THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016
SPORTS
Griffey elected to Hall
with highest percentage
Elaine Thompson/AP Photo
Seattle Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. smiles from beneath a pile of teammates who mobbed
him after he scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning of a baseball game
against the New York Yankees in Seattle in 1995.
Griffey topped the pre-
vious high percentage of
98.84, set when Tom Seaver
appeared on 425 of 430 bal-
lots in 1992. The identities of
the three writers who did not
vote for Griffey was not im-
mediately known.
“I can’t be upset,” he said.
“It’s just an honor to be elect-
ed, and to have the highest per-
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A player needs to appear
on 75 percent of ballots to
gain election. Jeff Bagwell
missed by 15 votes and Tim
Raines by 23. Trevor Hoff-
man, second on the career
saves list and appearing on
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was 34 short.
Fishermen host games
Friday, Saturday
The Daily Astorian
ESTACADA — Two bits
of good news this week for
the Astoria boys basketball
team: A 58-50 win at Estaca-
da Tuesday, and news that
starter Justin Fruiht does not
have a fractured knee cap,
and will return in two to
three weeks, Astoria coach
Kevin Goin said.
Fruiht injured his knee
vs. Sandy in the finale of
the Vince Dulcich Tourna-
ment.
In the meantime, Derek
Jarrett scored a game-high
23 points in Tuesday’s win,
which included a pair of
dunks to close out the con-
test.
Ryan Palek added 10
points and Ole Englund
scored eight for Astoria,
which led 20-8 after one
quarter.
Tied 31-31 at halftime,
the Fishermen outscored the
Rangers 12-6 in the third pe-
riod.
Astoria continues non-
league play Friday, when the
Fishermen host North Marion
for a girls-boys doubleheader,
with the tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
The action continues Sat-
urday, when Astoria hosts a
doubleheader with Stayton,
beginning at 4:30 p.m.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys Basketball —Ilwaco at
Raymond, 7 p.m.
Swimming — Astoria at Tilla-
mook, 4 p.m.
FRIDAY
Girls Basketball — North Mar-
ion at Astoria, 5:30 p.m.; Seaside
at Newport, 5:30 p.m.; De La Salle
at Warrenton, 6 p.m.; Vernonia at
Knappa, 6 p.m.; Jewell at Country
Christian, 5:30 p.m.; Ilwaco at Ta-
coma Baptist, 7 p.m.
Boys Basketball — North Mar-
ion at Astoria, 7:15 p.m.; Seaside
at Newport, 7:15 p.m.; De La Salle
at Warrenton, 7:45 p.m.; Vernonia
at Knappa, 8 p.m.; Jewell at Coun-
try Christian, 7 p.m.; Ilwaco at Ta-
coma Baptist, 7 p.m.
Wrestling — Seaside Pac Rim,
3:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Girls Basketball — Stayton at
Astoria, 5:30 p.m.; Warrenton at
Riverdale, 4 p.m.
Boys Basketball — Stayton at
Astoria, 7 p.m.; Warrenton at Riv-
erdale, 5:45 p.m.
Swimming — Seaside at The
Dalles Invite, 10 a.m.
Wrestling — Seaside Pac Rim,
10 a.m.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Astoria 58, Estacada 50
AST (58): Derek Jarrett 23,
Palek 10, Englund 8, Strange 5,
Fremstad 5, Arnsdorf 4, Gohl 3.
EST (50): Sam Blankenship 11,
McDaniel 10, Albrecht 9, Kirch-
hofer 8, Smith 6, Sittner 6.
Astoria
20 11 12 15—58
Estacada
8 23 6 13—50
OES 46, Warrenton 37
OES (46): Ian Holzman 13, Zack
Halsey 13, Olander 11, Lamb 7,
Spindel 2.
WAR (37): Christian Holt 13, Co-
chran 9, Knight 8, Little 4, Wilson
3, Alcobendas.
OR Episcopal 4 13 18 11—46
Warrenton
7 6 14 10—37
Elder Griffey beams
about son entering
Hall of Fame
atop Seattle’s famed Space
Needle hours after his elec-
tion.
The backward hat was
SEATTLE — For a mo-
ment, forget about what Ken a signature of Griffey as
Griffey Jr. was as a profes- PXFKDVKLVVPLOHWKHÀDZ-
less swing and the highlight
sional.
