Ken Griffey Jr.
Junior, the Kid, a Hall of Fame legend.
George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed 'Junior' and 'the Kid', is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. The first overall pick in the 1987 draft and a 13-time All-Star, Griffey is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. His 630 home runs rank as the seventh-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (eight, with Don Mattingly and Dale Long).
- Affiliation
- Cincinnati Reds (2000–2008)
Lore & Background
Griffey is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey Sr. and the father of former football player Trey Griffey. He was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, and his family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, while his father was in the minor leagues. Griffey Jr. was in the clubhouse during his father's back-to-back championships in the 1975 and 1976 World Series. He attended Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, the same high school as his future teammate Barry Larkin, where he was the U.S. high school baseball player of the year in 1987.
In Their Own Story
The late afternoon sun filtered through the trees surrounding Riverfront Stadium, casting long shadows across the outfield grass. Ken Griffey Jr. stood in center field, adjusting his helmet with a familiar, practiced motion. The crowd hushed as a towering fly ball arced high into the air, seemingly destined for the stands. With a burst of speed that defied belief, he sprinted backward, eyes locked on the leather sphere. He leaped near the warning track, extending his glove just inches from the wall, snatching the ball out of the sky with a smile already forming on his face before he landed.
Reader's Guide
Griffey was selected by the Seattle Mariners with the first overall pick of the 1987 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Mariners on April 3, 1989. He played for the Mariners from 1989 to 1999, then for the Cincinnati Reds from 2000 to 2008, and briefly for the Chicago White Sox in 2008. He was inducted into both the Mariners Hall of Fame and the Reds Hall of Fame. In 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, receiving 99.32% of the vote.
Did You Know?
- Griffey was the first overall pick in the 1987 MLB draft, selected by the Seattle Mariners.
- He hit 630 home runs, seventh-most in MLB history.
- Griffey won 10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1990 to 1999.
- He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (eight).
- Griffey and his father, Ken Griffey Sr., became the first father-son duo to play on the same MLB team at the same time (1990–1991).
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