Will Ozzie have the courage to bench Griffey?

Sure, Griffey hit a meaningless homer in garbage time Tuesday night, as the Sox laid an egg in a 9-3 stinker against the Twins. Unfortunately, the blast will probably cause Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen to keep the aging Griffey in the lineup for another day.

Right now, the Sox are 3-5 on this 10-game trip. They need to find a way to win one of the next two games in the Metrodome to stay in first place.

Griffey has started five games on this road trip in center field. In those games, the Sox are 0-5. With either DeWayne Wise or Brian Anderson in center field, they are 3-0.

The defense in center field is even more important in the Metrodome, where balls hit into the gap can turn into doubles and triples quickly. Griffey misplayed a blast off the bat of Minnesota's Jason Kubel into a triple in the second inning Tuesday. The Sox were leading 1-0 at the time. After the misplay, everything went south quickly.

Griffey simply is not hitting enough to make up for his horrendous defense. He is too slow to play center field at this stage of his career. The 90-loss Cincinnati Reds refused to play Griffey in center earlier this season. Why is he playing center for a division contender like the Sox? It's ridiculous.

Put Wise in center field. Get Nick Swisher back in the lineup and put him in left. Swisher has been struggling lately, but I've got a hunch he's due.

The Sox aren't going to go far with Griffey patrolling center. He's just too old.