Ken Griffey Jr.: Road to Cooperstown

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE & THE OLYMPIAN

our KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

Griffeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatness was evident from high school and as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by the Seattle Mariners. He became an MLB icon and heads to the Hall of Fame as one of the most popular players ever.

S P E C I A L S E C T I O N STAFF PHOTO ILLUSTRATION Source images, clockwise from top: Bruce Kellman, staff file, 1999; Chrales Krupa, AP file, 1996; John Gaps III, AP file, 1998

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KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

Ranking Junior Statistics don’t tell everything, but they are all we have for a conversation on best-ever center fielders Six center fielders typically are regarded as the best to play the position. I’ve seen four of them from a perspective that renders it futile to judge where each belongs in a ranking. My first and last glimpse of the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle came during a 1966 Sunday doubleheader against the White Sox at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Mantle started in center. He made it through all nine innings of the first game, and batted once in the second game before he was given the rest of the sweltering afternoon off. Mantle went 0-for-5, which might be why my only memory of him is kneeling in the on-deck circle, the No. 7 on the back of his gray jersey whispering for me to savor the scene. He would appear in center 18 more times that summer before converting into a first baseman for his final two seasons. In 1968, I saw Joe DiMaggio wielding a fungo bat in the same Comiskey Park infield. What struck me was the color of the Athletics jacket he wore — green — and, of course, the white shoes. DiMaggio had accepted a job as hitting instructor for the team that recently had moved from Kansas City to Oakland, giving him a chance to reconnect with his Bay Area roots and, more important, accumulate the two years of service time needed for a maximum pension allowance. My senior year of high school was winding down to its last week when some friends and I skipped out at lunch for a Cubs game against the Mets at Wrigley Field. Willie Mays batted leadoff for the visitors and played center. He made six putouts, drew a walk and hit a pair of singles, the second of which drove home the winning run in a 14-inning Mets’ victory. Nothing remarkable, aside from the fact Mays did all this at the age of 41 and I got home in time for dinner. And then there is Ken Griffey Jr. Between watching him at Wrigley Field as a 20-year-old phenom participating in the 1990 All-Star Game and as a 40-year-old designated hitter contemplating retirement, I’ve got enough mental snap shots of Griffey to see him in my sleep. Such a various array of eyewitness observations — Mantle motionless in the on-deck circle, Griffey bursting from first to home, his strides as graceful as those of a thoroughbred spinning out of the turn — is why analysis is all about the stats. Statistics don’t tell everything, of course, but they are all we’ve got in a best-ever center fielder conversation that also must include Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. Baseball statistics, much like the players the numbers quantify, are better than they used to be and not as good as they’re going to be. Take, for instance, the Wins Above Replacement metric abbreviated as WAR. In 2004, Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus combined a WAR metric measuring the entirety of a player’s career along with his sevenyear prime. Known as JAWS — the Jaffe WAR score system — it ranks the best center fielders of all time in this order: Mays, Cobb, Mantle, Speaker, Griffey and DiMaggio. Mays’ status as No. 1 is difficult to dispute. A classic fivetool talent, he hit 660 home runs, led the NL in stolen bases four times, and earned 12 consecutive Gold Glove awards. The only reason he didn’t win 16

COMMENTARY BY JOHN McGRATH

Advanced stats aren’t unkind to Ken Griffey Jr. They place him as the best center fielder of the past 50 years.

MARK J. TERRILL AP file, 1996

or 17 Gold Gloves is that the award wasn’t conceived until 1957, three years after his legend-sealing, back-to-the-ball catch in the 1954 World Series. Cobb owned some 90 baseball records when he retired in 1928, including a .366 lifetime batting average that will endure until rules are adjusted to give hitters four strikes for an out and three balls for a walk. And though baseball lore portrays him as a detested psycho creep, he was elected into the first Hall of Fame class with more support — 222 of 226 votes — than the universally beloved Babe Ruth got. Like Cobb, Mantle is as famous for his flaws as for his skill. Which is too bad, because he had the skill to produce a career .421 on-base percentage, significantly better than the .384 OBP of Mays, his generational peer and ballpark neighbor during the 1950s, when the Giants’ home at the Polo Grounds was a short walk over a Harlem River bridge from Yankee Stadium. Speaker is the underrated one of the best-ever bunch. Cobb had the crazy numbers and polarizing personality, but all Speaker did was hit .354, with 345 homers. He died 57 years ago, yet remains the career leader in doubles (792) and outfield assists (449). DiMaggio was introduced before a 1969 game at Yankee Stadium as “baseball’s greatest living player,” a title he liked so much he demanded it at every public appearance he made until his death in 1999. A three-time MVP and 13-time All-Star, DiMaggio led the Yankees to 10 pennants and nine World Series championships during a career truncated in its prime by three years of military obligations. DiMaggio’s power numbers — he finished with 361 career homers — aren’t as gaudy as his 56-game hitting streak in 1941, but remember: He was a righthanded hitter who played half his games in Yankee Stadium, where it was 457 feet from home plate to the left-center alley. Had a 1947 trade been worked out sending DiMaggio to the Red Sox for Ted Williams — it was proposed during a late-night bar conversation between executives whose paperwork was supplied by several cocktail napkins — there’s no telling the kind of numbers DiMaggio would have put up in Boston’s Fenway Park. Mays, Cobb, Mantle, Speaker,

TOP SIX IN COMPARISON

Giants roaming center field Who is the best center fielder of all time? Ken Griffey Jr. is certainly in the conversation with these other baseball greats — Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. Here are how their careers stack up:

Associated Press file photos

Cobb YEARS BATTING AVERAGE

24

Speaker

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22

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.366 .345

DiMaggio

13

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Mantle

18

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Mays

22

Griffey Jr.

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22

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

.325

.298

.302

.284

GAMES PLAYED

3,034

2,789

1,737

2,401

2,992

2,671

HITS

4,189

3,514

2,214

2,415

3,283

2,781

RUNS BATTED IN

1,933

1,531

1,537

1,509

1,903

1,836

RUNS

2,244

1,882

1,390

1,676

2,062

1,662

HOME RUNS

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117 DiMaggio: Amid this cavalcade of superstars is Griffey, whose many injuries turned the second half of his career into a cruel payback for how easy everything seemed to be for him during the first half. The No. 1 center fielder of all time? Advanced stats point to Mays, who continued playing until 1973, long after his prime, long after Cobb and Speaker died, long after DiMaggio and Mantle retired. But advanced stats aren’t unkind to Ken Griffey Jr. They place him as the best center fielder of the past 50 years, endorsing what was obvious during those days and nights he

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361

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536 created magic inside the Kingdome. I missed some beautiful summer sunsets, but that’s OK. Mine eyes saw the glory. John McGrath: @TNTMcGrath

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660

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630

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FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE.....................................................................................

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

BUDDING STAR

GLORY DAYS

CLOSING ACTS

STATS & STUFF

Real deal from start

1990s were all Junior’s

A breakup and a return

All the HRs, highlights

In high school and the minor leagues, Ken Griffey Jr. flashed the skills that would one day make him a Hall of Famer.

The smile. The swing. The backward cap. No one played the game or looked like Junior, who dominated the decade with the Mariners.

A trade to Cincinnati began a nine-year run of injuries and diminished numbers. But a return to Seattle provided a fitting end.

We pick the 24 top moments of Griffey’s career — can you guess which is No. 1? — and take a detailed look at his 630 home runs.

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NEWS TRIBUNE

The

real thing impact Making a major from the beginning BY TODD MILLES

in the minors

todd.milles@th enewstribune.co

m

Baseball scouting is not an exact science. Opinions, even those about elite tcotterill@thenewstribune.com players, vary. Different eyes see different things. Rick Sweet answered That his phone. Ken the Griffey Sr. was on the other was never case with Ken Griffey MINOR not line, wanting to checkJr.in—on hisasboy in who Bellingham. a kid grew up around jor league ballparks, LEAGUE manor as This was his son’s first time away from home. a teenager STAR five-tool prospect seen as the best in decades and “I heard Junior did something,” Griffey Sr. said. an overall the Major No. 1 pick in Baseball “Yeah, that’s League all right,” Sweet draft. said. “I spanked him.” Griffey Sr. laughed. “His skill set was easy to identify,” said Tom “Well, if his mom was needs to come out, she’ll Mooney, who come out,” he said. BY TJ COTTERILL

ACE IN HIGH SCHOOL

Ken Griffey, Jr. shares a laugh with teammates in the dugout, July 3, 1987.

