Kenji Johjima battles on despite diminished playing time

Just some quick news here that Ken Griffey Jr. has been scratched from tonight's game with soreness in his knee. Griffey had missed most of the past week with knee soreness, then played last night and is now out again. They gave him a shot at being in there depending on what he did in batting practice. Manager Don Wakamatsu had been optimistic Griffey would make it in, but BP is over and he's out. On to the topic of our pre-game post. Back in late-May, Kenji Johjima broke a toe here in Oakland on a play at the plate. His season hasn't been the same since. Johjima was the team's starting catcher when he went down on May 25 and his .722 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that month -- while hardly lighting up the scoreboard -- was the best he'd produce in any monthly period. In the first half-dozen games after his return in late June, Johjima started four of them -- as the team insisted he would since he was still the No. 1 guy. But that didn't last long. Johjima...