Ken Griffey Sr. remem- catches. The elder Griffey
bers a time when his son was said the family was hoping to
a kid, before he became The JHWWKHFDOORQKLVVRQ¶V¿UVW
Kid, running around the Cin- year of eligibility; the highest
cinnati Reds clubhouse with vote percentage was a shock.
the sons of other players like
“I’m just a proud father,
Tony Perez and Pete Rose.
just glad everything went the
And, of course, wearing right way,” Griffey said. “He
his dad’s hat backward in or- did the things that he was
der to see.
supposed to do the right way
“You’re talking about a and that is what is most im-
kid 7, 8, 9 years old and his portant to me.”
thinking was, ‘I can’t see
The two Griffey’s will
to catch the ball, I got to be linked as father-and-son
do something to make this SURIHVVLRQDOVDQGVSHFL¿FDO-
KDW ¿W¶ 6R KH MXVW WXUQHG ly the time they spent with
it around backward and the Mariners in the same
he got used to doing that,” lineup in the 1990-91 sea-
Ken Griffey Sr. recalled on sons before the elder Griffey
Wednesday after his son was retired. When they were in
elected to baseball’s Hall of the lineup together, father
Fame. “He would come in all typically batted second and
the time and turn it around son third. They homered
backward just to play catch. back-to-back in September
And that’s what was the fun- 1990 at Angels Stadium off
ny part. A lot of people didn’t Kirk McCaskill.
understand it. ... He never
For the older Griffey, be-
disrespected the game. This ing in the lineup together was
was a game he knew and he special — and a little odd the
loved and he enjoyed play- ¿UVWWLPH
ing.”
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The younger Griffey heard me being in the batter’s
took his place in the Hall box and hearing somebody
along with Mike Piazza on holler out ‘Let’s go dad!’ and
Wednesday. Griffey will he’s the hitter behind me,”
go to Cooperstown with Griffey said. “That was a
the highest vote percentage strange feeling. I had to step
at 99.3, getting 437 of 440 out of the batter’s box and
ballots. That bettered Tom get myself back in order to
Seaver’s 98.84 in 1992.
think about what I’ve got to
*ULIIH\¶V1RZDVÀ\- do, which is try to get a base
ing high, too, on a banner hit.”
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK — Ken
Griffey Jr. was considered
Mr. Clean during 22 years in
the major leagues, untainted
by accusations of drug use as
he climbed the home-run list
during the height of the Ste-
roids Era.
He nearly made a clean
sweep in Hall of Fame vot-
ing.
Griffey received 437 of
YRWHVLQKLV¿UVWDSSHDU-
ance on the Baseball Writers’
Association of America bal-
lot, a record 99.3 percent.
“It’s real simple,” he ex-
plained after Wednesday’s
announcement. “I’ve always
said that I’ve got to look my
kids in the eyes and you want
to play fair.”
Mike Piazza, the top of-
fensive catcher in baseball
history, was elected, too, and
will be inducted along with
Griffey in Cooperstown on
July 24. Among the many
muscled sluggers whose ac-
complishments were ques-
tioned during a time when
chemists preyed on clubhous-
es, Piazza was made to wait
until his fourth appearance
on the ballot. After falling 28
votes shy last year, he was
selected on 365 (83 percent).
He wouldn’t say whether
he was upset about being sul-
lied by suspicions.
“That’s the freedom we
have,” Piazza maintained.
“You can say these things,
and that’s the country we live
in.”
7A
Knappa 70, Neah-Kah-Nie 61
KNA (70): Dale Takalo 37, Weir-
up 18, Severson 8, Miller 5, Rubus
2, Engblom, Eltagonde, Geisler,
Hendrickson, Hunt, Goodman.
NKN (61): Max Halverson 20,
Croman 10, Hooley 10, Spliethof
6, Champ 5, May 4, Davidson 2,
Kelly 2, Holm 2.
Knappa
14 16 25 13—70
Neah-Kah-Nie 12 16 10 23—61
Livingstone 59, Jewell 36
LA (59): Pierce Kroschel 22,
Magee 11, O’Dell 8, Hermus 6,
Halvorsen 5, Castorena 4, Men-
doza 3.
JWL (36): Sean Hinson 14, Silva
8, Murray 4, Stahly 4, Ritchie 2,
Meehan 2, Lyon 2, Munk.