BILL HUNTER Staff file, 1987

say, ‘Hey, you guys got to clean this up. C’mon,’ ” Sweet said. “It’s their first time away from home, they have to do all of the dishes and take care of their own place.” Griffey Sr. met with the team on an off day and took Griffey Jr. and some players out to eat afterward, Sweet recalled. “The next day I come to the ballpark and all these guys have new bats and new gloves — Junior had taken all the equipment his dad gave him and he gave it to all his teammates,” Sweet said. “It just put a smile on my face. Here’s this kid and his dad comes to town, and his dad is a big league player and All-Star and a tremendous player, himself. And he brings all this equipment for Junior, and he then gives it to all the guys on the club. That’s the kind of kid Junior was.”

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mean, by far, the best of all those guys. I feel like he could have been — if he didn’t get hurt later on — the best player to ever play the game.” Shanahan, the San Bernardino GM, decided to put on a Ken Griffey Jr. poster night, handing them out to the first 1,000 fans. And this was while Griffey still played for the team. Shanahan even came up with a chant for when Griffey would come to bat. The stadium announcer would ask what time is it, “and everybody in the crowd would yell, ‘It’s Griffey time!’ ” he said. Shanahan posted a photo of the poster to his Facebook account when it was announced Griffey would enter the Hall of Fame with a record 99.3 percent of the vote. “A lot of times these stars come along in the minors and they never really pan out,” Shanahan said. “I look at the players I’ve seen come and go and you just can’t tag someone like you could Ken Griffey Jr. He was a superstar of superstars at 18 years old. “I get goose bumps when I think of that, and that was 30 years ago. All I can tell you is that he was the greatest player I’ve ever seen.” Griffey was called up to Double-A Vermont later that season, but was limited to 17 games by a back injury.

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From rising star to the

face

of Major League Baseball in the ’90s

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYERS WHOSE MARKETING APPEAL ENDURED FOR THE DECADE BETWEEN 1989 AND 2000, KEN GRIFFEY JR. WAS SECOND-BEST TO NOBODY.

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FRIDAY JULY 22

MLB STARTER AT 19 It was April Fools’ Day in 1989 and Jim Lefebvre thought he’d play a prank on Griffey. The first-year Mariners manager called Griffey into his office and listed his concerns on how Griffey might not be able to handle the rigors of the big leagues. “And he’s kind of looking at me like I have something negative coming out,” Lefebvre said. “So I put my hand across the desk and I say, ‘You’re my starting center fielder, and you’re going to be here for a long, long time.’ He looked at me and you would not believe the expression on his face. He says, ‘Can I call my dad?’ “I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I thought he was going to cry. I said, ‘You go ahead and call your dad. Congratulations. You’re now the starting center fielder for the Seattle Mariners.’ ” Griffey was in a fall Instructional League when Lefebvre said he saw Griffey for the first time. His reaction? “Son of a gun, look at this kid hit,” Lefebvre recalled. “He reminded me a lot of Hank Aa-

DON’T MESS WITH SWING For the 1988 season, Griffey a Mariners’ was sent to San Bernardino, the Columbus, Ohio,scout living in “He really was, in the 1980s. at age 16 or 17, man playing against a Early on, he was boys.” a boy who could play with some of the best. Growing up the Griffey Sr., one son of Ken of the members of Cincinnati’s Big — the Reds won Red Machine six National League West Division titles, four NL pennants and two World Series titles in the 1970s — afSeen in 1987, forded Griffey Ken Griffey Jr. was a standout Jr. an early look big-league competition player for Moeller at Cincinnati Enquirer file, 1987 High in the suburbs . Every year, hours of Cincinnati. Cincinnati Enquirer before one of their weekend file Ken Griffey Jr. tilts, the Reds with would host a father-son Archbishop Moellerone of his game at uppercut, but High Riverfront Stadium. School coaches, he’s ball hitter. Over a good lowPaul Smith. 30,000 fans would As many as swings at times.” to watch the childrenoften attend Vrablik’s walkoff Bench, Joe Morgan, of Johnny you if (Bell) had comment in Tony Perez the skills to play his report was and Pete Rose 10-15 the years in the big play. tive: “Top prospectmost indicaleagues,” Griffey was the Cameron said. “By the time outstanding skills.” for me with claimed star of self-proKenny came, those games I had refined Griffey had a starting at age my skills observing stellar 7. senior and seeing taseason, batting “Everyone talks a about the ‘Big lent.” .478 with seven school-record Red Machine’ Forgoing baseball being the greatest 26 RBI. Three home runs and his first two team on earth,” years of high of those home Griffey said. school, Griffey runs came in “And I keep telling tried out for the one Fairmont High game against they are the second everybody spring of 1986. Crusaders in the School. best because Cameron — who He mainly played they couldn’t has since retired beat us 9-yearcenter field. and is now the Occasionally olds.” official scorekeeper he would pitch. for the Reds Griffey was not By the time Griffey — remembers only named that got to high the Greater Catholic school, his father “We had stationsfirst day well. League had been tradplayer of the year ed to the New facility,” Cameron in our hitting for a second York Yankees. consecutive season, said. “I was Griffey attended excited to see Kenny hit off the state’s Gatorade he was also Moeller, a private,Archbishop the player of all-male Cath- tee, and see what he could the year olic school in do.” in 1987. On Griffey’s first the suburbs of Cameron said Cincinnati. Historically, plenty of teammatesswing, with it was scouts showed that spring, known more for he flat-out missed watching, up mostly to “figure to games titles in football its five national “I knew he felt the baseball. than it was for (Griffey) would out … whether baseball. meron said. “He uneasy,” Casign, and for (how) much.” Its coach was hit much off a said he had not tee, and told me, As the June draft who started at Mike Cameron, ‘Griffeys don’t the crept closer, hit Mooney said 1967. That year, school in I said, ‘At Moeller,off tees.’ And the organization he had two debated over that is what players taken we do.’ ” three players in for that top spot — year player draft.the MLB firstCameron sensed Griffey, and Mark Merchant, Harkey was Buddy Bell, One of them time to transition it was a good speedy prep outfielderanother 18-year major who had an live batting cages. Griffey to the league career out of Oviedo High and a son, David, he saw that sweet, While there, School in Florida. who teamed with left-handed “(Merchant) was Griffey in Seattle. swing hammer like Junior — baseball after a center fielder “At the time, baseball. and gifted,” I couldn’t tell Mooney said. “There was a “But the things big, that ‘Wow!’ ” did not come Cameron said. easy for Mer“The chant did for ers, they just stoppedother playJunior, and that was a separator.” what they were doing to turn around and In the final few weeks, look at him. it was Mooney who “He was the real spent Griffey household a day at the It was later that thing.” issuing a presummer when draft, cognitive Griffey first attracted 160-question — similar to the test the Seattle Mariners’ interest. given to NFL Wonderlic test Veteran talent draft “I spent two or prospects. Jongewaard, the evaluator Roger the home, and three hours at Long-time evaluator tor of scouting Mariners’ direcI was struck by at Steve how open it was,” Vrablik’s walkoff watched Griffey the time, Mooney said. comment in play games in “Kids from the his report on Connie Mack neighborhood Ken Griffey Jr. tournament in a were coming (seen below) Texas. Jongewaard and , who passed home. They had going from the away in 2012 with Ping-Pong. a game room at the 76, had also selectedage of “It was not a Darstuffy house. ryl Strawberry … Everybody felt No. 1 overcomfortable all in the 1980 there. And as draft while soon as I left, with the New I got on the phone York with Roger and “We knew JuniorMets. said, ‘This is a was very portedly preferred one of the five portunity we have special opor six guys pitcher Mike Harkey, we here.

‘‘

TOP PROSPECT FOR ME WITH OUTSTANDING SKILLS.”

2016

Ken Griffey Jr. was among the top two or three baseball players of the 1990s. Thanks to advanced statistics, his place in such a ranking is fodder for one of those bar-stool debates that ultimately conclude with the words “Last Call!”

