Ken Griffey Jr.

"Ken Griffey" redirects here. For his father, also a former player and coach, see Ken Griffey Sr.

Ken Griffey Jr.
Griffey with the Seattle Mariners in 2009
Center fielder
Born: (1969-11-21) November 21, 1969 (age 54)
Donora, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 3, 1989, for the Seattle Mariners
Last MLB appearance
May 31, 2010, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average.284
Hits2,781
Home runs630
Runs batted in1,836
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2016
Vote99.3% (first ballot)

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 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 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).[1]

Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo; his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute.[2][3] Griffey is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in major league games in four different calendar decades.[4]

Following his playing career, Griffey joined the Mariners' front office as a special consultant.[5] He was inducted into both the Mariners Hall of Fame[6] and the Reds Hall of Fame.[7] In 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, receiving 99.32% of the vote, breaking pitcher Tom Seaver's record of 98.84%,[8] a record that had stood for 24 years.[9]

Griffey is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey Sr. and the father of former football player Trey Griffey.

  1. ^ "Consecutive Home Run Records by Baseball Almanac". Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  2. ^ Hayek, Todd (June 3, 2010). "Ken Griffey Jr. vs. Albert Pujols? Jr. Gets the Nod". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  3. ^ "Ken Griffey Jr. and the Synthesis of Baseball". I Dream of Baseball. February 13, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
  4. ^ DiComo, Anthony (January 22, 2010). "Four-decade players a rare breed: Griffey, Vizquel, Moyer set to join exclusive company". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  5. ^ "Ken Griffey Jr. discusses his retirement". ESPN. March 17, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  6. ^ Johns, Greg (August 10, 2013). "Emotional Griffey takes his place in Mariners history". Seattle Mariners. MLB.com. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  7. ^ Koch, Bill (August 8, 2014). "Ken Griffey Jr. returns for Hall induction". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  8. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (January 6, 2016). "Griffey sets Hall vote mark; Piazza gets call". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  9. ^ Schoenfield, David (January 22, 2019). "Rivera, Martinez, Halladay, Mussina make HOF". ESPN. Retrieved January 22, 2019.