Ken Griffey
From BR Bullpen
Note: This page links to Ken Griffey, Jr., the member of the 600 home run club. For his father who played from 1974 to 1991, click here.
| George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (Junior or Ken) OF
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Ken Griffey Jr. is one of two players to play with his father in the same major league game (Tim Raines, Jr. is the other). He shares not only the same birthday, but also the same birthplace as Hall of Famer Stan Musial. He was raised in Cincinnati, OH, where his father, Ken Griffey, Sr. played for the Cincinnati Reds.
The younger Griffey played baseball at Moeller High School, a Catholic school in Cincinnati better known for its football program. As a Major League Baseball player he has often led the majors in major hitting statistics, and was awarded a Gold Glove Award for defensive excellence in 10 consecutive seasons, from 1990 to 1999, while playing center field for the Seattle Mariners. Griffey, Jr. played on the same team as his father with the Mariners in 1990 and 1991.
Griffey, Jr.'s career began with the Seattle Mariners in 1989. He won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1997, hitting .304, with 56 home runs and 147 runs batted in. During Griffey Jr.'s tenure with the Seattle Mariners, he established himself over the years as one of baseball's premier players, with the potential of being considered one of the greatest players ever. He was a multi-dimensional player during a time when more and more players usually excelled at either hitting or fielding, but rarely both. Griffey could hit with high average, batting over .300 for seven of the ten years of the 1990s, and hit with power as well, by hitting 422 home runs during the decade. His abilities in centerfield arguably were paralleled by no one. Griffey often made over the shoulder catches, the kind that Willie Mays immortalized during the 1954 World Series, with a play simply known as the Catch. For these reasons, Ken Griffey, Jr. was one of baseball's most respected and well liked players during the 1990s, as one could routinely see his picture on cereal boxes and television commercials, and he was a mainstay of the All-Star Game during the decade.
Despite his fantastic performance, and seemingly bright future in Seattle, he nonetheless became disenchanted with playing for the Mariners. Publicly, he expressed frustration over what he believed was a lack of commitment to winning from the management of the Mariners. Also, there was speculation that Griffey was very unhappy with Seattle's new Safeco Field, in which it was much more difficult to maintain the level of power he had while playing in the Kingdome. It's been reported that Griffey, Jr., among other Mariners players, requested the architects of Safeco Field bring the fences closer to home plate. However, much to the players' chagrin, the architects designed a park with a deep center field. This, combined with Safeco being at sea level, and Seattle's generally dense, moisture-laden atmosphere, helped create a "pitcher friendly" ball park. In the summer of 1999, it was reported that Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a ball that would likely have been a home run in the Kingdome, but turned into a long fly-out to center in Safeco. Griffey, Jr. then stormed angrily to the Mariner dugout telephone, called the Mariners' general manager, and demanded to be traded that day. Although Griffey, Jr. has always denied his concern with baseball records, his behavior seemed to indicate in 1999 that he definitely had his ambitions set towards breaking Hank Aaron's all time home run record.
Griffey, Jr. ultimately got his wish, and following the 1999 season, he was traded to his father's former team, the Cincinnati Reds, for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, and Antonio Perez. Initially, the future looked extremely bright for him there. It was the city in which he had grown up, and Griffey, Jr. was reportedly very pleased to be playing on his father's former team. On the open market, he. could have made several million dollars more than the contract offered by the small market and notoriously penurious Reds, thus it was said to show how much he wanted to play for them. However, his contract was apparently included with backloaded payments which will be paid until 2024.
The 2000 season began what has generally been seen by the media as a decline in Griffey Jr's superstar status. Although his statistics during this season were respectable, they were far below his previous level of play, hitting .271 with 40 home runs, and playing 145 games. From 2001 through 2004, Griffey, Jr. was plagued by various injuries, and the last three of those years saw season-ending injuries. Many speculate the injuries are a result of a decade of playing on the Kingdome's artificial turf, which players claim is like playing the game on asphalt. Whatever their causes, injuries forced Griffey, Jr. to miss 260 out of 486 games from 2002 through 2004. Consequently, he is not nearly the ubiquitous presence he once was on cereal boxes, television commercials, and the All-Star Game.
In 2004, Griffey, Jr. avoided major injury during the first half of the season and on June 20 became the 20th player to reach 500 career home runs. The 500th home run came on Father's Day in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, with his father Ken Sr. in the stands, a hit that also tied him with his father for career hits with 2,143. However, the injury bug struck again just before the All-Star break; he suffered a partial hamstring tear, knocking him out of the All-Star Game and putting him on the disabled list. He did get his 500th home run ball from a fan who was also there for Father's Day with his dad. The fan received many awards from Griffey Jr.