LEADING THE LEAGUE

But throughout a decade remembered for the labor problems that splintered the sport and alienated the public, there is no doubt about the identity of baseball’s most recognized player. He was known as “The Kid.” Ken Griffey Jr. was pictured on a candy bar, and the subject of a video game, and brand name for an athletic shoe manufactured by the company that launched an ad campaign touting him as a 1996 presidential candidate. His voice was heard in a season-three episode of “The Simpsons,” around the time his leaping catch doomed the Minnesota Twins’ storybook season in the enchanting movie, “Little Big League.” He made a cameo appearance on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” How enthralled was America with Griffey? Randy Adamack, senior vice president of communications for the Mariners, quantifies it with a number — 12 — more revealing than a 20-year old Q score. “I used to go back to Ohio once a summer, with my children, to visit family,” Adamack said a few weeks ago. “I grew up about 65 miles northeast of Cleveland, a small town where the local newspaper would cover events like Little League baseball. One day I saw a full page devoted to 15 players who’d qualified for some tournament. Each was asked who his favorite baseball player was, and 12 answered ‘Ken Griffey Jr.’ “I still remember that because it was the mid ’90s, back when the Cleveland Indians had really good teams, pennant winners with a bunch of All-Stars. And yet 12 kids, probably big fans of the Indians, listed a Seattle Mariner as their favorite.” Griffey’s allure during the 1990s was steeped in a combination of substance and style. Through 11 seasons between 1989 and 1999, he hit .299 while averaging 36 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He was named to the All-Star Game in 10 of those years, and won all 10 of his Gold Glove awards. “The whole sport has watched each of his baby steps,” the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell wrote in the spring of 1994, when Griffey became the first player to hit more than 20 home runs before June 1. “After becoming one of the youngest everyday players in history at 19, he was faced with a new question every year. Could he hit .300? Yes, at 20. Could he drive in 100 runs? That came at 21. Can he have back-to-back big years with 20 homers, 100 RBI and a .300 average? That was proved at 22. “By last season it was clear that Griffey had ambition, durability, and enthusiasm. While far from diligent, he seemed to know the game’s nuances by a kind of high-spirited, hat-backward osmosis.” And though Barry Bonds — the National League’s answer to Griffey — was assembling similar numbers with the Pirates and then the Giants, Bonds’ cold and indifferent persona minimized his national marketing potential. Griffey had a brooding side as well, but when the lights went on and the stage was his, he occupied it with the flair of a naturalborn entertainer. The Home Run Derby, which has been held on the eve of the All-Star Game since 1985, was not an event Griffey annually anticipated with eagerness. He took pride in his all-around skill

2016

friend.” done.’ ” Cincinnati saw Teammates in aging GrifNewspapers in Atlanta and qualities in an Seattle reported that a deal with some the Mariners never had fey that way the Braves was imminent, but particularly the Griffey, whose natural baseball to witness, the injuries that he dealt with talent did not extend to the game. diminished his seemed so business side of the industry, The things that Seattle startinsisted he was flummoxed. in easy and natural grit and de“We are still kicking things more ed to involve around and have not made a termination. pitcher David decision,” he told MLB.com. “He was tough,” “This is the first time in my “I saw him take Weathers said. off his leg from career that I’ve been a free bloody bandages a muscle agent, and it’s nerve-racking. I torn where he had and all of his Fans at Safeco Field cheer Seattle love Seattle, but you know how three years earlier, he Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. as he steps close I am to my wife and kids.” amazed teammates were said a word.” to the plate in the first inning of a It turned out that one of Grifplayed and neverremembers with fey’s three kids, 13-year-old baseball game against the Los But Weathers the way Grifdaughter Taryn, had a voice that Angeles Angels on April 14, 2009. equal amazement on the floor resonated most forcefully with a down fey would get man who’d been talking to Henand wrestle of the clubhouse ry Aaron and Willie Mays. with his son. TED S. WARREN AP file, 2009 “She told him, ‘Dad, I really thrived in the The Mariners think you should go back to the his departure, short term after ALCS in 2000 Mariners, and not have any to the advancing record since 2003. regrets about how you finAmerican and winning an AP file, 2000 “He’s a superstar, and not just ished,’ ” Goldberg recalled for 116 games in MARK A. STAHL League-record because of his numbers and his ESPN.com. “That kind of put it 2001. came to Seatstats, but because of his personover the top.” When the Reds ality,” former teammate Ichiro The advice paved theit’s way for you where an interleague make, tle in 2007 for money you Suzuki said upon learning of a two-season experience that was stunned by series, Griffey feel happy.” Griffey’s Hall-of-Fame enshrine- mirrored Griffey’s career: The He the fans in Safewas easy: inference the response of been so critical The and it ment. “He was about caring for first part was silky in smooth and Seattle, co. So many had in 1999, a time wasn’t each other. It’s something we all radiated thehappy sheer joy of playing to sacrifice him it to of his departure he’d received worth was The need to learn from him, and it’s baseball. second part was a said to get out. when Griffey moneypileup what makes him better than a bumper-car revealedfor a Cincinnati inthat death threats. It worked the filter of superstar.” the difficulty of playing baseball. sporadically then only No more. Through andconsignment while, the ways in That Ichiro got to know GrifBored by his one injuries. of because time, fans realized helped save thereafter fey involved a confluence of night as a pinch hitter a team the first had runs home for which Griffey He hit 40Griffey and get the events beginning in 2007, when going nowhere, to Allanother madewent baseball in Seattle, season and Junior came back to Safeco Field the clubhouse during thebut middle in the folbuilt. new stadium that it injuries for the first time as an opponent. inningsStar andappearance, settled into his re“Never did I imagine back,” six seasons his than 128 lowing His request to be traded after cliner chair for a nap. Taking a this coming him to no more would be like limited “I didn’t realthe 1999 season — he wanted to nap, while a gamea is in progress, in season. in Griffey said then. be closer to his family in Florida isn’t as games egregious a connection violation ofto his old I missed being ize how much Griffey’sas, say, crackhe — turned into a boondoggle baseball etiquette remained strong, Seattle.” 2009fraught with complications. his Mariing openteammates a beer andstill feasting back briefly in calledon came He he as said, But Griffey’s BY JOHN MCGRATH respectable 19 A deal sending Griffey to fried chicken. in- and Jay Buhner 10, and hit a very 39 in ’09. ners jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com Cincinnati, where he grew up, difference to friends, a sport he once age Martinez especially. home runs at Edgar for the second was worked out, and it worked personified with his glad-to-bemore All-Star “Getting back He made two the first year, he said. out well. Among the players the alive-and-doing-what-I-love Ken Griffey Jr. quit baseball with a long drive ... to Florida. to give back,” after 35 stint was know you’re not Marinersplayer. received in exchange smile wasappearances heartbreaking an impressive with eviFINAL at the moment, “(At) 38-39, you back As morning was breaking on June 2, 2010, some 14 hours before 35 to day.” Looking Jim theand for their superb center fielder dence endrallied was near. manager to play every in 2005 at age , DAYS IN going runs general home Reds comecontroversy was Mikenow, Cameron, another Hearts break, and heartsLeague’s heal. he was expected to be in uniform for a Mariners game against the Then amid more National a view from the SEATTLE hadCameron win the Bowden published resuperb center fielder. For 11 seasons, Mariners fans DAVE BOLING year award. moment of the stemming from “My favorite Twins in Seattle, GriffeyBYturned the ignition mkey of his Infiniti QX56 back player enewstribune.co the asleep in the was-a key other cog onside: Seattle’s 2000 had of watching Kenthe privilege dave.boling@th left a marka with ports he had fallena game, Grifwe traded for to Andinhe day extraordin he the an when was wild-card team, and an All-Star fabulous talent his prime. And and headed for home. exhibited was blessed clubhouse during abrupt exit. organization even Jr. and Ithat Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey to he Reds for the 2001 powerhouse though returned well paston the field. to walk producing fey made another The excuse-me-while-I-disappear departure struck many fans as impulsive. Ithe did. have the opportunity ‘baseball won 116 games. that prime,wasn’t a final thought pre-to play alongary grace in everything needed work. JUNIOR Poof. to declare “It was an honor at his firstplayers the podium Still, Griffey was wary about .’ Tovails: be Those wasn’t. Griffey’s role at age 40 had been reduced a left-handed DH and But his welcome spring one of the greatest GOES to that of in Cincinnati side Except his exits. is back Grifthis the reception awaiting himfuture in Hall of There was greatness inof the the game,” a occasional pinch hitter. His batting average of .184 was statistically symbolichaving — 100passed, 2007 at Safeco HOME in the history “He pitch ceremony to bring the relationship able Field, where Glove, Silver midst. With a generation Barry Larkin said. proved how well and the MariMVP,aGold spring about Famer, thisyet right way Alex Rodriguez remains pariah children shortstop points below the .284 that will appear on his Hall-of-Fame plaque —a and he had the Griffey the to question game the between superstar played fey fielded Slugger seaJohn jmcgrath@ impacted the for signing the free-agent conareaMcGrath: Cincinnati ners had healed. after the 1999 tract, to hit a home run. offensively, he greater into the of the then the most lucrative in forthenewstribune.com, … Junior had me.” with the Mariners, After he was voted moment game defensively. an epic athletwas Seattle. his first break-up by a record per@TNTMcGrath American pro sports history, that Hall of Fame a trade out of accepted a contract great range, tremendous Griffey announced that of an arm. A sad moment revealed the delivered him to the Texas of some $30 milson when he demanded centage, Griffey Mariners hat icism and a cannon a smile on from the Reds a had extent of Griffey’s decline three Rangers with M’s in 2001. gave the Mariners he would wear than And he played weeks previously, when managThea“reception” was celeGriffey reportedly Gillick extend list lion less for his Hall induction.as if it had Pat an attempt to his face.” er Don Wakamatsu called on brated spirit ofina garden Griffey was smile. It was general manager primein the offered He made it sound In essence, Ah, the Griffey that minimized of four teams he saw asparty a hisa stay. , and teamhim to bat for Adam Moore honoring golden wedforegone conclusion. that After a preface drama, and Gillick noted: to “pay” the Mariners revived in Cincinnati the same been a and willing the situation against the Orioles at Baltimore. ding anniversary. A 15-minute in all the subplots ent he felt at the trade candidates. “I think with him go. ideal situation to let conmates there developedto Griffey it was a very fortune Trailing 5-1 in the top of the pregame tribute to Griffey fans: “It was not an the disenchantm “it Without has gone on now, me to put on a powerful attachment He told the Cincinnati had. concluded that for ninth, the Mariners had men on with a four-minute which to negotiate.” cluded got little time, Griffey easy decision matter how much Marinersstanding his Mariners teammates doesn’t those things that a first“It that for me to go into first and third. Griffey lofted a ovation planted leverage, the was just one of talent made him Mariners hat game’s best “His the for he said. infielder fly ball to right field for a sacrithe seeds for him to wind up in in return Famer,” happened.” the Hall of Fame,” a question.” shrug, as if I ballot Hall of even fice fly RBI. Seattle. said. “But what It seemed a verbal “That wasn’t Aaron Boone that. It was of life’s existWhen Griffey got back to the After a 2008 season split about Ken is it had been one an uncontrolHe’s wrong aboutsomething appreciate most be dugout, he was embraced by between the Reds and Chicago not just wanted to just ential absurdities,a millennial how much he I’m proud to call a big deal, veteran Mike Sweeney, his selfWhite Sox, Griffey became a lable act. Maybe a else that happened. Y2K, after one of the guys. symbolic, and appointed bodyguard and menfree agent for the first time. No glitch. It was February It was hugely in him a friend.” his leave. you to the fans tal-skills coach. Sweeney aphad been a suitors were more obvious than all, when he took e, of gracious thank Griffey already franchise that peared to shout: “That’s what the Mariners, coming off a 61with 398 home But it wasn’t happenstanc air of Seattle and the 10-time All-Star Seattle. He was the dead I’m talking about!” 101 record and desperate for left course. There Alex gave him his start. runs when he The emerging credentials The most electrifying player some positive PR Fame Safeco Field. of had Hall the marquee. Dutton teammates of his generation was being spin in the wake of Rodriguez sharingup at a distant Staff writer Bob report. already. But Reds had nothing this congratulated for having manseveral calamitous His kids growing contributed to said that his persona aged to drive home an inconsemoves arranged by power. star home. t’s with to do of my favorite Dave Boling: 253-597-8440, quential run in a 5-2 defeat. deposed general manHe forced managemen “Junior was one com, trade and beat Griffey had made a mistake ager Bill Bavasi. said pitcher Danny dboling@thenewstribune. hand into a bad Assessing teammates,” clubg common to virtually every baseA few weeks before spring feet after 11 seasons. was a “He had a great the @DaveBolin Graves. coming ball legend but Ted Williams: training, Bavasi’s replaceand made his going and at the house presence, … and, of Not knowing when to say when. ment, Jack Zduriencik, and easy matter of perspective game look so A chance for a much more Wakamatsu, the newly ap- DREW PERINE Staff file, 2007 the sweetest time. course, he had jilted cried: We at compelling exit had presented pointed manager, met with In Seattle, the Mariners crowd swing ever.” you believe it? FROSCHAUER AP file, 2009 cheering Sean Casey, itself after the Mariners’ 2009 Griffey, his wife Melissa, and after he left to play es the lost Griffey! Can joyousJOHN cried: acknowledg First baseman the by teammates Griffey Jr.agent Ken Griffey Jr. is carriedInaround the field a win season finale, when Griffey took Brian GoldbergininSeattle AriCincinnati Can you after Safeco in his first appearance Griffey! over the Texas Rangers Oct. 4, 2009 in Seattle. Griffey hit the Field zona. a joy ride around Safeco Field on reportedly 2007. 22, Mariners We’re getting JuneThe Junior’s for the Reds on it? the game the day before. last home run of believe his career the shoulders of teammates who pitched a one-year contract to production hard feelings,” regarded him as an idol. They Griffey for $2 million. Along “There was no departure, dropped in his suspected that his last-at bat of with incentives related to plate Griffey said of Cincy due — or at least the obvious the game, an eighth-inning sinular — he hit .214, with 19 homServing of as revisitthe team’s goodappearances and attendance, the denying to various futility man gle, would be the last at-bat of ers and 57 RBIs in 117 games — thehumor and original prankdeal topped out at $4.5 million. recognizing injuries. moment. his career. they were good enough ster, Griffey’s ability to energize But the plot was thickened theconing to was when he was in April, Although Griffey’s offensive vince him and the frontThis office a dreary, polarized clubhouse when the Braves got involved, PAUL the first out CONNORS numbers during his ballyhooed that a final verse of the swanto throw was a subtle offering essentially the same in town AP file, homebut prominent fac2005 return season with the Mariners song was in order. pitch at the Mariners’ tor in the Mariners salary. A National League destifans putting toof generation in 2009 were far from spectacBesides, he’d had aopener. blast. A newgether their second nation wasn’t ideal for someof winning at the mention TED S. WARREN AP file cheered wildly the Baseball Hall his election to of Fame. over time were Clearly eroded nt from the sense of abandonme alienation the fans and whatever the franchise. Griffey felt for the ’99 season) “Things (after and control people’s were out of you have to sometimes either “OK, it was a back and go,