Livingstone 21 14 21 3—59
Jewell
6 9 2 19—36
GIRLS BASKETBALL
OES 43, Warrenton 31
OES (43): Rachael Haugh 13,
Harms 10, Schlendorf 6, Lowell
4, Dellit 4, Garner 4, Sipowicz 1,
Aaron 1.
WAR (31): Sophia Thomas 7,
Landree Miethe 7, Little 5, King 5,
K.Blodgett 4, Bussert 3, Morrill,
Schenbeck, Dyer, M.Blodgett, Di-
ego, Hunt.
OR Episcopal 12 11 14 6—43
Warrenton
4 7 8 12—31
Neah-Kah-Nie 48, Knappa 14
KNA (14): Paris Vanderburg 8,
Corder 3, Vandergriff 2, McMahan
1, Miethe, Strain, Inman, Truax.
NKN (48): Alaina Holm 14, Scull
13, Romig 10, Lambert 6, Clifford
2, Sherman 2, Dunn 1.
Knappa
5 3 2 4—14
Neah-Kah-Nie 19 11 6 12—48
Livingstone 39, Jewell 27
LA (39): Emillie Hathaway 20,
Forshee 13, Beaver 2, Clute 2,
Hasslen 2.
JWL (27): Gabi Morales 11, Guil-
len 10, A.Littlepage 3, Kaczenski
3, Olvera, Haddock, H.Littlepage.
Livingstone 10 11 12 6—39
Jewell
7 8 8 4—27
Total ballots dropped by
109 from last year after writ-
ers who have not been active
for 10 years were eliminat-
ed under a rules change by
the Hall’s board of direc-
tors. With a younger average
electorate, Roger Clemens
rose to 45 percent and Barry
Bonds to 44 percent, both up
from about 37 percent last
year. Clemens has denied
using performance-enhanc-
ing drugs, and Bonds said he
never knowingly took any
banned substances.
“They were Hall of Fam-
ers before all this stuff start-
ed,” Griffey said.
Mark McGwire, who
admitted using steroids, re-
ceived 12 percent in his 10th
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Half of baseball’s top 10
home run hitters are not in
the Hall: Bonds (762), Alex
Rodriguez (654), Jim Thome
(612), Sammy Sosa (609)
and McGwire (583). Rodri-
guez, who served a yearlong
drug suspension in 2014, re-
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appearance on the ballot will
be in 2018.
Griffey believes drug-test-
ing, which began in baseball
in 2003, should eliminate the
possibility of stigma for the
current generation of players.
“There won’t be any ques-
tions and you’ll know from
here on out,” he said.
NFC Playoff Picture: Every team
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By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Pro Football Writer
Carolina didn’t make it to
the playoffs perfect, and maybe
that’s a good thing as they rest
and recalibrate for the playoffs.
Arizona fended off Seattle,
which came storming back from
a stumbling start.
The Vikings overtook the
Packers in the North but Green
Bay reached the playoffs once
again, and the Redskins capi-
talized on a bad division and a
good quarterback decision to re-
turn to the postseason party.
Each of the half-dozen NFC
teams still standing have rea-
son to believe they’ll put their
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Trophy next month. But each
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derail those dreams.
The NFC gets going Sunday
when the Seahawks (10-6) vis-
it the Vikings (11-5). Then, the
Redskins (9-7) host the Packers
(10-6).
The Panthers (15-1) and Car-
dinals (13-3) each earned a bye.
Here’s a look at the biggest
strength and weakness of each
of the six NFC playoff teams:
Seattle Sea-
hawks quarter-
back Russell
Wilson (3)
throws as Ari-
zona Cardinals
cornerback
Jerraud Powers
(25) looks on
during the first
half of an NFL
football game,
Sunday, in
Glendale, Ariz.
Ross D. Franklin
AP Photo
cords for yards (4,671) and TDs
(35). Larry Fitzgerald and John
Brown surpassed 1,000-yards
receiving and Fitzgerald’s 109
catches broke the franchise mark
he set a decade ago. Rookie Da-
vid Johnson has a team-high 13
TDs and is a big-play threat as
both a runner and receiver.
• Why they won’t: Protect-
ing their passer and pressur-
ing the other QB. If Arizona
can’t run, the O-line could be
overwhelmed by the pass rush.
Pressuring the opposing quar-
terback, especially without a
blitz, has been a problem. The
mid-season addition of Dwight
Freeney helps, but he’s not an
every-down disruptive force.
• ”It brings some guys down
to earth and get back to work.”
