Willie, Mick and the Kid

Junior’s back (or at least he was) leaving fans to wonder what might have been

Just when you come to appreciate how much you’d missed the joy of Ken Griffey — way more than you’ve missed, say, the joy of Barry Bonds — the Kid goes missing.

Conflicting reports here. One has Griffey done for the year, another surgery required, after rolling over on his right ankle in Houston Sunday. Another had Griffey out running Tuesday, assuring he’d be back “ when I can do what I have to do.”

We’re pulling for the second opinion . . . that he’s back soonest, plumping up the .301, 35 homers and 92 RBIs he’d mustered through — an even more encouraging stat — 128 games. Which is more games than he’d managed since 2000, when he got Cinci fans all hot and bothered with 40 homers and 118 RBIs in his first year with the Reds after 11 in Seattle.

Griffey got Cinci fans all hot and bothered the next four seasons, too, but this time because of his injury- influenced averages of roughly 80 games, 16 homers and 43 RBIs.

Considering his average of 50 homers his five seasons ( 19962000) previous, it’s conceivable that those four semi- lost seasons, even at 40 homers per, cost Griffey close to 100 homers. Meaning, instead of the mere 536 career homers that now have him tied with Mickey Mantle for 12th on the all- time charts, Griffey, still just 35, could have been a couple of dozen from challenging Willie Mays’ fourth- ranked 660.

Mantle, by the way, had been third on that list, trailing only Mays and Babe Ruth’s 714, when he retired prior to the ’ 69 season. And Hank Aaron had been eighth at 510. NO REGRETS:

What might have been, however, doesn’t seem to matter a whole lot to Griffey anymore. In a recent piece on ESPN. com, for instance, Jerry Crasnick had this telling comment from agent and long- time family friend Brian Goldberg: “ Kenny’s at peace with his standing in the game. He knows who he’s been, who he’s not anymore and who he’s capable of being in the next few years.” CLOSE SHAVE:

In any case, it appears Cinci team doctor Tim Kremchek — the guy who performed the radical, but obviously successful, surgery on Griffey’s troublesome hamstring last August — will be spared some radical changes to his self. According to Crasnick, the good doctor had accepted a wager from Griffey during spring training. Griffey hits 50 homers — the Kid was obviously feeling frisky — and Kremchek would have to shave his head and grow a pair of Shaquille O’Neal sideburns as a tribute. Turned out, too, that every time Griffey connected, he made sure Kremchek got called with an update.

“ If he has a big September,” Kremchek said before the recent turn of events, “ I’m going to have one ugly off- season.” WELCOME BACK:

And did we just hear the name Barry Bonds mentioned somewhere recently? Why, yes, right up top there and know what? The big fella’s just about ready to add his presence to the Giants’ last-ditch run at the Padres. This could get surreal.

Rehabbing on his own in L. A. most of the summer, Bonds rejoined his teammates this week when they visited the Dodgers. He took regular and rigorous BP all three days and was all set to see some live pitching prior to Wednesday’s session when the Dodgers suddenly advised the field would not be available. And why not? Because the Dodgers would be using it for their team photograph. No, these two aren’t very heated rivals. CASE IN POINT:

When Giants pitcher Jason Schmidt was forced out of Wednesday’s game with a strained groin, the Dodgers played him off with “ Hit the Road, Jack.” When it was suggested to Brad Lilly, the guy who plays the music for the Dodgers, that this seemed rather bush, Lilly replied: “ He’s a Giant.” TROPHY FISH:

In helping beat the Nationals 12- 1 Wednesday, the Marlins’ Dontrelle Willis not only joined Chris Carpenter in the 20- win circle but, with a single and double of his own, also became only the fifth pitcher in 20 years to log both 20 wins and 20 hits. The others:

Mike Hampton, 22- 4 with 23 hits for the 1999 Astros.

Bill Swift, 21 of each for the 1993 Giants.

Fernando Valenzuela, 21- 11 with 24 hits for the ’ 86 Dodgers.

Dwight Gooden, 24- 4 with 21 hits for the ’ 85 Mets.

“ It’s kind of breathtaking,” said the 23-year-old Willis, who grew up in Oakland and idolized Dave Stewart when he was winning 20 for four straight years with the A’s. “ It’s historic. It’s a beautiful thing — not only for baseball, but for my team.”

Willis, 7- 2 with an 0.99 ERA his last nine starts ( his losses were by 3- 1 and 1- 0), is hitting .256 on the year ( 20 for 78) with nine RBIs. GOLDEN SILENCE:

So Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of Cal Ripken’s 2,131st straight game — the one that took him past Lou Gehrig — and they did it up at Camden Yards, drawing all of maybe 18,000 for the occasion. Yes, there’s disillusionment over the O’s in Baltimore.

In any case, everybody got to reminisce and here’s ESPN’s Chris Berman, who, with broadcaster partner Buck Martinez, remained silent the entire 22minute Ripken tribute when that game became official in the fifth: “ You had the distinct feeling that there were eyes watching well beyond the people in the ballpark. It was a celebration of the game . . . a celebration of America.

“( Ripken) was circling the stadium and shaking hands with fans and security guards and teammates. Make no mistake, it hit Buck and me and we were just about crying, too. But we thought, ‘ Let everyone just see this.’ If we had spoken, we couldn’t have made it any better.

“ And we wound up winning an Emmy for that broadcast. I’ve probably gotten more praise for those 22 minutes when I didn’t speak than for the 26 years when I did have something to say. So there’s probably a message in there somewhere.” Personal interviews, other publications, websites, wire services and the Elias Sports Bureau were used in this compilation.