Ken Griffey Jr and Sr. hit back-to-back home runs
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Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction2016Vote99.3% George Kenneth Griffey Jr. , nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball . He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and a thirteen-time All-Star, Griffey is one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the seventh-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won ten Gold Glove Awards in center field. In 2004, Griffey avoided major injury during the first half of the season, and on June 20 became the 20th player to hit 500 career home runs.
Yes, you read that date correctly – this was the second time in Griffey’s career that he hit a milestone home run on his father’s birthday. This one was a little extra special because he became the youngest to reach that number at the young age of 30. If you grew up in the 1990s and loved baseball, it was required that you spent time alone in your bedroom re-watching Ken Griffey Jr. home runs while imitating his swing and strut. To be real, though, if I had to watch him hit baseballs on loop for hours on end with no break, I wouldn’t be mad at all. Griffey, the only player in the history of the Home Run Derby to win it three times , was there to see if New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso could match his feat and to present the trophy to this year’s winner of the annual event. This was one of the first video games to have alternate uniforms for a sports game.
Ken Griffey Jr. went yard 16 times in his rookie season in 1989.
He is also an honorary co-chairman of the AOPA Foundation's Hat in the Ring Society, a charitable organization that promotes aviation safety and education. Writer Bill Simmons pointed out the prevalent belief that Griffey was the best home run hitter of the 1990s who everyone was convinced never used performance enhancing drugs. Therefore, Simmons stated Griffey was the one player who would be the most devastating to "an entire generation of American men" should he ever be linked to steroids.
On June 5, Griffey tied Fred McGriff's record by hitting a home run in his 43rd different ballpark, at the St. Louis Cardinals' Busch Stadium. On June 19, Griffey hit career home run #548 against the Mets, tying him with Mike Schmidt, and then six days later passed Schmidt with #549 against the Cleveland Indians. On June 27, he hit his 550th career home run against the Kansas City Royals. On September 25, 2006, Griffey hit his 27th home run of the season against Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Scott Eyre to tie Reggie Jackson for tenth on the all-time home run list.
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But unfortunately, that’s when the injury bug started to bite, as he played in just 158 games between 2002 and 2004. Thanks to an incredibly powerful few years in the late ‘90s, The Kid put himself in what seemed to be a favorable position to challenge Hank Aaron’s career homer record of 755. I mean, when you rifle through 100 homers every couple of years, it’s hard not to think about that. The 2000 season was also his first with the Cincinnati Reds after getting traded and signing a big extension with the organization.
On January 6, 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 99.32 percent of the vote, breaking the record previously held by Tom Seaver's 98.84 percent in 1992. A flag bearing Griffey's number 24 was flown from the Space Needle following the announcement. Griffey is one of three Baseball Hall of Fame inductees who have been chosen first overall in an MLB draft. The other two are Chipper Jones, who was inducted in 2018, and Harold Baines, who was inducted by the Veterans Committee in 2019.
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Griffey Jr. was a distinguished player not only for his athletic prowess but also for his offensive and defensive dominance. He finished his career as a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and seven-time Silver Slugger recipient. Griffey Jr.’s eminence in baseball made him one of the most popular players in the game. He spent the majority of his career with the Mariners and Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. A 13-time All-Star, he finished with 630 home runs, the sixth-most in Major League Baseball history.
"Today is a great day for baseball. It’s a great day for Seattle. It’s a great day for the Mariners." He had a .284 batting average, 2,781 hits, 630 home runs, 1,836 RBIs and 1,662 runs scored. He won 1 Comeback Player of the Year award, 10 Gold Glove awards, 1 MVP award and 7 Silver Slugger awards. Griffey came in fourth for the AL MVP voting in 1998, but he just further cemented himself as an inner-circle Hall of Famer, and he wasn’t even 30 years old yet. When you hit 112 homers over the span of two seasons, it’s easy to make quick work of the all-time leaderboard while ascending to the top.
Griffey was the number one overall selection by the Seattle Mariners during the 1987 Major League Baseball draft held on June 2, 1987. On June 11, 1987, Griffey joined the Bellingham Mariners of the Northwest League, a Class A Short Season minor league. During the 54-game season he hit .313 with 14 home runs, 40 runs batted in, and 13 steals. Baseball America magazine named him the league's number one major league prospect. Griffey Sr. finished his 18 year-long career with a .296 batting average, hitting 152 home runs and recording 859 RBI. On October 30, 2008, the White Sox declined a $16 million option on Griffey, making him a free agent for the first time in his career.
Early in September, he strained a tendon in his left foot , and was listed as day-to-day for several weeks. Griffey's resurgence was recognized when he was named National League Comeback Player of the Year. He played in the World Baseball Classic for the American team that off-season with his father as a coach.
Notching hits to start off their very first game together was even better. "Being a father, I guess it's a dream come true," Griffey Sr. said at the time, according to the Washington Post. "This is the pinnacle -- this is the thing in my career that I’m very proud of -- very proud of. You can talk about the '76 batting race I was in and all that. But to me this is No. 1."
Since 2009, BroBible has been the ultimate lifestyle destination for millennial men. He also took home $750,000 for his second place efforts, or $50,000 more than his entire salary for the season. Homeruns are much harder than in its predecessor, as pitching is the main key to this game.
On September 19, 2007, in a game against the Chicago Cubs, Griffey fielded a Derrek Lee single in right field, then suddenly went down in pain. The injury, first thought to be a lower abdominal strain, was later revealed to be a season-ending groin strain. This marked one of many seasons in Cincinnati in which Griffey had to end the year on the disabled list. On May 10, 2007, Griffey hit his sixth home run of the season and the 569th of his career, tying Rafael Palmeiro for ninth place on the career home runs list.
On August 9, 2014, Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Griffey returned to Cincinnati for the weekend activities and choked up during his speech when he mentioned wearing the same uniform as his dad. Second baseman Ron Oester, outfielder Dave Parker, and first baseman Jake Beckley joined Griffey in the Class of 2014.
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