LUI KIT WONG Staff file

When the lights went on and the stage was his, Junior occupied it with the flair of a natural-born entertainer.

set — “I’m a hitter, not a slugger,” he was fond of saying — and had legitimate concerns the smooth swing that was his trademark could be corrupted by a prolonged competition requiring ferocious hacks at batting-practice pitches. Displeased that ESPN had scheduled the Mariners for a Sunday night game at Texas, Griffey wanted no part of the 1998 frivolity at Denver’s Coors Field. He was tired and cranky — the Mariners were 37-51 at the break — and he’d already established himself as a Derby legend with a first-place finish in 1994, two years after he launched a ball that caromed off the B&O Warehouse beyond the right field of Baltimore’s Camden Yards. Griffey was determined to participate in the All-Star Eve festivities only as an observer when, about 90 minutes before the first casual lob of a long night, something odd happened. Presented with a trophy for accumulating the most votes in fan balloting, 50,000 spectators

Griffey’s return was a fine

ELAINE THOMPSON AP file, 1996

Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. signs autographs before the game in 1996 in Peoria, Ariz. Griffey’s ability to connect with the public — kids, in particular — was like his swing: unforced and seemingly effortless.

booed him. It was his motivation to pick up a bat and put on a show. “I don’t like to get booed,” Griffey said a few hours later. “I don’t think anybody does.” Griffey won the 1998 Home Run Derby with 19 long flies. He would win again in 1999, and return to display his power for the final time in 2000, when he took second. Griffey’s Home Run Derby totals: Three first-place finishes and three second-place finishes in eight appearances. Because he belonged to a West Coast team that begins some 100 games a season shortly after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, Griffey’s national exposure was limited. He was seen in 16 playoff games during the 1990s, but never in a World Series. The Home Run Derby can be annoying to some baseball purists

GARY STEWART AP file, 1991

Griffey shares a laugh with teammate Harold Reynolds after the two were presented with Golden Glove Awards on April 10, 1991 in the Kingdome. Junior would win nine more as a Mariner.

