There wasn't much to be said about 5 p.m. on Wednesday when I heard the news that Ken Griffey Jr. had retired from baseball.

As a fan of his for years, he left all that needed to be said about his career on the field while a member of the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

OVER TWO weeks ago, Griffey was replaced at designated hitter when Milton Bradley returned from a 10-day break and became expendable as Mike Sweeney began to fill in at DH when Bradley played in the outfield.

Last season, Griffey joined a team expected to finish in the bottom of the AL West, yet had them in the running for a playoff spot up until the final weeks of the season.

This season, that wasn't the case.

Griffey struggled at the plate, failing to hit a home run in 98 at-bats and driving in seven runs for a team that has thus far underachieved in 2010.

"The Kid," who returned to Seattle in April of 2009, never recaptured what he'd done in the Kingdome and the early days at Safeco Field, only hitting 19 home runs in his return to the Mariners.

But his power numbers weren't the main reason the organization brought him back.

ATTENDANCE HAD been down over the past couple years, as the team slowly began to lose more on the field than in previous years, dropping 101 games in 2008.

When Griffey was drafted No. 1 overall in 1989, the numbers weren't great either at the Kingdome before he started going to All-Star games, making great catches and making fans more interested in going to games.

As numbers continued to grow, so did the M's wins, with Seattle eventually making a playoff appearance in 1995. The opening series against the Yankees started the groundwork to keep baseball in Seattle.

Outside of a 116-win season in 2001, the Mariners have not had the same success.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT came at a strange time, right in the middle of a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins and just two months into the season.

Had Griffey opted to retire from baseball after the 2009 season, he could have joined the Hall of Fame in his first try in the same class with former Mariner Randy Johnson, who retired after last season.

As of now, Dave Niehaus is the only Mariner representative in Cooperstown.

Griffey made a great case for election on his first try during his 22-year career.

Being ranked in the top six with 638 career home runs, 13 All-Star appearances and 1,836 RBIs, Griffey leaves the game as one of the best players in baseball history.

Without question, he'll go down as the man who helped keep baseball in Seattle.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via e-mail at jelliott@cdapress.com.