Griffey is a Mariner, they say

If the latest reports are to be trusted, Ken Griffey Jr. is a Mariner.

I am... unmoved. It's not just the whiplash of yes-he-is-no-he-isn't over the past few days. Nostalgically, I've got nothing. When Griffey roamed Kingdome turf back in the 'day, I wasn't much of a Mariner fan. Geography played the largest role--I lived in Montana during his rookie season, knowing him only through baseball cards--and when we moved to the Evergreen state in the early 90s, I settled on "America's Team" as my team. Atlanta. It was a bandwagon choice, I admit. I was twelve, so I think it's excusable.

It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that I realized that I would bind myself to Washington state for the duration, and so geography redirected my fanaticism. I've been a Mariner fan ever since.

But it's never been about individual players. Free agency precludes that. I may be young, but I'm old enough to remember the waning of the one-hero, one-team era. Kirby Puckett or Cal Ripken types who stayed loyal to the franchise. Those days are long gone, and it saddens me a little that I'm no longer saddened by the change.

Update: More Griffey-blogging, by Emmett O'Connell.