When Junior was in Appleton

I am a little late to this, but I wanted to have something to post along with the news that Ken Griffey, Jr. has retired.

Geoff Baker and Larry Stone both have nice pieces up on their blogs at the Seattle Times website.

And I am sure there will be a few more over the next few days.

What I was waiting on - and received today thanks to Ann and Jay back at Time Warner Cable Field - were a few pictures. Pictures of Junior in Appleton.

Back when the Rattlers were the Midwest League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, Junior came to Appleton twice for an exhibition game between Seattle and the Rattlers. The pictures below are from the 1996 game. Well, before the game. From what I have been told, the game was rained out and they just held a home run contest. If you can correct me on the details, please do so.

These first two pictures are from the old newsletter that the Timber Rattlers used to put together. Oh, 1996, you were a crazy time before the internet became as developed as it is now.

I think that you would recognize the gentleman with Junior in the picture on the right even without the caption. But, click for a larger image.


The Timber Rattlers player on the left in the picture below is Joe Mathis. Mathis played for the Timber Rattlers in 1995 and 1996. Click for a larger image.

The Mariners returned to Appleton for another exhibition game in 2002, but I was not there. This was back in my hockey days, and I was off in Sioux City, Iowa for a Green Bay Gamblers playoff game.

There were no readily available pictures of Junior from that game, but if you have any feel free to send them along to me at Rattlerradio@timberrattlers.com.

Thank you, Junior. It was always a pleasure to watch you play.