Ken Griffey Jr. was standing at the side of the batting cage at Shea, surrounded by photographers and reporters when he yelled, “Yo!” One head turned immediately.

Ken Griffey Sr. tossed a glove to his son. Junior caught it, smiled at his father and jogged toward the outfield. On the way, he tossed a ball to the fans who were packed along the third base line.

Then Junior lost himself in the outfield, shagging fly balls and trying to remember that this was supposed to be the best season of his life. He is back in his hometown of Cincinnati, wearing the same uniform as his dad, a coach who next season will be the Reds’ manager.

“The only privacy he has right now is when he plays,” Griffey Sr said. “He tries to answer as many questions as he can, but he just wants to be himself. He wants to be happy and as his father, if I see he’s not happy, I’m going to step in.”

Griffey Sr. has stepped in often. Yesterday he barked at photographers who were clicking away at Junior. As each Cincinnati player walked into the cage, Griffey Sr. kept one eye on his son.

The reuniting of the Griffeys may turn out to be a warm, fuzzy story before the season is over. But as long as Junior is hitting .203, as we was going into last night’s game against the Mets, Griffey Sr. will play the bad cop to his son’s good cop.

There are several reasons why Junior, who after last season was named Player of the Decade by his peers, hasn’t been hitting. Sean Casey suffered a broken thumb in spring training and has just returned, leaving the Reds without one of their best bats in the lineup. Junior is the story of the day every day in the Queen City and the story when he comes to town for the first time with the Reds.

Most of all, Griffey is trying to learn the pitchers in a new league. He has struggled. He has pressed. He has picked Barry Larkin’s brain. He’s spent extra time in the cage with his father. He’s looked at more tape.

The result? .203.

“Pete Rose told me the only pitcher he feared was the pitcher he had never faced before,” said Griffey Sr. “He said the first time he faced a guy he had no chance. And that’s a guy with more than 4,000 hits.”

Junior stepped in against Al Leiter last night to a serenade of boos from the Shea fans. He got ahead 3-0 and Leiter was smart enough not to challenge him. Griffey took his fourth ball and jogged to first.

This was supposed to be the second coming of the Big Red Machine, but Casey just returned on April 19 and now Larkin is out with a tendon injury to the middle finger on his left hand. There is more pressure on Junior to produce.

“People expected him to hit .500 in April,” said Reds manager Jack McKeon. “You see anybody else hitting .500? He’s not trying to learn one or two new pitchers. He’s trying to learn a new league. Once he gets comfortable, he’ll be fine.”

The Reds’ (8-10) problems go beyond Junior. The starting pitching has been a farce – the defense not much better. But the acquisition of Junior from the Seattle Mariners in a trade he forced was supposed to lift the Reds to the Central Division crown. Perhaps if Casey regains his swing, Larkin gets back on the field, the starting pitching steps up, and the defense improves, Cincinnati will make a run. But even the Reds don’t know what the Griffey factor will mean.

“When he gets hot, that’s when I’ll be interested to see if I get pitched differently,” said Larkin. “Right now he’s trying to be one of the guys. He’s human. He’s trying to adjust.”

Junior came off the field, picked up his bat and tossed it to his father. They exchanged a smile.

“It’s been difficult,” said Griffey Sr. “He’s gotten off to a bad start and everyone wants to know what’s wrong. But he’s doing OK. He hasn’t come to me and said he’s hit a low point. I hope it doesn’t come to that. He’s just trying to feel good about himself.”

Griffey Sr. is there to help.