BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Griffey Could Rejoin Mariners Monday

Ken Griffey Jr., who broke his left wrist May 26, is progressing faster than expected. He will forgo a rehabilitation assignment with the double-A Port City Roosters in Wilmington, Del., and instead probably join triple-A Tacoma this weekend. If all goes well, Griffey could rejoin the Seattle Mariners as early as Monday, said Jim Beattie, the team’s director of player development.

The possible early return of Griffey is good news for the Mariners, but the team also had some bad news. The Mariners are expected to lose $30 million in 1995, according to financial records, and losses by the end of this year will total $67 million since the current owners bought the team in 1992.

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Damon Buford, the son of former major leaguer and USC football player Don Buford, was arrested for trying to solicit sex in front of a roadside motel outside Baltimore on June 2, two hours after the Baltimore Orioles informed him he was being sent to triple-A Rochester, according to the (Annapolis) Capital newspaper. Baltimore County police said they intentionally kept the arrest quiet to protect an undercover operation.

According to documents obtained by the Capital, Buford pulled over his car on U.S. Route 1 in front of a motel in Lansdowne, beckoned to a female undercover officer posing as a prostitute and offered her money for sex.

Buford was traded to the New York Mets as part of the Bobby Bonilla trade and is now starting in the outfield. Buford, from Birmingham High in the San Fernando Valley, went to USC and now resides in Phoenix in the off-season.

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The Phillies’ Andy Van Slyke, using a magazine, slapped Tricia Garrett, 19, who was in a yellow costume portraying the Sesame Street character Bert at Tuesday night’s game against the Mets at Veterans Stadium. Van Slyke said he slapped the character as a gag because he thought the person in the Bert suit was Tom Burgoyne, who is Phillie Phanatic, the Phillies’ mascot.