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Ken Griffey Jr. is approaching this grueling rehabilitation like all the rest. He has no doubt that he'll recover fully, and hasn't thought about retiring for even a moment.
The outfielder tore a tendon in his right ankle last Thursday and will be out for the season, his sixth major injury in four seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.
Griffey showed up in the clubhouse in a walking boot before Wednesday's game, optimistic about his chances of a full recovery. He had surgery on Friday to repair the shredded tendon, and will have surgery in the next few weeks on his right shoulder, which he dislocated April 5.
Asked if he had ever thought of retirement, Griffey said, "I'm 33. If I was like 40, yeah. But I'll come back. The shoulder is not that bad. The ankle is going to heal. I'll come back next year ready to go.''
Since coming to his hometown team in a February 2000 trade, the All-Century outfielder hasn't had a season without serious injury. He has averaged only 82 starts a year because of torn hamstrings, a torn tendon in his knee, the dislocated shoulder and the ankle tendon.
Griffey was upbeat as he sat on a black equipment trunk in the clubhouse on Wednesday, his right ankle elevated in a protective boot. There was no self-pity as he spoke publicly about the injury for the first time.
"This is what I love to do,'' he said. "I just have to work at getting back to playing the game I love. It's tough when you're not playing, but hopefully this is the last of it and it will be different from the last three years.''
Since he arrived in his hometown to a giddy welcome in 2000, Griffey's performance and his popularity have slipped substantially because of the injuries.
Some fans taunted him as he lay on the ground after he dislocated his right shoulder while diving for a fly ball on April 5. He returned after a 5 1/2-week rehab, even though the shoulder wasn't fully healed. He'll need surgery to fix tears in the shoulder.
When he left the field after tearing the tendon in his ankle, some fans booed before others applauded his effort. Griffey, who has bristled at fans' harsh treatment in the past, said he understood the fans' frustration.
"That's just the nature of life itself,'' he said. "They see it from one side, we see it from another. It's something you accept and move on. Nobody's more frustrated than me.
"It makes it tough when people don't know the effort you put into it and don't appreciate it.''
Griffey said his wife and children were in the stands and heard the boos.
"It was really tough for her to hear the fans,'' he said. "I did hear a lot of the cheers, and I appreciate the fans who stood behind me. Those are the people who really count.''
Griffey's unwavering determination to make another comeback doesn't surprise shortstop Barry Larkin, his closest friend on the team.
"He has been remarkably upbeat during the course of it all,'' Larkin said. "He's been disappointed in the fact that he wasn't able to go out and play, but he hasn't been downtrodden and beat up to the point that (he'd say) 'This isn't working, this is ridiculous, why am I putting myself through this?' The injuries have not beaten him own.''
Griffey said the injuries won't change the way he plays the game. He has five years left on a $116.5 million contract.
"You just can't fear injury,'' he said. "When you start protecting yourself, then things are going to happen.
"It's just a part of my makeup. If I go down, I go down. It's not for a lack of effort.''
The outfielder tore a tendon in his right ankle last Thursday and will be out for the season, his sixth major injury in four seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.
Griffey showed up in the clubhouse in a walking boot before Wednesday's game, optimistic about his chances of a full recovery. He had surgery on Friday to repair the shredded tendon, and will have surgery in the next few weeks on his right shoulder, which he dislocated April 5.
Asked if he had ever thought of retirement, Griffey said, "I'm 33. If I was like 40, yeah. But I'll come back. The shoulder is not that bad. The ankle is going to heal. I'll come back next year ready to go.''
Since coming to his hometown team in a February 2000 trade, the All-Century outfielder hasn't had a season without serious injury. He has averaged only 82 starts a year because of torn hamstrings, a torn tendon in his knee, the dislocated shoulder and the ankle tendon.
Griffey was upbeat as he sat on a black equipment trunk in the clubhouse on Wednesday, his right ankle elevated in a protective boot. There was no self-pity as he spoke publicly about the injury for the first time.
"This is what I love to do,'' he said. "I just have to work at getting back to playing the game I love. It's tough when you're not playing, but hopefully this is the last of it and it will be different from the last three years.''
Since he arrived in his hometown to a giddy welcome in 2000, Griffey's performance and his popularity have slipped substantially because of the injuries.
Some fans taunted him as he lay on the ground after he dislocated his right shoulder while diving for a fly ball on April 5. He returned after a 5 1/2-week rehab, even though the shoulder wasn't fully healed. He'll need surgery to fix tears in the shoulder.
When he left the field after tearing the tendon in his ankle, some fans booed before others applauded his effort. Griffey, who has bristled at fans' harsh treatment in the past, said he understood the fans' frustration.
"That's just the nature of life itself,'' he said. "They see it from one side, we see it from another. It's something you accept and move on. Nobody's more frustrated than me.
"It makes it tough when people don't know the effort you put into it and don't appreciate it.''
Griffey said his wife and children were in the stands and heard the boos.
"It was really tough for her to hear the fans,'' he said. "I did hear a lot of the cheers, and I appreciate the fans who stood behind me. Those are the people who really count.''
Griffey's unwavering determination to make another comeback doesn't surprise shortstop Barry Larkin, his closest friend on the team.
"He has been remarkably upbeat during the course of it all,'' Larkin said. "He's been disappointed in the fact that he wasn't able to go out and play, but he hasn't been downtrodden and beat up to the point that (he'd say) 'This isn't working, this is ridiculous, why am I putting myself through this?' The injuries have not beaten him own.''
Griffey said the injuries won't change the way he plays the game. He has five years left on a $116.5 million contract.
"You just can't fear injury,'' he said. "When you start protecting yourself, then things are going to happen.
"It's just a part of my makeup. If I go down, I go down. It's not for a lack of effort.''