— Chris Berman’s “back-backback!” call has the dulcet sound of a jackhammer at dawn — but it helped introduce an entire generation of young Americans to a superstar with the backwards cap and radiant smile. “Kids love watching it,” said Adamack, “and Junior was at his best with kids. If we had a request that involved him talking to kids, I could be 100 percent certain he was on board. If the request was for him to speak to some businessmen wearing ties, uh, well, the chances weren’t so good. “His commitment to the MakeA-Wish foundation was amazing. He didn’t just show up and pose for a photo. He’d bring cancer patients into the clubhouse and interact with them on the field during warmups. He did whatever he could to bring some joy into their lives.” Griffey’s ability to connect with the public — and kids, in particular — was like his swing: unforced and seemingly effortless. “He has a real screen presence,” Andy Scheinman, the director of “Little Big League,” told Sports Illustrated for a 1994 cover story that depicted Griffey as baseball’s most marketable icon since Reggie Jackson became known as “the straw that stirs the drink” of the 1970s Yankees. “When he is on the screen,” Scheinman said of Griffey, “your eyes just naturally go to him. He’s like Tom Cruise in that sense. We had a number of big name baseball players in the

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body who profiled as a designated hitter after knee surgery, but Atlanta presented geographic benefits beyond its relative proximity to Griffey’s Florida home in Orlando. He could 7H drive to the team’s spring train........ ............................... ing site inNEWS 20 TRIBUNE............... minutes. ............................... THE Furthermore, there was a family-tree connection in Atlanta. Ken Griffey Sr. played for the Braves between 1986 and 1988, a bit of history Henry Aaron likely referenced when he made also a phone call to Junior. MLB Network, now with the Griffey Jr. chatted with Willie at how the superstarin marveled Mays, who finished his career in of the guys could be just one New York, where his legend was the clubhouse. launched in 1951. certain times “There are only you can say “Willie hit on it a little harcareer where der,” Griffey’s agent, Goldberg,in your the privilege of playing Casey told ESPN.com in 2009. “But you had Hall of Famer,” to Junior they both said, ‘You have to do with a “As I played next we all what you want to do.’ They told said. seasons, I knew him, ‘You might have to make for six of the greatwatching one I’m some short-term struggles, but were to play the game. the bottom line is go by how youest ever say that while he was a to want to be remembered for the proud is an even better great player, he next 50 years after you’re

by the After being traded Cincinnati Reds Mariners to the for four players, in exchange at the Feb. 10, Griffey Jr. said conference, 2000, press home.” “Well, I’m finally

BY JOHN MCGRATH

jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com

FRIDAY JULY 22

PAGES H8, H10

ending ey journ e to Griffey’s mov up long Cincinnati set

movie (Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Sandy Alomar Jr., Rafael Palmeiro, Tim Raines), but when Griffey was on the field, it was like a different world. He’s just a huge, huge star.” The ultimate validation of Griffey’s popularity during the 1990s was his election, in 1998, to Major League Baseball’s “AllCentury Team.” Fans determined the roster of 50, and Griffey received more support (645,389 votes) than fellow outfielders Roberto Clemente (582,937), Stan Musial (571,279), Frank Robinson (220,226) and Barry Bonds (173,279). In retrospect, the voting had more to do with an assumption the second half of Griffey’s career would mirror the first. It didn’t. After turning 30, he would receive MVP votes only once as the injuries mounted and his quest to play in a World Series deteriorated into a pipe dream. By 2002, baseball historian Bill James, noting Griffey shared both a birthplace and a birthday with Musial, assessed The Kid’s accomplishments versus those of The Man. “The second-best left-handed hitter ever born in Donora, Pa. on Nov. 21,” James wrote of Griffey. Perhaps, but when it comes to baseball players whose marketing appeal endured for the decade between 1989 and 2000, Ken Griffey Jr. was second-best to nobody.

to a storybook career

back to Seattle

FOR 11 SEASONS, MARINERS FANS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WATCHING A FABULOUS TALENT IN HIS PRIME.

John McGrath: jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com, @TNTMcGrath

BRUCE KELLMAN Staff file, 1999

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Junior’s most memorable

moments

4

Nov. 12, 1997. After hitting 56 home runs and driving in a career-high 147 runs, Griffey was selected just the 13th unanimous AL most valuable player in baseball history. It would be the only MVP nod of his career. ELAINE THOMPSON AP file

Sept. 14, 1990. First, Ken Griffey Sr. hit a home run out to left field in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels. And Griffey Jr. followed by hitting one in almost the same spot, making them the first father-son duo to homer in the same game.

13

BOB GAILBRAITH AP file

ELAINE THOMPSON AP file

7

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Apr. 15, 1997. After getting permission from Major League Baseball, Griffey wore No. 42 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut. It’s a tradition every player has continued since 2008.

AP file

July 1990. In just his second season, Griffey became the first Mariners player to be elected into the starting lineup of an All-Star Game.

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Apr. 10, 1989. In his first game in the Kingdome, Griffey hit the first pitch he saw from Chicago White Sox pitcher Eric King for his first career home run.

Reporter TJ Cotterill (@TJCotterill) and columnist John McGrath (@TNTMcGrath) will be covering all of the Hall of Fame weekend events. Get the latest daily online and on Twitter.

Oct. 4, 2009. Following the Mariners’ final game of the 2009 season — a 4-3 win over Texas — Griffey was lifted on his teammates’ shoulders and carried around Safeco Field for a final victory lap.

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JEFF GLIDDEN AP file

Apr. 26, 1990. It was the catch that set the tone for Griffey’s career in center field, taking a home run away from Jess Barfield by climbing the wall in left center at Yankee Stadium.

DUNCAN LIVINGSTON Staff file

GARY STEWART AP file

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Apr. 6, 2009. In his first game back with Seattle after nine seasons in Cincinnati, Griffey connected on his record-tying eighth Opening Day home run at Minnesota.

15

May 26, 1995. This one was painful: Griffey broke his left wrist crashing into the right-center wall in the Kingdome to rob Baltimore’s Kevin Bass of extra bases. He missed 73 games.

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Sept. 7, 1997. The 50-home run plateau had never been reached in Seattle — until Griffey homered off Minnesota’s Bob Tewksbury. He finished with 56 that season. (Seen celebrating with Jay Buhner)

ANN HEISENFELT AP file

Feb. 21, 2009. Wanting to return to his original team, Griffey signed a one-year, $2 million freeagent deal with the Mariners. He ended up making $3.15 million that year with incentives.

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TED S. WARREN AP file

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July 14, 1992. “The Kid” stole the show at the 1992 All-Star Game, going 3-for-3 with a double and home run in the AL’s 13-6 win in San Diego. He was named the game’s MVP. AP file

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6

Apr. 3, 1989. At age 19, in his first major- league at-bat, Griffey doubled off Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart. The line drive hit off the base of the wall in left center.

TOM GANNAM AP file

June 22-24, 2007. In his first at-bat at Safeco FIeld since his 2000 trade to Cincinnati, Griffey singled off Mariners pitcher Ryan Feierabend. He went 5-for-13 with two home runs in the series.

Live Hall of Fame coverage

3

Oct. 8, 1995. In arguably the biggest moment in franchise history, Griffey scored the game-winning run from first base to cap Seattle’s 6-5 come-from-behind, 11th-inning victory over the New York Yankees to win the ALDS.

8

2016

Jan. 6, 2016. Along with catcher Mike Piazza, Griffey was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He set a record by being listed on 99.32 percent of the voters’ ballots — 437 of 440.

MICHAEL SCHUMANN AP file

June 20, 2004. With his parents in attendance, Griffey hit career home run No. 500 with Cincinnati on Father’s Day in St. Louis off Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris. It also was his 2,143rd career hit, tying his father’s career total.

FRIDAY JULY 22

GARY STEWART AP file

5

1

COOPERSTOWN CREW

2

July 28, 1993. On the first pitch he saw from Minnesota’s ............................... Willie Banks to lead off the ............................... .......................THE NEWS TRIBUNE seventh inning, Griffey tied a major-league record by hitting a home run in an eighth consecutive game. It was his 30th blast of that season.

9, 2008. After 19 June his blast deep to right field off pitcher Mark Hendrickson, Griffey became the sixth man in major league history to 600 home runs. He finished with 630.

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Feb. 10, 2000. Yielding to his wishes, Seattle traded Griffey to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitchers Brett Tomko and Jake Meyer, infielder Antonio Perez and outfielder Mike Cameron.

June 27, 1999. Griffey closed the Kingdome in style, hitting a home run against Texas, and robbing slugger Juan Gonzalez of a home run in a 5-2 victory.

GARY STEWART AP file

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LUI KIT WONG Staff file

Apr. 10, 2013. Griffey became the seventh inductee into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame with an emotional ceremony at Safeco Field.

