Ken Griffey Jr. shares not only the same birthday, but also the same birthplace, as Hall of Famer
Stan Musial in the
Pittsburgh industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania. His family moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father,
Ken Griffey, Sr. played for the Cincinnati Reds when Junior was five. He attended the
Archbishop Moeller High School.
In
1987 Griffey was selected with the first overall pick of that year's amateur draft by the
Seattle Mariners based on his tremendous potential. One scout said of Griffey, "If you thought
Barry Bonds was interesting, wait until you see this kid." As a big leaguer, he was well on the way to the Rookie of the Year award but was thwarted when he slipped in the shower and broke a bone in his right hand in late July, 1989. While with the Mariners, Griffey established himself as baseball's premier player- during the 1990s, Griffey was considered one of the best players of all time. Before injuries cut into his production, he was a top run producer and the best center fielder in the big leagues. Griffey hit for a high average, batting over .300 for seven of the years of the '90s, and hit with power as well, slugging 422 home runs during the decade.
Additionally, his defense in center field was widely considered among the elites during the decade. Thanks to his impressive range, Griffey frequently made spectacular diving plays, and he often dazzled fans by making over-the-shoulder basket catches (a la
Willie Mays' "
the Catch" in the
1954 World Series) and by robbing opposing hitters of home runs at the wall — leaping up and pulling them back into the field of play. He was featured on the
Wheaties cereal box and, because of his general likability and good reputation, was an effective pitchman. Griffey also had his own signature sneaker line from
Nike, Inc.
Because of his all-around excellent play, he was a perennial participant in the
All-Star Game, particularly during the 1990s although less so during the early '00s because of injuries. Junior has led his league multiple times in hitting categories and was awarded
Gold Gloves for his defensive excellence from 1990 to 1999. Griffey also became one of a very small number to have played on the same team as his father,
Ken Griffey, Sr. in 1990 and 1991. At the MLB
Home Run Derby in 1993, which was held at
Oriole Park in
Baltimore, Griffey slugged a ball over the right field wall, hitting the warehouse. Griffey is the only player to ever hit a home run that has hit the warehouse, an impressive feat, considering the ballpark's 15-year history. In 1997, he won the
American League Most Valuable Player award, hitting .304, with 56
home runs and 147
runs batted in.
Perhaps the single most memorable moment of Griffey's career with the Mariners came during the 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS) against the
New York Yankees. After losing the first two games, the Mariners and Griffey were on the verge of elimination, but came back to win the next two games, setting up a decisive fifth game. In the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 5, with Griffey on first base, teammate
Edgar Martinez hit a double. Griffey raced around the bases, slid into home with the winning run, and popped up into the waiting arms of the entire team. Although the Mariners subsequently lost the
ALCS to former Mariners manager
Mike Hargrove's Indians, that moment remains one of the most memorable in Mariners history, capping a season that has been credited with "saving baseball in Seattle", as it occurred in the midst of speculation that the franchise would relocate to another city.
As the Mariner's were playing to sell out crowds in the Kingdome the voter's of Washington states King County narrowly defeated a ballot proposal to build a new baseball stadium. Following the success of the team that season and the narrowness of the vote the than Governor, Mike Lowry, of Washington called a special session of the Washington State Legislature where a new stadium authority was created and a new tax on hotels and rental cars were added to support the baseball stadium. Today this facility is known as Safeco Field and is often referred to as 'the house that Griffey built' by the local sports congnoscenti.
This game five final play of the ALDS was the inspiration for the title of Griffey's first
video game, Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run for the
Super Nintendo.
In 1999, he ranked 93rd on
The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. This list was compiled during the 1998 season, counting only statistics through 1997. It was argued by some that, had the voting been done two or three years later, he would have been ranked several places higher: at age 29 (going on 30), he was easily the youngest player on the list. That same year, Griffey was elected to the
Major League Baseball All-Century Team. However, when
TSN updated their list for a new book in 2005, despite having surpassed 400 and 500 home runs, Griffey remained at Number 93.
While playing with Seattle, Griffey was a 9-time American League Golden Glove winner, the
1992 All-Star Game MVP,
1997 AL MVP,
1998 ESPY co-winner for Male Athlete of the Year, and was named to the All-Century team in
1999.
