Griffey's Advice Gave Upton a Boost
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/03/13/griffeys-advice-gave-upton-a-boost/
TUCSON, Ariz. – Justin Upton has been compared to Ken Griffey Jr. on more
than one occasion.
You know, strong, swift, able to leap tall buildings ... all that kind of
stuff.
He says the comparison is "nice," but adds a cautionary note that while
Junior has two decades in the game, "I'm working on my third year."
Still, the 22-year-old right fielder of the Arizona Diamondbacks may well be
following the same kind of career path that the now 40-year-old Griffey did
as Seattle's first legitimate superstar many moons ago.
Upton was taken out of high school with the first pick in the June draft in
2005. Griffey was the first pick out of high school, too, back in 1987.
Griffey needed just one full season in the minors before he debuted in the
majors as a 19-year-old and was an All-Star at 20. Upton, too, was in the big
leagues after one full season in the minors and was an All-Star at 21.
Upton is the owner of a new six-year, $51.25 deal, roughly comparable to the
four-year, $24 million deal Griffey signed with the Mariners in 1992 when he
was 22 and the best center fielder in the game.
Since that time, Griffey has gone from being The Kid to being one of the
game's elder statesmen. So when Upton struggled some last year with the
Diamondbacks suffering through a losing season for the first time since he
made it to the big leagues, having to go through a managerial change and see
the clubhouse get a little snarky, some talks with Griffey helped Upton get
his mind right.
"I've got a long way to go," Upton said Saturday morning of the comparisons
with Griffey. "But he's been good to me, really helped me out."
The two first met five years ago when baseball's winter meetings took place
in Orlando, about six months before Justin would play his first big league
game. He was in the company of his brother, B.J., then an up-and-coming third
baseman for Tampa Bay and now the Rays' center fielder.
"We first talked a bit in Orlando," Upton said, "and he started giving me
advice as I needed it.
"That was great for me, because he was the player I looked up to when I was
growing up. We really kind of hit it off."
Asked about the nature of the advice, Upton said it was just baseball stuff,
"a natural conversation."
Griffey, who will be the Mariners' DH this year, explained Saturday morning
that sometimes young players "just get lost."
"Everybody goes through it," Griffey said. "I went through it. I tell 'em,
'Keep going.' That's it. The guy can flat play baseball. Just keep going
[and] be yourself.''
Asked about his elder statesman status in general, Griffey said he's
comfortable with the role.
"[It's] because I've been around so long," Griffey said. "People think I know
everything. I've seen a lot, been through a lot and when someone [else] is
going through something you've been through, you can tell them that. This
isn't an easy game, not for anyone."
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