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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

The Sunday Funnies

Adrian Beltre, the superb third baseman of the Texas Rangers, is a rare species -- despite the wicked grounders and liners that are the usual fare at the hot corner, he doesn't wear a protective cup. He finds it too uncomfortable.

In 2009, playing for Seattle, he paid a high price when a wayward grounder nailed him in the worst place. Beltre hit the disabled list for more than a month with what was described as "lacerated testicles," a diagnosis that makes every male I know cringe.

When he returned, teammate Ken Griffey Jr. made suitable arrangements with the guy who plays the walk-up music at Safeco Field. Beltre was serenaded on his first trip to the plate with The Nutcracker Suite.

Imperfect umpiring; Griffey retires

I feel for Armando Galarraga, who would have had a perfect game tonight had Jim Joyce gotten the call right on the 27th batter.

And I feel for Joyce, generally regarded as one of the better umpires. It was not — at least for a well-trained major league umpire — a particularly difficult call. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it; it wasn't a case where he was looking at the feet but the out made on a tag.

Joyce should have gotten it right. He didn't. And in a different era, we wouldn't be as certain that he got it wrong as we are.

That said, I reject the Joe Morgan contention that umpires should favor the pitcher throwing a not-hitter or perfect game. The umpires should be trying to make the right call, no matter who it favors. Joyce failed, but it was an honest failure.

---

The second shoe from the Griffey-napping story fell today. Ken Griffey Jr. retired, saying he never wanted to be a distraction.

He was no longer a productive player, and he was no longer playing.

A great player, a joy to watch. I will remember him from his first tour of duty with Seattle. And for throwing out Michael Cuddyer at home in Game 163 of the 2008 season, when Junior was with the White Sox.