Gene Warnick here, who covered the Mariners in 1997-98 for The Herald. Three Junior stories to pass on: 
- The first was at Everett Memorial Stadium, when he was playing for the Baby M's. It was a Sunday afternoon and Junior was horsing around before the game. He picked up a ball near the backstop behind the plate and motioned for one of his teammates to "go long," like a wide receiver in football. As the other player kept running into center field, Griffey continued to motion him to go deeper. Junior finally launched a pass that took one hop of the wall in the deepest part of the park. I turned to the Everett Giants' GM, Damon, and asked if he had seen that. Damon continued to stare straight ahead and said, "I'm glad you said something, because I didn't believe my eyes."