"Mr. Junior."

Ken Griffey is back with the Mariners. A few former Timber Rattler players can't wait for Junior to get to camp.

When Mariners first-base hopeful Bryan LaHair was a teenager, his buddies pooled some cash together for a birthday gift.

They bought him a painting of Ken Griffey Jr. he'd seen while wandering around Cape Cod. Though he'd grown up in Massachusetts, surrounded by die-hard Red Sox fans, LaHair idolized the sweet-swinging Griffey.

"I tried to emulate his swing in high school," said LaHair, a left-handed power hitter. "It wasn't like his. But I had his posters up on my wall."

The painting went up there, too. It's now in the bedroom of LaHair's brother, Jeff, who phoned Wednesday night after the Griffey deal was announced to reminisce about a childhood dream.

"It's really strange because I used to sit there dreaming of being a teammate of his when I was younger," LaHair said. "I mean, a lot of kids probably did that. But for me, it's actually going to happen. My brother called me and reminded me of that."

Mariners young and old reminisced about their favorite Griffey moments and pondered what they'd ask the slugger once he arrives in camp Saturday. The Mariners have planned a 12:30 p.m. PST news conference, then will see Griffey take the field Sunday with his new teammates.

Catcher Jeff Clement had a similar conversation with his brother by phone Wednesday, remembering how he'd pretend to be Griffey during backyard Wiffleball games in Iowa. Clement had been wondering how he'd address his boyhood idol.

"What do you call a guy like that? What do you refer to him as?" Clement asked. "And my brother made the joke 'Just call him Mr. Junior.' "

And it isn't just the hitters.

"All the younger guys are very excited to have him in the clubhouse," Mariners pitcher Ryan Feierabend said. "A lot of the guys looked up to him. The guys I'm talking about are guys who watched him in the home-run derbies, stuff like that. As far as the veterans, I'm sure they're just as excited as we are."

Feierabend ('04), LaHair ('04), and LaHair ('05) won't have to wait much longer.