Ken Griffey Jr. had a change of heart at the last minute and opted to sign a 1-year, $2 million deal to return to Seattle rather than head to Atlanta. 

The move was the right one to make for Griffey. He could have went to Atlanta and played in the same town where his daughter plays basketball. Spent spring training is his city of residence, Orlando, and been a hop, skip, and a jump (less than a hour flight) to his home. Instead, he returns to the place where it all began, the place where he became one of the best players in the century where he will get a chance to finish with the team who he will represent when he is enshrined into Cooperstown in six years or so.

Griffey's return to Seattle seems like a happy ending that we seldom see in the 21st Century version of professional sports. The city embraced him in an amazing fashion when returned their for the first time as a Red during Interleague play a couple years ago and they are ready to embrace him once again.

Former Mariner and current MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds had a big hand in recruiting Junior back to Seattle, according to the Seattle Times. He acted all week as a liason between the club and Griffey, including hooking up Hall of Famer Willie Mays to talk with Junior about returning to his roots.

Apparently, what the Say Hey Kid had to say hit the mark, because it was not too much longer before Griffey himself called Armstrong — who had just landed back in Seattle — to give him the good news.

"Ken said it was a legacy thing," Mariners' team president Chuck Armstrong said. "When he talked to Willie, that was the word he used — legacy, and what it meant to him and the Giants, and what Junior means to this franchise. He told him that would live on long after his own lifetime, and Ken's lifetime."

Pretty cool stuff. I will miss seeing Griffey visit the Great American Ballpark like he would've had if he signed in Altanta, but missing him will be well worth it.

MLB mariners, braves, ken griffey jr, harold reynolds, willie mays