Cincinnati is home.
Yet when he was asked to leave, Griffey needed just a few hours to decide. The chance to play in a pennant race, to potentially win his first World Series ring was enough for the slugger to agree to a trade to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
''They've obviously done well, being in first place without me to this point,'' Griffey said Friday, before his debut with the White Sox.
Griffey was traded with cash to the AL East-leading White Sox.
Though he's struggled this season - .245, 15 homers, 53 RBIs in one of baseball's most homer-friendly ballparks - Griffey believes he still has something left. He departed Cincinnati on a 12-game hitting streak, going 14-for-44 with three homers and nine RBIs, and has 608 career homers, leaving him one behind Sammy Sosa for fifth on the all-time list.
No more Triple-A for Liriano
Francisco Liriano finally got what he wanted. No more Triple-A hitters for him. ''The Franchise'' is back in Minnesota's starting rotation.
The Twins waited until a day after the trade deadline to make their big move, promoting Liriano from Rochester on Friday and cutting ties with right-hander Livan Hernandez and outfielder Craig Monroe.
The left-hander missed all of last season with Tommy John surgery and was battered in his first stint up this season in April, going 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA before being sent down.
Liriano dominated for Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last 11 starts, but Liriano's agent, Greg Genske, asked the players' union to investigate why his client had not been recalled to the majors.
The call finally came on Thursday night, but Liriano tried to downplay the situation on Friday.
Rangers fire coaches
The Texas Rangers fired pitching coach Mark Connor and bullpen coach Dom Chiti after Friday night's 9-8 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Andy Hawkins, who had been the pitching coach at Triple-A Oklahoma since 2006, will replace Connor. Jim Colborn, formerly the director of Pacific Rim operations, is the new bullpen coach.
The move was announced about 45 minutes after the Rangers won.
Connor was in his second season as pitching coach after spending three seasons as the team's bullpen coach. Chiti was in his second season as bullpen coach.
The Rangers came into Friday's game with a 5.24 ERA, the worst in the American League.
Tigers closer hurting
On the day Kyle Farnsworth joined the Detroit bullpen, the Tigers found out reliever Todd Jones has tendinitis in his right shoulder.
