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Ken Griffey Jr. is hitting .253 with 20 homers and 60 RBI this year.
Ken Griffey Jr.'s season-ending injury hit Barry Larkin hard.
"He's my buddy. I hate to see it happen to him, both personally and professionally," Larkin said Wednesday.
"He was doing well. He seemed to be getting his stroke back. And he was happy again. In years past, I don't think he had as much fun as this year."
Griffey will miss the rest of the season because of a torn right hamstring, the latest setback in a long line of injuries for Cincinnati's All-Star outfielder.
Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek said an MRI exam showed Griffey ruptured his right hamstring last week in San Francisco. He will have surgery Monday.
Griffey, who hit his 500th career home run earlier this season, could be fully recovered in time for spring training, Kremchek said.
The Reds said Griffey was hurt while making a sliding catch in right field. He had moved over from his usual spot in center field for the game, his first action in nearly four weeks since tearing his hamstring in Milwaukee.
"He had a complete rupture of the hamstring off the bone," Kremchek said. "He knew it wasn't right, and that's why he hadn't really played since he injured it in San Francisco.
"He didn't come back (to Cincinnati) earlier because I think he was hoping he would be able to get over this and pinch hit or he'd be able to do something to help the team."
The injury is similar to one Griffey had on his left side three years ago. But that one was a partial tear that healed without surgery, Kremchek said.
"Knowing he's going to be out for the year, it's a really big blow," Reds closer Danny Graves said after Cincinnati's 11-1 loss to Los Angeles. "Nobody really suspected anything. To find out in the middle of the game was very discouraging."
Catcher Jason LaRue said he was surprised by the news that reached the dugout in about the third inning.
"He said he didn't really feel anything," LaRue said. "But I guess it wasn't getting better."
Larkin said Griffey often endured pain in silence, or wasn't affected by it as much as some players.
"He's got a tremendously high tolerance for pain," Larkin said.
In recent years, Griffey has been plagued by injuries.
He missed more than a month in 2001 because of a torn hamstring that bothered him throughout that season. He then spent two long stints on the disabled list in 2002 because of a torn knee tendon and a torn right hamstring.
Griffey went on the DL twice again last year for a dislocated right shoulder and torn ankle tendon.
This year, he was voted an All-Star starter for the 12th time, but had to drop out after straining his right hamstring right before the All-Star Game.
Griffey has played in 83 of the Reds' 113 games, hitting .253 with 20 homers and 60 RBI. He had just one homer once since hitting No. 500 on June 20.
Earlier Wednesday, Griffey stayed behind to talk to majority owner Carl Lindner after the team picture was taken.
He had joked in the clubhouse about Adam Dunn's mammoth home run Tuesday night against Los Angeles. The ball traveled an estimated 535 feet on the fly, bounced on the street outside Great American Ball Park and came to rest on a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River.
"Someday I'll be that strong," Griffey said.
He also said he was available to pinch hit. The Reds announced the injury about four hours later.
Source: AP
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