COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Mariners radio broadcaster Rick Rizzs was there when Ken Griffey Jr. broke into the Majors as a 19-year-old kid in 1989. He was there when Griffey grew into a superstar and the national face of baseball in the '90s. And he was there when Griffey played out his final games at Safeco Field in 2010 and rode off into the sunset.
So, no, Rizzs wasn't about to miss the crowning moment in Griffey's career. Although the Mariners are playing this weekend in Toronto, the club flew Rizzs to Cooperstown on Saturday morning along with longtime trainer Rick Griffin, former teammate and current hitting coach Edgar Martinez and veteran radio producer and engineer Kevin Cremin.