Palmer on the Cardinals’ 36-6
loss to Seattle last week.
• ”We’re excited about the
opportunity to play those guys
again in our house. They em-
barrassed us the last time we
played them.” — wide receiver
Mike Wallace, on facing the Se-
ahawks again.
4. REDSKINS:
• Why they’ll hoist the Lom-
bardi: Believe it or not, Kirk
Cousins. The fourth-year QB is
playing the best football of his
career at the most opportune
time — heading into the play-
1. PANTHERS:
offs and heading into free agen-
• Why they’ll hoist the Lom-
cy. He led the NFL in comple-
bardi: Cam Newton. The Pan-
tion percentage at 69.8, ranked
thers scored more points than
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any team in the league this sea-
set a franchise mark with 4,166
son behind the versatile New-
passing yards, and threw for 23
ton, a leading MVP candidate.
TDs and only 3 INTs over the
+HEHFDPHWKH¿UVW1)/TXDU-
last 10 games.
terback to throw for 35 touch-
• Why they won’t: This team
downs and run for 10 scores in
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including a suspect running
career.
3. VIKINGS:
• Why they won’t: Health.
• Why they’ll host the Lom- game and a shaky defense. And
The Panthers are struggling in bardi: Defense. With 14 sacks, if Washington beats Green Bay
recent weeks with their pass seven takeaways and two touch- in the wild-card round, it would
rush and lost starting cornerback downs over a three-game win- EHWKH¿UVWYLFWRU\DOOVHDVRQIRU
Charles Tillman for the season ning streak to close the regular the Redskins against a team that
in Week 17 to a torn ACL. Till- season and win the NFC North, ¿QLVKHGDERYH
• ”He’s been a great leader
man is the second cornerback to this group is in a groove. It’ll be
suffer a season-ending injury in even better if nose tackle Linval for us on offense. He’s exactly
the last week.
Joseph, who missed four of the what we need right now. We’re
´:H¿QGRXUHGJHLQSOD\- ODVW¿YHJDPHVZLWKDWRHLQMXU\ JRLQJ WR NHHS ¿JKWLQJ EHKLQG
him.” — tight end Jordan Reed,
ing in front of our home crowd. returns to the lineup.
Everything feels just right. We
• Why they won’t: Iffy of- speaking about Cousins.
don’t have to travel to a hostile fense. Teddy Bridgewater is
environment.” — Newton on 17-11 as a starter but he passed
5. PACKERS:
KDYLQJ KRPH¿HOG DGYDQWDJH for 250 yards just four times this
• Why they’ll host the Lom-
and playing in a stadium where season. If they fall behind quick- bardi: No one wants to face
they have won 11 in a row.
O\WKHLUUXQ¿UVWIRUPXODIHDWXU- Aaron Rodgers in the playoffs.
ing Adrian Peterson implodes When healthy, the offensive
and protecting Bridgewater be- line is capable of opening holes
2. CARDINALS:
• Why they’ll hoist the hind a so-so O-line gets harder. for bullish running back Eddie
Lombardi: NFL’s best offense. Exhibit A: their 38-7 home loss Lacy. The defense and special
teams have been strengths for
Carson Palmer set franchise re- to Seattle a month ago.
most of the year.
• Why they won’t: The of-
fense has been searching for
consistency all season, especial-
ly since they were exposed by
the Denver Broncos on Nov. 1,
sending them tumbling through
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big-play woes after 17 weeks
are slim and injuries have rav-
aged their O-line.
• ”We’re 16 games in, so you
kind of are who you are, but
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it all together for four quarters.”
— Rodgers.
6: SEAHAWKS:
• Why they’ll hoist the Lom-
bardi: Russell Wilson is hot and
Marshawn Lynch is back from
abdominal surgery. The two-
time defending NFC champs
know what it takes to win in the
playoffs even if they have to hit
the road to do it. They’ve won
six of seven, including all three
road games. Wilson has 24 TD
passes and one interception in
that streak.
• Why they won’t: St. Lou-
is showed the blueprint for
stopping the Seahawks with its
Week 16 win in Seattle. The
Rams hounded him, dominat-
ed the line of scrimmage and
disrupted the entire Seahawks
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road at Minnesota in frigid con-
ditions and, if it wins, at Caro-
lina, both for early West Coast
starts.
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that we can go wherever we got
to go,” coach Pete Carroll.
AP NFL website: http://
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