Notes, quotes and comment

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza joke about wearing their
caps backward during their Hall of Fame presser Thursday.

No surprise here: Ken Griffey Jr. said his Hall of Fame plaque will have a Mariners cap. Also not really a surprise: He says the cap will be worn in the traditional manner, brim forward. Junior, of course, was known for wearing his cap backwards during batting practice, and there was some chatter about having it backwards on his plaque.

Mike Piazza will have a Mets cap. There's a pretty good argument that it should be a Dodgers cap, but neither would be a mistake.

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The three naysayers on Griffey have yet to fess up, so the current assumption is that they weren't skipping him to game the ballot. Whatever their reason, I'm not particularly wound up by the mystery; they didn't keep Griffey from going in.

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A Ken Griffey factoid I love: Both he and his father, Ken Griffey -- the right fielder on the Big Red Machine of the 1970s and a darn good player himself -- were born in Donora, Pennsylvania. Which makes the elder Griffey the third best left-handed hitting outfielder born in Donora.

Who else hailed from there? Stan Musial. That's a pretty good outfield for a town best known for a killer smog.

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Former Twins outfielder Denard Span signed with the Giants: three years, $31 million. There were some Twins fans dreaming of him as the fourth outfielder, but he was looking for a starting job, and $10 million a year is not reserve outfielder money.

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Former Twins catcher Josmil Pinto got designated for assignment this week, this time by the Brewers. The Twins waived him early in the offseason, and the Padres claimed him, only to waive him themselves and see the Brewers claim him.

My guess is that his merry-go-round will end without a 40-man roster spot, but there are apparently a number of teams hoping to be the one that gets him through waivers and onto their Triple A roster. For his sake, I hope it's an American League team, because most of his value, if he has any, figures to be as a designated hitter.