Sports Northwest says the Griffey backlash started last Friday, but for Left Field, it started today, when we opened up (OK, logged on to) the P-I to read this article about Junior’s first days at the M’s spring training camp. Nice, little feel-good piece about all the positive energy that’s flowing through Peoria, Arizona, as the Kid works out his 39-year old body alongside guys half his age … and eats waffles at his locker (wait, what?). And then we read this part:

Then [his teammates] marveled while parading past Griffey’s pristine white Nissan GT-R on their way to the field. The space-age, 480-horsepower speedster (list price: about $75,000) specifically caught the eyes of pitcher Ryan Feierabend and infielder Mike Morse.

So yeah, the Griffey backlash started for us when we read that he’s driving a $75,000 car.* We called Burien Nissan this morning to get some info on the GT-R, and the first thing salesmen Greg Leach and Bob Brice told us is that $75,000 is the absolute bare minimum you’re going to pay for this hand-built piece of automotive eye-candy. (Actually, the first thing they said was that Junior has good taste, but of course they’re going to say that.) Brice said they can sell for as much as $95,000, in part because a dealership has to pay $25,000 just for the right to sell the car, and then they have to pay $20,000 to certify each salesperson who’s going to show and demonstrate the car.

Now, considering the fact that the last headline about an athlete and his car involved the Seahawks’ Leroy Hill, an ounce of marijuana, and a 1975 Buick Electra, the revelation that Seattle’s prodigal son is driving a supercar that’s been limited to a run of 1,500 units in 2009 helps repair the city’s damaged automotive reputation. But come on, let’s be honest: the Kid is pushing 40, so this is obviously just a mid-life crisis purchase, right?

"No, it’s for the enthusiast that wants muscle power," Brice says. "All age brackets are buying it."

• Pardon the brief gearhead interlude — we promise not to mix cars and sports again in the future (that’s right, we said it: NASCAR isn’t a sport).