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May 25, 1991. It is known as the “Spider Man” catch — perhaps Griffey’s finest — as he robs New York’s Ruben Sierra of extra bases in the Kingdome.

July 1999. At 29, Griffey was voted to baseball’s “All-Century” team. He was the youngest member on that squad.

JAY DROWNS

Associated Press,

1998

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KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

The

real thing from the beginning

BY TODD MILLES

todd.milles@thenewstribune.com

Baseball scouting is not an exact science. Opinions, even those about elite players, vary. Different eyes see different things. That was never the case with Ken Griffey Jr. — not as a kid who grew up around major league ballparks, nor as a teenager seen as the best five-tool prospect in decades and an overall No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft.

ACE IN HIGH SCHOOL

“His skill set was easy to identify,” said Tom Mooney, who was a Mariners’ scout living in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1980s. “He really was, at age 16 or 17, a man playing against boys.” Early on, he was a boy who could play with some of the best. Growing up the son of Ken Griffey Sr., one of the members of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine — the Reds won six National League West Division titles, four NL pennants and two World Series titles in the 1970s — afforded Griffey Jr. an early look at big-league competition. Every year, hours before one of their weekend tilts, the Reds would host a father-son game at Riverfront Stadium. As many as 30,000 fans would often attend to watch the children of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose play. Griffey was the self-proclaimed star of those games starting at age 7. “Everyone talks about the ‘Big Red Machine’ being the greatest team on earth,” Griffey said. “And I keep telling everybody they are the second best because they couldn’t beat us 9-yearolds.” By the time Griffey got to high school, his father had been traded to the New York Yankees. Griffey attended Archbishop Moeller, a private, all-male Catholic school in the suburbs of Cincinnati. Historically, it was known more for its five national titles in football than it was for baseball. Its coach was Mike Cameron, who started at the school in 1967. That year, he had two players taken in the MLB firstyear player draft. One of them was Buddy Bell, who had an 18-year major league career and a son, David, who teamed with Griffey in Seattle. “At the time, I couldn’t tell

‘‘

TOP PROSPECT FOR ME WITH OUTSTANDING SKILLS.” Long-time evaluator Steve Vrablik’s walkoff comment in his report on Ken Griffey Jr. (seen below)

Cincinnati Enquirer file, 1987

Seen in 1987, Ken Griffey Jr. was a standout player for Moeller High in the suburbs of Cincinnati.

1987 MLB DRAFT Cincinnati Enquirer file

Ken Griffey Jr. with one of his Archbishop Moeller High School coaches, Paul Smith.

you if (Bell) had the skills to play 10-15 years in the big leagues,” Cameron said. “By the time Kenny came, I had refined my skills observing and seeing talent.” Forgoing baseball his first two years of high school, Griffey tried out for the Crusaders in the spring of 1986. Cameron — who has since retired and is now the official scorekeeper for the Reds — remembers that first day well. “We had stations in our hitting facility,” Cameron said. “I was excited to see Kenny hit off the tee, and see what he could do.” On Griffey’s first swing, with plenty of teammates watching, he flat-out missed the baseball. “I knew he felt uneasy,” Cameron said. “He said he had not hit much off a tee, and told me, ‘Griffeys don’t hit off tees.’ And I said, ‘At Moeller, that is what we do.’ ” Cameron sensed it was a good time to transition Griffey to the live batting cages. While there, he saw that sweet, left-handed swing hammer baseball after baseball. “There was a big, ‘Wow!’ ” Cameron said. “The other players, they just stopped what they were doing to turn around and look at him. “He was the real thing.” It was later that summer when Griffey first attracted the Seattle Mariners’ interest. Veteran talent evaluator Roger Jongewaard, the Mariners’ director of scouting at the time, watched Griffey play games in a Connie Mack tournament in Texas. Jongewaard, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 76, had also selected Darryl Strawberry No. 1 overall in the 1980 draft while with the New York Mets. “We knew Junior was one of the five or six guys we were going to focus on,” said Mooney. “The problem we had back then was that the Mariners were so bad, there was a push to go with a college player because he would get to the big leagues sooner.” That directive came from former Mariners owner George Argyros, who had grown cranky overseeing a string of high draft picks not pan out. Argyros re-

Top of the class Griffey was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 MLB draft. There were 32 players drafted in the first round, which also included the likes of All-Stars Jack McDowell, Kevin Appier and Hall of Famer, Craig Biggio. Pick

Player

Selected by

Position

1

Ken Griffey Jr.**

Seattle Mariners

Outfielder

2

Mark Merchant

Pittsburgh Pirates

Outfielder

3

Willie Banks

Minnesota Twins

RH Pitcher

4

Mike Harkey

Chicago Cubs

RH Pitcher

5

Jack McDowell*

Chicago White Sox

RH Pitcher

6

Derek Lilliquist

Atlanta Braves

LH Pitcher

7

Chris Myers

Baltimore Orioles

LH Pitcher

8

Dan Opperman

Los Angeles Dodgers

RH Pitcher

9

Kevin Appier*

Kansas City Royals

RH Pitcher

10

Kevin Garner

San Diego Padres

RH Pitcher

11

Lee Tinsley

Oakland Athletics

Outfielder

12

Delino DeShields

Montreal Expos

Shortstop

13

Bill Spiers

Milwaukee Brewers

Shortstop

14

Cris Carpenter

St. Louis Cardinals

RH Pitcher

15

Brad Duvall

Baltimore Orioles

RH Pitcher

16

Mike Remlinger*

San Francisco Giants

LH Pitcher

17

Alex Sanchez

Toronto Blue Jays

RH Pitcher

18

Jack Armstrong*

Cincinnati Reds

RH Pitcher

19

Brian Bohanon

Texas Rangers

LH Pitcher

20

Bill Henderson

Detroit Tigers

Catcher

21

Steve Pegues

Detroit Tigers

Outfielder

22

Craig Biggio**

Houston Astros

Catcher

23

Bill Haselman

Texas Rangers

Cacther

24

Chris Donnels

New York Mets

Third base

25

John Orton

California Angels

Catcher

26

Reggie Harris

Boston Red Sox

RH Pitcher

27

Pete Harnisch*

Baltimore Orioles

RH Pitcher

28

Tyrone Kingwood

Montreal Expos

Outfielder

29

Mark Petkovsek

Texas Rangers

RH Pitcher

30

Travis Fryman*

Detroit Tigers

Shortstop

31

David Holdridge

California Angels

RH Pitcher

32

Bob Zupcic

Boston Red Sox

Outfielder (*All-Star - ** Hall of Famer)

portedly preferred pitcher Mike Harkey, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound right-hander from Cal State Fullerton. He was the most coveted prospect in college before the 1987 draft. “Roger stood his ground,” Mooney said. “He knew (Griffey) was the best player in the draft.” Seattle sent various scouts to Griffey’s games, including Mooney, Bob Harrison, even longtime evaluator Steve Vrablik, who had started his scouting career in 1959. That year, Vrablik caught two of Griffey’s games, and filed his

thoughts in a Mariners’ report in early May. Some of the highlights: A Physical traits: “Tall, rangy, strong body build. Long arms and legs. Solid thighs and buttocks. Not fully matured. Should get stronger.” A Skill-set strengths: “Good bat speed. Quick stroke. Ball jumps off bat. Future outstanding power. Knows strike zone. Above average arm strength (in outfield). Very good fluid and range.” A Skill-set weaknesses: “Tendency to short-arm throws. Doesn’t set himself right. Will

uppercut, but he’s a good lowball hitter. Over swings at times.” Vrablik’s walkoff comment in his report was the most indicative: “Top prospect for me with outstanding skills.” Griffey had a stellar senior season, batting a school-record .478 with seven home runs and 26 RBI. Three of those home runs came in one game against Fairmont High School. He mainly played center field. Occasionally he would pitch. Griffey was not only named the Greater Catholic League player of the year for a second consecutive season, he was also the state’s Gatorade player of the year in 1987. Cameron said that spring, scouts showed up to games mostly to “figure out … whether (Griffey) would sign, and for (how) much.” As the June draft crept closer, Mooney said the organization debated over three players for that top spot — Griffey, Harkey and Mark Merchant, another speedy prep outfielder out of Oviedo High School in Florida. “(Merchant) was like Junior — a center fielder and gifted,” Mooney said. “But the things that did not come easy for Merchant did for Junior, and that was a separator.” In the final few weeks, it was Mooney who spent a day at the Griffey household issuing a predraft, cognitive 160-question test — similar to the Wonderlic test given to NFL draft prospects. “I spent two or three hours at the home, and I was struck by how open it was,” Mooney said. “Kids from the neighborhood were coming and going from the home. They had a game room with Ping-Pong. “It was not a stuffy house. … Everybody felt comfortable there. And as soon as I left, I got on the phone with Roger and said, ‘This is a very special opportunity we have here. I think Kenny has his head on straight.’ ” When the night of June 2 came and the Mariners were solid on one choice: Griffey, who reportedly inked a signing bonus between $160,000 and $175,000. Somewhat reluctantly onboard with the decision, Argyros issued an ultimatum to his scouting department, directed mainly at Jongewaard and Mooney. “After the draft, George called me and said, ‘(Mooney), you better be right on that,’ ” Mooney said. Todd Milles: 253-597-8442, @ManyHatsMilles

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE.....................................................................................

