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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, June 3, 2010

Griffey Jr. ends career



Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr., left, and Milton Bradley share a laugh during last night's game against Minnesota. Griffey, 40, announced he was retiring from baseball.

ELAINE THOMPSON | Associated Press

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SEATTLE — The Kid has called it quits.

Just the way Ken Griffey Jr. wanted, there will be no farewell tour for one of the greatest players in baseball history. Instead, Griffey simply informed the Seattle Mariners last night his career was over.

The 40-year-old Griffey unexpectedly announced his retirement before Seattle's game against Minnesota after 22 seasons, 13 all-star appearances and widespread acclaim as one of the greatest players of his generation.

"While I feel I am still able to make a contribution on the field and nobody in the Mariners front office has asked me to retire, I told the Mariners when I met with them prior to the 2009 season and was invited back that I will never allow myself to become a distraction," Griffey said in a statement.

A star from the time he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 1987 draft, Griffey played 22 years in the majors with Seattle, his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. He hit .284 with 1,836 RBIs and will end his career fifth on the all-time home run list with 630.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

YANKEES 9, ORIOLES 1

Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson hit two-run doubles in the second inning in support of Phil Hughes (7-1) as host New York handed Baltimore its seventh straight loss.

RED SOX 6, ATHLETICS 4

Baldwin High alum Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run homer, but David Ortiz hit a two-run homer to give host Boston the lead for good at 4-3 in the fifth inning of its comeback victory over Oakland.

RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 3

David Price (8-2) became the AL's first eight-game winner and Carl Crawford hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to rally visiting Tampa Bay past Toronto.

RANGERS 9, WHITE SOX 5

Matt Treanor homered and drove in a career-high four runs to lead visiting Texas, which lost Vladimir Guerrero to an eye injury during batting practice.

ANGELS 7, ROYALS 2

Torii Hunter homered and drove in three runs, and Bobby Abreu hit his 500th career double to lead visiting Los Angeles over Kansas City.

MARINERS 2, TWINS 1

Ryan Langerhans scored from second base on an infield single by Ichiro Suzuki with two outs in the bottom of the 10th as Seattle beat Minnesota to win its first extra-inning game of the season.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 2, PHILLIES 1

Omar Infante, replacing the injured Chipper Jones, lined a two-out, run-scoring single in the eighth inning as host Atlanta completed a three-game sweep.

DODGERS 1, DIAMONDBACKS 0

Garret Anderson hit an RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the 14th inning, helping Los Angeles hand Arizona, which has not scored in 31 innings, its 10th straight loss.

PADRES 5, METS 1

Adrian Gonzalez hit a grand slam on a 1-1 pitch from Raul Valdes (2-2) with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift San Diego over New York.

CARDINALS 4, REDS 1

Chris Carpenter (7-1) beat Cincinnati for the eighth straight time and Matt Holliday homered to help visiting St. Louis move into a first-place tie with the Reds in the NL Central.

ASTROS 5, NATIONALS 1

Carlos Lee hit a two-run home run and Wandy Rodriguez (3-7) snapped his three-game losing streak in helping host Houston beat Washington.

BREWERS 7, MARLINS 4

Carlos Gomez drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and George Kottaras followed with a two-run homer as visiting Milwaukee beat Florida.

GIANTS 4, ROCKIES 1

Aaron Rowand hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth inning and Matt Cain (4-4) gave up a run and four hits over eight innings to lead host San Francisco past Colorado.

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