The Lowdown on Griffey and Bichette

Mark McGwire vs. Ken Griffey Jr.?

Well, there’s that too, but the real contest is between Griffey and teammate Dante Bichette.

It’s the ongoing battle of the Mendoza Line.

Can the Reds’ vaunted acquisitions maintain a .200 average now that they have finally cleared that hurdle?

Bichette, a .300 career hitter, is batting .222.

Griffey a .299 career hitter, is at .211 and telling reporters, “If I knew [why], we wouldn’t be talking about it, would we?”

Griffey, at least, leads the Reds with eight homers and 26 runs batted in. Bichette has only two homers and six RBIs.

“I don’t care about batting averages,” the Reds’ politically correct manager, Jack McKeon, said. “I care about run production, and [Griffey] does have [eight] home runs and he does lead us [in RBIs]. He’s going to hit and Bichette is going to hit. I wish we had four or five guys with [26] RBIs. I think we’d be in good shape.”

Bichette, the former Colorado Rocky who insists he wouldn’t have approved the trade to Cincinnati if he wasn’t confident he could hit away from Coors Field, hasn’t homered in 82 at-bats and, in desperation, has begun taking batting practice in baggy gray pants he’d pilfered from a Turn Back the Clock game against the New York Mets in late April.

“I’m trying to turn back the clock and find my old swing,” he said.

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With the St. Louis Cardinals having come to a three-year, $15-million agreement with second baseman Fernando Vina, General Manager Walt Jocketty has made it clear his next objective is buying Jim Edmonds out of his free-agent eligibility with a multiyear contract.

Agent Paul Cohen said there have been no substantive negotiations yet, but the Cardinals would be given every opportunity “and if there’s a marriage, great. St. Louis was on the preferential list of eight or nine cities that he gave the Angels, and nothing has dissuaded him from thinking it was a good choice. He’s really enjoyed the team, the atmosphere and the city, but he’s also trying to stay focused strictly on baseball. He’s having an MVP year. If he puts up the numbers, there’ll be no shortage of callers.”

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Let’s see: Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder Brian Giles complains about giving away a game against the Reds last week because the pitchers walked too many, so one of the pitchers, Jason Christiansen, says, “How would he like it if us pitchers said we’d win more games if the hitters would get some clutch hits? No wonder there’s no team unity here. When I see stuff like that, I just want out of here.”

Nice.

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John Rocker took a hit from a surprising and internal source the other day. Atlanta Brave broadcaster Pete Van Wieren, in a stark departure from his usual scholarly tone, took the closer to task in an on-air commentary for a lack of contrition regarding his Sports Illustrated comments and his ongoing taunting of the media.

“Since this is an issue that is not going to go away completely,” Van Wieren said, “the solution begins with John. He has to be aware that he’s under a very intense microscope.”

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The Cardinals began the weekend with 58 homers in 27 games, a pace projecting to 348. The 1986 Cardinals hit 58 for the season.

Whitey Herzog, the ’86 manager, called the current onslaught “the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. We’re going to see 3,000 homers in the major leagues this year. We used to start the season hoping to break the [Roger] Maris record [of 61] as a team.”