Ken Griffey, Jr. finished the 2004 season on the disabled list after suffering a complete rupture of his right hamstring in San Francisco on August 11. The play in question occurred at SBC Park in a game against the San Francisco Giants. Griffey was starting in right field for the first time in his 16-year Major League career when he raced toward the gap to try to cut off a ball before it got to the wall. He slid as he got to the ball, but in the process hyperextended his right leg. He later came out of the game, complaining of "tightness" in the hamstring exacerbated by chilly conditions in San Francisco. But there was far more to it than anyone realized at the time.
Shortly after this injury, the Reds' team physician, Timothy Kremchek, devised an experimental surgery dubbed "The Junior Operation" that would use three titanium screws to reattach Griffey's hamstring. For several weeks, Griffey's right leg was in a sling that kept the leg at a 90-degree angle, and he was not able to move the leg until late October. After an intense rehabilitation period, he returned for the 2005 season. In April, he hit only .244 with only one homer (on April 30) and nine RBI. [2]
Starting May 1, the 2005 season saw the resurgence of a healthy Griffey Jr. The fluid swing, which depends heavily on excellent lower body strength, returned to its original form, now that Griffey's hamstring and calf problems appeared behind him. Junior's 35 home runs were his highest since his first year with the Reds as Griffey slowly moved up the career home run list. He ended the season tied with Mickey Mantle, after having passed Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, and Mel Ott during the year.
Early in September, he strained a tendon in his left foot (an injury unrelated to his past hamstring and calf problems), and was listed as day-to-day for several weeks. On September 22, with the Reds out of playoff contention, the team decided to bench him for the rest of the season so he could immediately have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and a separate operation to repair scars from his 2004 hamstring operation. Still, his 128 games in 2005 were the most he has played since 2000. Griffey's resurgence was recognized when he was named National League Comeback Player of the Year.
Griffey played in 104 games the next year, and while his power totals remained similar (27 home runs, 78 RBI in 83 fewer PA), his averages declined, finishing with an OPS+ below the league average (99) for the first time in his career and a batting average of only .252. However, he would have another resurgence in 2007. Playing in 144 games (and recording his most at-bats as a Red), Junior started out slowly (with only one home run in April), but caught fire, hitting 10 home runs each in May and June. He was rewarded with his first All-Star starting nod since 2000 as the National League's leading vote-getter. Griffey's numbers declined after the All-Star break, only hitting 7 home runs after mid-summer, and he was shelved with a groin strain in mid-September.
Junior finished the 2007 season with 593 career home runs, 6th all-time. He cracked the 600-home-run barrier on June 10, 2008 against the Florida Marlins off Mark Hendrickson. He became the 6th player to reach that milestone. Had the chronic injuries of 2001-2004 not limited his progress, the discussion could currently be when he would surpass Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs. However, at this point the question is whether 2008 will be his last season, given the decline in his defensive play and offensive numbers.
Griffey and his wife Melissa have 3 children: George Kenneth III ("Trey"), daughter Taryn Kennedy, and adopted son Tevin Kendall. When Trey was born, then-Mariners' G.M. Woody Woodward sent him a player's contract dated 2012.
In 2007, he was voted onto the Rawlings All-Time Gold Glove Team. He appeared in The Simpsons episode "Homer at the Bat". He recorded "The Way I Swing" with rapper "Kid Sensation" in 1990. This is on the "Power of Rhyme" CD. His brother Craig Griffey never made it to the majors.
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[edit] Notable Achievements
- 1989 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
- 13-time All-Star (1990-2000, 2004 & 2007)
- AL MVP (1997)
- 1992 All-Star Game MVP
- 2005 NL Comeback Player of the Year
- 10-time AL Gold Glove Winner (1990-1999)
- 7-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1991, 1993, 1994 & 1996-1999)
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1997)
- AL Runs Scored Leader (1997)
- 2-time AL Total Bases Leader (1993 & 1997)
- 4-time AL Home Runs Leader (1994, 1997, 1998 & 1999)
- AL RBI Leader (1997)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 15 (1990-1994, 1996-2001 & 2004-2007)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 9 (1993, 1994, 1996-2000, 2005 & 2007)
- 40-Home Run Seasons: 7 (1993, 1994 & 1996-2000)
- 50-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1997 & 1998)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 8 (1991-1993 & 1996-2000)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 6 (1993 & 1996-2000)
| AL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 |
| Juan Gonzalez | Ken Griffey, Jr | Juan Gonzalez |
[edit] Records Held
- Home runs, center fielder, season, 56, 1998 (tied)
