. It was a hot grounder that ran all the way through the infield to the wall.

"I remember that first home run, sure," Griffey conceded. "I also remember my first catch in a game and the first time I ran out on the field. I don't know why everybody just wants to talk about home runs, because I don't. I just love the game of baseball. I've been around the game for 20 years. I'm just lucky to be able to play the game for a living."

Luck, as in genetics. The dichotomy of his love for the game and lack of interest in history, smacked as the ramblings of a frustrated soul.

The game didn’t help. The Mariners fell behind 4-0 to the Blue Jays Thursday night in the first inning, primarily due to a three-run home run off the bat of Jose Cruz Jr., a future star the M's traded last season for relief pitching that does little more than cause indigestion. It also came the night after a 16-2 loss featuring seven Toronto home runs -- it's tough to be critical of Griffey’s position.

That might cause us to show a little empathy for Griffey. Certainly McGwire does, offering praise before his two home-run spectacle at Shea Stadium Thursday.

"Griffey's having another great year," McGwire told reporters. "People are talking about how he hasn't been hitting home runs (lately). Look at the way he goes out there every day. He jumps over fences, takes home runs back. That's something, as a fan and a player, I love to see."

AN HOUR BEFORE THE GAME WITH the Blue Jays, they flashed McGwire hitting his second home run of the night for the Mets. After discussing McGwire's kind words for him and Sosa's MVP-year with the Cubs, Griffey continued his strange ambivalence toward the game.

"I don't care about McGwire, Sammy, none of those guys," Griffey said. "None of that matters to me. I care about these guys (his teammates). I care about Alex (Rodriguez) getting his 40 (home runs)-40 (stolen bases). I don't care about my home runs unless we win games, why should I care about McGwire's?"

He then proceeded to hit a rocket into the upper deck in right field, another over the 405- mark in dead center, then he hit the facing of the upper deck in right field. On three pitches.

"Look, I just love to hit a baseball," he added. "I always have. I love the game. The records and all the discussion about history . . . that's for other people. It's just not for me."

With that comment, he strolled in and hit a fourth home run into the seats. It was tough to argue some of his points. Easy not to believe others. For someone who loves the game so much and is perhaps the best all-around player of this era, the sad part is he doesn't seem to be enjoying it very much.

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