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

Ken Griffey, Jr. shares a laugh with teammates in the dugout, July 3, 1987.

BILL HUNTER Staff file, 1987

say, ‘Hey, you guys got to clean this up. C’mon,’ ” Sweet said. “It’s their first time away from home, they have to do all of the dishes and take care of their own place.” Griffey Sr. met with the team on an off day and took Griffey Jr. and some players out to eat afterward, Sweet recalled. “The next day I come to the ballpark and all these guys have new bats and new gloves — Junior had taken all the equipment his dad gave him and he gave it to all his teammates,” Sweet said. “It just put a smile on my face. Here’s this kid and his dad comes to town, and his dad is a big league player and All-Star and a tremendous player, himself. And he brings all this equipment for Junior, and he then gives it to all the guys on the club. That’s the kind of kid Junior was.”

Making a major

impact in the minors

BY TJ COTTERILL

tcotterill@thenewstribune.com

Rick Sweet answered his phone. Ken Griffey Sr. was on the other line, wanting to check in on his boy in Bellingham. This was his son’s first time away from home. “I heard Junior did something,” Griffey Sr. said. “Yeah, that’s all right,” Sweet said. “I spanked him.” Griffey Sr. laughed. “Well, if his mom needs to come out, she’ll come out,” he said.

MINOR LEAGUE STAR

Sweet chuckled recalling the conversations. “Most parents didn’t call me like that, obviously,” Sweet said. Sweet, the manager of the Bellingham Mariners, and Griffey Sr. knew each other from their years in the big leagues. And now Sweet was coaching Griffey’s 17-year-old son, the No. 1 selection in the 1987 draft. Griffey Jr.’s time in the minor leagues was limited to ShortSeason Single-A Bellingham, Single-A San Bernardino and Double-A Vermont — a total of 129 games over two seasons. “I can tell you, I’ve been in the game for over three decades — I’ve never experienced a greater minor league baseball player than Ken Griffey Jr.,” said former San Bernardino general manager Bill Shanahan. “The cool thing about minor league baseball is these players become your own. You follow them from the beginning. Single-A, Double-A, collegiate teams — you look at some of these kids and say, ‘That kid is going to make it.’ “But Ken Griffey Jr. was more than that. For him, it was, ‘That kid is going to be in the Hall of Fame.’ ” There are no iconic videos from Griffey’s time in the minors. Rest assured he made plays that were of the highlight variety. Griffey’s first professional hit was a home run at Everett Memorial Stadium. A bronze plaque is embedded in the sidewalk outside that left field fence where it landed on the corner of 38th and Lombard. “I remember he hit it and I’m going ‘God, that’s out of here,’ ” Sweet said. “I’ve had that stuck in my head.” Griffey ran into a center field wall in Everett, causing him to miss a week with a concussion and an injured right shoulder. “His whole career he did that, and that’s part of what I loved about Junior,” Sweet said. “He

HARLEY SOLTES The Seattle Times/AP file, 1987

Ken Griffey Jr. takes his first professional swings in the Kingdome in 1987. After he was drafted, he took batting practice in the dome. Three days later, he joined Short-Season Single-A Bellingham.

was the best player in the Northwest League. Back then, they didn’t have the press all over him or anything like that, so it was quiet. But he was special from Day One. “I have coached some really good players. But Griff — he was in a class by himself. God, he had so much fun playing the game.” That 1987 Bellingham team

5H

was Sweet’s first as a manager, and looking back he said he was probably harsh on his players, especially The Kid. Sweet recalled Griffey Jr. living in a house in Bellingham with a few other players, and the manager had to get on him about how he kept his room. “We stopped by and checked in on them once in a while, like we did all the players. I had to

DON’T MESS WITH SWING For the 1988 season, Griffey was sent to San Bernardino, the Mariners’ advanced Single-A team. Manager Ralph Dickenson wanted to work with Griffey’s swing, which he noticed was getting long. But Griffey pre-empted the manager’s meeting with one of his own. “I walk in from the mound to home plate and he says, ‘I just want to tell you one thing before we get started — don’t mess with the Griffey Swing,’ ” Dickenson recalled, laughing. Dickenson, who remembered that he once benched Griffey for jogging to first base, said he knew he had a special talent. He recalled Griffey’s throws from center field that hovered eight feet off the ground from release all the way to the plate. Griffey batted .338 with 11 home runs, 42 RBIs and a 1.007 OPS in 58 games in San Bernardino, and wowed defensively. He was a sensation. No other player on the team was younger than 20, and Griffey was 18. “I’ve only known two players in the time I’ve been coaching baseball who could struggle for a little bit and then could say, ‘I’ve had enough of this, I’m going to be myself again.’ That was (Rafael) Palmeiro and Griffey,” Dickenson said. “I’ve been around Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds — but Griffey is by far, I

MIGHTY MINOR

Before the bigs Before Griffey became one of the most recognizable names in the majors, he spent two seasons in the minor leagues with Short-Season Single-A Bellingham, Single-A San Bernardino and Double-A Vermont. Year

Team

Games

AB

Runs

Hits

HR

RBI

Avg.

1987

Bellingham Mariners

54

182

43

57

14

40

.313

1988

San Bernardino Spirit

58

219

50

74

11

42

.338

1988

Vermont Mariners

17

61

10

17

2

10

.279

TOTAL:

129

462

103

148

27

92

.318

Bellingham Herald file photo

mean, by far, the best of all those guys. I feel like he could have been — if he didn’t get hurt later on — the best player to ever play the game.” Shanahan, the San Bernardino GM, decided to put on a Ken Griffey Jr. poster night, handing them out to the first 1,000 fans. And this was while Griffey still played for the team. Shanahan even came up with a chant for when Griffey would come to bat. The stadium announcer would ask what time is it, “and everybody in the crowd would yell, ‘It’s Griffey time!’ ” he said. Shanahan posted a photo of the poster to his Facebook account when it was announced Griffey would enter the Hall of Fame with a record 99.3 percent of the vote. “A lot of times these stars come along in the minors and they never really pan out,” Shanahan said. “I look at the players I’ve seen come and go and you just can’t tag someone like you could Ken Griffey Jr. He was a superstar of superstars at 18 years old. “I get goose bumps when I think of that, and that was 30 years ago. All I can tell you is that he was the greatest player I’ve ever seen.” Griffey was called up to Double-A Vermont later that season, but was limited to 17 games by a back injury. MLB STARTER AT 19 It was April Fools’ Day in 1989 and Jim Lefebvre thought he’d play a prank on Griffey. The first-year Mariners manager called Griffey into his office and listed his concerns on how Griffey might not be able to handle the rigors of the big leagues. “And he’s kind of looking at me like I have something negative coming out,” Lefebvre said. “So I put my hand across the desk and I say, ‘You’re my starting center fielder, and you’re going to be here for a long, long time.’ He looked at me and you would not believe the expression on his face. He says, ‘Can I call my dad?’ “I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I thought he was going to cry. I said, ‘You go ahead and call your dad. Congratulations. You’re now the starting center fielder for the Seattle Mariners.’ ” Griffey was in a fall Instructional League when Lefebvre said he saw Griffey for the first time. His reaction? “Son of a gun, look at this kid hit,” Lefebvre recalled. “He reminded me a lot of Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron had that beautiful, fluid swing. You could see it right away.” The issue was whether to bring Griffey to the bigs or let him spend some time in Triple-A. Griffey hit .360 during the ensuing spring training and had a 15-game hitting streak. The decision had been left to Lefebvre, and he waited as long as he could. The Mariners were to face Rick Sutcliffe in his final spring training start for the Chicago Cubs, with Sutcliffe looking to get into regular-season mode. The matchup decided it for Lefebvre. Griffey battled Sutcliffe for what Lefebvre said was probably 14 pitches before drawing a walk. “Rick was throwing him curveballs, sliders, cutters, sinkers — everything,” Lefebvre said. “Junior just kept fouling it off. Then he throws a bunch of balls and there was one that was three or four inches outside and Junior took it for a walk. “That’s when I said, ‘He’s ready.’ ” Griffey hit the first pitch he saw in his MLB debut for a double at Oakland. In his first plate appearance in the Kingdome, he hit a home run. And he was 19. Lefebvre recalled Griffey heading to an autograph session in Tacoma before a game, expecting 500-600 people. Instead, 3,000 showed, and Griffey was late getting back for batting practice. “He was one of those guys who right away people gravitated toward,” Lefebvre said. “He was always out there just having a ball. At batting practice, he would go out with the bat boys and have more fun hanging out with them than his own teammates. He just loved being out there, and he’d have a big smile on his face, and I admired that. I do know one thing — Junior was an absolute treasure.”

