Ken Griffey JR Out for Season

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11 Aug 2004

Griffey out for season

Complete tear of hamstring requires surgery

By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com

CINCINNATI -- At least Ken Griffey Jr. stayed healthy long enough to join the 500 home run club.

The Reds announced during Wednesday's game against the Dodgers that Griffey has a complete tear of his right hamstring and will have season-ending surgery to reattach the tendon on Monday morning at Beacon Orthopedic Hospital in Cincinnati. "It's similar to the injury he had to his left side three years ago," said team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who will perform the surgery. "That healed up without surgery, but to have a complete rupture -- off the bone -- to continue to play baseball, he'll need to have the hamstring reattached. He'll miss the remainder of the year, and the hope is for him to be ready for Spring Training."

For that to happen, Griffey will have to undergo a rigorous rehabilitation program following the surgery.

"The rehab will have to be aggressive," Kremchek said. "We have to reattach the tendon to the bone, give it a chance to heal and then get back the motion and build up strength."

Griffey had been on the disabled list with a partial tear since July 11. He went 2-for-3 in an attempted comeback against the Giants on Aug. 4.

According to Kremcheck, that's when Griffey tore the hamstring.

"He was doing great with the hamstring and he played a game out on the West Coast in San Francisco," explained the doctor. "He made a sliding play for a ball and actually hyperextended his left leg and re-aggravated his hamstring. When he came off the field it was tight and painful.

"It continued to be very tight and painful to him through the rest of the road trip and yesterday we had a chance to look at him and he had a noticeable change in his strength and how his hamstring felt. We immediately got an (MRI) scan, which showed that he had a complete rupture of the hamstring off the bone up where the hamstring originates. It's a grossly different injury than he had a month ago where it showed a partial tear. This is completely pulled off the bone."

The severity of the injury surprised the entire Cincinnati clubhouse, including Reds manager Dave Miley.

Since tearing the hamstring in San Francisco, Miley had used Griffey twice as a pinch-hitter.

"By no means did I think it was as bad as it was," Miley said. "He told me, and he told [the media] that he was available. If I had known, I wouldn't have pinch-hit him.

"We knew it was bothering him, but I don't think anybody knew it was going to take surgery to repair it."

Not even team captain and close friend Barry Larkin.

"When he was in right field for that game in San Francisco, he made a sliding, backhanded catch." Larkin said. "He pulled me aside and told me he popped it. He came out of that game, but he walked out. You had no idea he had pulled it off the bone or whatever. He has a high tolerance for pain."

Unfortunately, Griffey's had to display it far too often since coming to Cincinnati.

This marks the fourth time in five years since joining the Reds that Griffey will miss more than 50 games because of an injury. He's been on the disabled list six times since 2001 -- three of them have been hamstring injuries.

"The tendon was beat up over the years and this was just the final straw," said Kremchek. "He knew it wasn't right. That's why he hadn't played since he injured it in San Francisco. He was hoping that he'd get over this and maybe be able to pinch-hit or help the team in some way. It was pretty obvious yesterday, it just wasn't right."

Griffey, who will be placed on the 60-day disabled list, will finish the 2004 season hitting .253 with 20 home runs and 60 RBIs in 83 games.

"It's extremely disappointing," said Reds general manager Dan O'Brien. "As an organization we also feel very bad for Junior. He's been through a lot in his career and I'm sure he's extremely disappointed as well."

As for Griffey's spot on the roster, the Reds plan to announce a move on Thursday.

"Obviously, with us just finding out, we have not had an opportunity to talk with [Reds manager Dave Miley] and his staff," said O'Brien. "We'll do that after the game and my suspicion is that we'll announce something [Thursday]."

Todd Lorenz is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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