SEATTLE There are thousands of personalized bricks on the floor of the fan walkway near the bullpens at Safeco Field. They are scattered in rectangular lots, 21 rows of 13 bricks each. In the last row of the grouping just behind center field are two bricks, no different from the others, except for the message.

The one on the left says, Trey + Taryn Griffey. The one on the right says, The House Their Father Built.

It is a subtle and poignant tribute to Ken Griffey Jr., the person probably most responsible for the stadium that kept the Mariners in Seattle. And Griffey would not have been a Mariner to begin with if the team had acceded to its owners wishes in 1987 and chosen, with the first pick of the draft, the current Yankees bullpen coach, Mike Harkey.

I doubt we would have Major League Baseball here today but for the fateful decision to draft Junior in 1987, and how he led the miracle of 95, said Chuck Armstrong, the longtime club president. Ill bet two or three times a month, Ill go stand at home plate and look around and go, Who would have thought, 14 years ago, that wed have Safeco Field?

Griffey was the cornerstone with Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner of what might be the most revered team in baseball that did not win a pennant. The Mariners breathless playoff run in 95 reversed a losing culture and set in motion financing for a profitable ballpark.

Harkey was there when the Mariners clinched a playoff berth for the first time. He was a reliever for the California Angels, who squandered an 11-game division lead and lost a one-game playoff in the ear-splitting din of the Kingdome.

It was crazy, said Harkey, who did not pitch that day. It was definitely seventh game of the World Series type of atmosphere.

The Mariners beat the Yankees in the division series before losing the pennant to the Indians. Griffey, 39, continued a remarkable career that has finally circled back to Seattle. Harkey, 42, pitched just 10 more games in the majors and retired in 1997. He was 36-36 with a 4.49 earned run average.

In 87, Griffey was the top high school player in the country at Moeller High in Cincinnati, where his father had helped the Reds win two World Series. Harkey was the most coveted college player, a right-hander for Cal State Fullerton.

The Mariners owner, George Argyros, lived in Orange County, Calif., and wanted Harkey. Roger Jongewaard, the scouting director, badly wanted Griffey, whose tools and genes promised greatness.

I went to the owner and said, Griffeys the guy hes one of the best players Ive ever scouted, said Jongewaard, 72, now a scout for the Florida Marlins.

There was enough confusion that three days before the draft, Harkey said, a Mariners official called to tell him he was their choice.

Harkey fell to the Cubs at No. 4, going 16-4 in the minors and earning a September promotion to Chicago. Meanwhile, Griffey missed much of the minor league season with a back injury. In 1989, though, he was the talk of the Mariners spring training. He had played just 17 games above Class A, but there was nobody better on the team. Argyros could have demanded that Griffey start in the minors to delay his free agency. But he did not.

He said that the Griffeys played it straight with us when they signed right away, so well play it straight with them, Armstrong said. He was the best player in camp, and he deserved to make the team.

Griffey was on his way to Cooperstown, and by 1990, Harkey seemed headed for his own productive career. He was 12-6 with a 3.26 ERA, but injuries soon took over. Throwing 160 pitches one day that season could not have helped.

He would have won a ton of games, said Joe Girardi, the Yankees manager and Harkeys catcher with the Cubs. He had a good fastball and a really, really good change- up, and the injuries just took their toll: a torn labrum, two patellar tendons he tore. But he was an ace type of guy.

Harkey said he has no regrets about his career. He is friends with Griffey and called him a living legend. Jongewaard would agree. He has scouted for 40 years and said choosing Griffey might be his best decision ever.

Yeah, probably so, he said. But I knew in my mind that he was the real deal. It was easy.