Can Junior be counted on?

This seems to be an annual question for the Reds, because it is always an annual sight: Ken Griffey Jr... not at one hundred percent.

Though not perceived to be an injury bordering on breach of contract, Griffey broke his left hand while wrestling with his kids on a yacht in the Bahamas. Griffey is in the spring training complex getting the hand rehabbed, but now his pre-season hopes have been pushed back and delayed.

Only once in his seven-plus season tenure with Cincinnati has Griffey played in more than 128 games, after eclipsing the 140-games played mark with Seattle in seven of his eleven seasons there. Two players that come to mind that had such records are former outfielders Eric Davis and Fred Lynn.

The three have many similarities; dangerous hitters with power, and gifted outfielders in their prime. Davis was too tightly wound and was a muscle pull waiting to happen. Lynn's career was cut short by too many risky dives & leaps in the outfield. The injury bug seems to knock on Griffey's door every season, for one reason or another.

Give the Cincinnati fans credit for having forgiven Griffey his injury history; as we saw in 2005, when healthy, he could still be a 40-homer force. Whether he takes care of himself in the off-seasons is known to him alone and is his business, but when you are a key offensive cog in the Reds attack even after all these years, preventive maintenance is a must. With Wily Mo Pena long gone (to Boston last season), Griffey's clubhouse presence and power-wielding bat become more imperative if the Reds hope to catch the Cardinals in the NL Central.

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Can you believe some baseball writers actually came down to Lakeland (Fla) to see the Detroit Tigers' pitchers take fielding practice?

If they were expecting to see more kamikaze-like plays in the field, they were mistaken; practice came off as perfectly routine. The Tigers' defense was much better in 2006 than in years past, so to me, the cough-ups in the World Series were not due to a lack of talent. With a year of pressure and learning experiences behind them, I wouldn't expect such a practice to warrant media coverage. They will be just fine.