Let me see if I have this straight

The USA Today piece on Ken Griffey Jr. was, in Junior's way of thinking, not that big a deal, and certainly not worth the attention it received in the home clubhouse yesterday afternoon. Apparently, it was just coincidence that a national newspaper had a guy in Atlanta for the weekend just, you know, hanging around hoping it'd be OK with Junior if he wrote a big piece about, among other things, the Reds' RF's desire to return to Seattle.

It was also happenstance that the writer has been a frequent and favored Junior chronicler for years.

And really, you know, there is nothing new, because #3 said the same stuff in Seattle last year. The fact that he's coming up on an option year that the Reds most surely won't exercise is simply coincidental.

And what Junior meant when he said he wanted to return to Seattle was he wanted to retire the way Emmitt Smith did with the Cowboys.

Right.

Look, I have as much respect as anyone for how Junior has conducted himself his entire career. When he hits 600, we should all feel very good about it. Unlike Sammy and Bonds, it will be an occasion to celebrate.

But don't insult my intelligence on this one. The interview in Atlanta was not happenstance. The desire to exit stage right is real. The notion he'd like to win a championship here is, well, a little transparent. If you're a veteran star looked to for leadership, or at least looked to by younger players because of your achievements, maybe you don't go national with this sort of information when your team is in the tank.

That said, as I wrote in the Enquirer this morning, there really is nothing else to be gained from the Reds-Junior partnership, except maybe a few more tickets sold for the prospect of 600 homeruns. And even that benefit is dubious, given how little the club has marketed the achievement and how faint the interest in it is among Reds fans.