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FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

.....................................................................................THE NEWS TRIBUNE

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

From rising star to the

face

WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYERS WHOSE MARKETING APPEAL ENDURED FOR THE DECADE BETWEEN 1989 AND 2000, KEN GRIFFEY JR. WAS SECOND-BEST TO NOBODY.

of Major League Baseball in the ’90s

BY JOHN MCGRATH

jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com

Ken Griffey Jr. was among the top two or three baseball players of the 1990s. Thanks to advanced statistics, his place in such a ranking is fodder for one of those bar-stool debates that ultimately conclude with the words “Last Call!”

LEADING THE LEAGUE

But throughout a decade remembered for the labor problems that splintered the sport and alienated the public, there is no doubt about the identity of baseball’s most recognized player. He was known as “The Kid.” Ken Griffey Jr. was pictured on a candy bar, and the subject of a video game, and brand name for an athletic shoe manufactured by the company that launched an ad campaign touting him as a 1996 presidential candidate. His voice was heard in a season-three episode of “The Simpsons,” around the time his leaping catch doomed the Minnesota Twins’ storybook season in the enchanting movie, “Little Big League.” He made a cameo appearance on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” How enthralled was America with Griffey? Randy Adamack, senior vice president of communications for the Mariners, quantifies it with a number — 12 — more revealing than a 20-year old Q score. “I used to go back to Ohio once a summer, with my children, to visit family,” Adamack said a few weeks ago. “I grew up about 65 miles northeast of Cleveland, a small town where the local newspaper would cover events like Little League baseball. One day I saw a full page devoted to 15 players who’d qualified for some tournament. Each was asked who his favorite baseball player was, and 12 answered ‘Ken Griffey Jr.’ “I still remember that because it was the mid ’90s, back when the Cleveland Indians had really good teams, pennant winners with a bunch of All-Stars. And yet 12 kids, probably big fans of the Indians, listed a Seattle Mariner as their favorite.” Griffey’s allure during the 1990s was steeped in a combination of substance and style. Through 11 seasons between 1989 and 1999, he hit .299 while averaging 36 home runs and 15 stolen bases. He was named to the All-Star Game in 10 of those years, and won all 10 of his Gold Glove awards. “The whole sport has watched each of his baby steps,” the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell wrote in the spring of 1994, when Griffey became the first player to hit more than 20 home runs before June 1. “After becoming one of the youngest everyday players in history at 19, he was faced with a new question every year. Could he hit .300? Yes, at 20. Could he drive in 100 runs? That came at 21. Can he have back-to-back big years with 20 homers, 100 RBI and a .300 average? That was proved at 22. “By last season it was clear that Griffey had ambition, durability, and enthusiasm. While far from diligent, he seemed to know the game’s nuances by a kind of high-spirited, hat-backward osmosis.” And though Barry Bonds — the National League’s answer to Griffey — was assembling similar numbers with the Pirates and then the Giants, Bonds’ cold and indifferent persona minimized his national marketing potential. Griffey had a brooding side as well, but when the lights went on and the stage was his, he occupied it with the flair of a naturalborn entertainer. The Home Run Derby, which has been held on the eve of the All-Star Game since 1985, was not an event Griffey annually anticipated with eagerness. He took pride in his all-around skill

LUI KIT WONG Staff file

When the lights went on and the stage was his, Junior occupied it with the flair of a natural-born entertainer.

set — “I’m a hitter, not a slugger,” he was fond of saying — and had legitimate concerns the smooth swing that was his trademark could be corrupted by a prolonged competition requiring ferocious hacks at batting-practice pitches. Displeased that ESPN had scheduled the Mariners for a Sunday night game at Texas, Griffey wanted no part of the 1998 frivolity at Denver’s Coors Field. He was tired and cranky — the Mariners were 37-51 at the break — and he’d already established himself as a Derby legend with a first-place finish in 1994, two years after he launched a ball that caromed off the B&O Warehouse beyond the right field of Baltimore’s Camden Yards. Griffey was determined to participate in the All-Star Eve festivities only as an observer when, about 90 minutes before the first casual lob of a long night, something odd happened. Presented with a trophy for accumulating the most votes in fan balloting, 50,000 spectators

ELAINE THOMPSON AP file, 1996

Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. signs autographs before the game in 1996 in Peoria, Ariz. Griffey’s ability to connect with the public — kids, in particular — was like his swing: unforced and seemingly effortless.

booed him. It was his motivation to pick up a bat and put on a show. “I don’t like to get booed,” Griffey said a few hours later. “I don’t think anybody does.” Griffey won the 1998 Home Run Derby with 19 long flies. He would win again in 1999, and return to display his power for the final time in 2000, when he took second. Griffey’s Home Run Derby totals: Three first-place finishes and three second-place finishes in eight appearances. Because he belonged to a West Coast team that begins some 100 games a season shortly after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, Griffey’s national exposure was limited. He was seen in 16 playoff games during the 1990s, but never in a World Series. The Home Run Derby can be annoying to some baseball purists

GARY STEWART AP file, 1991

Griffey shares a laugh with teammate Harold Reynolds after the two were presented with Golden Glove Awards on April 10, 1991 in the Kingdome. Junior would win nine more as a Mariner.

Batting average

At-bats 600

— Chris Berman’s “back-backback!” call has the dulcet sound of a jackhammer at dawn — but it helped introduce an entire generation of young Americans to a superstar with the backwards cap and radiant smile. “Kids love watching it,” said Adamack, “and Junior was at his best with kids. If we had a request that involved him talking to kids, I could be 100 percent certain he was on board. If the request was for him to speak to some businessmen wearing ties, uh, well, the chances weren’t so good. “His commitment to the MakeA-Wish foundation was amazing. He didn’t just show up and pose for a photo. He’d bring cancer patients into the clubhouse and interact with them on the field during warmups. He did whatever he could to bring some joy into their lives.” Griffey’s ability to connect with the public — and kids, in particular — was like his swing: unforced and seemingly effortless. “He has a real screen presence,” Andy Scheinman, the director of “Little Big League,” told Sports Illustrated for a 1994 cover story that depicted Griffey as baseball’s most marketable icon since Reggie Jackson became known as “the straw that stirs the drink” of the 1970s Yankees. “When he is on the screen,” Scheinman said of Griffey, “your eyes just naturally go to him. He’s like Tom Cruise in that sense. We had a number of big name baseball players in the

movie (Randy Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, Sandy Alomar Jr., Rafael Palmeiro, Tim Raines), but when Griffey was on the field, it was like a different world. He’s just a huge, huge star.” The ultimate validation of Griffey’s popularity during the 1990s was his election, in 1998, to Major League Baseball’s “AllCentury Team.” Fans determined the roster of 50, and Griffey received more support (645,389 votes) than fellow outfielders Roberto Clemente (582,937), Stan Musial (571,279), Frank Robinson (220,226) and Barry Bonds (173,279). In retrospect, the voting had more to do with an assumption the second half of Griffey’s career would mirror the first. It didn’t. After turning 30, he would receive MVP votes only once as the injuries mounted and his quest to play in a World Series deteriorated into a pipe dream. By 2002, baseball historian Bill James, noting Griffey shared both a birthplace and a birthday with Musial, assessed The Kid’s accomplishments versus those of The Man. “The second-best left-handed hitter ever born in Donora, Pa. on Nov. 21,” James wrote of Griffey. Perhaps, but when it comes to baseball players whose marketing appeal endured for the decade between 1989 and 2000, Ken Griffey Jr. was second-best to nobody. John McGrath: jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com, @TNTMcGrath

.264 .300 .327 .308 .309 .323 .258 .303 .304 .284 .285

606

550

Games played

500

127

155

154

142

156

111

72

140

157

161

160

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994*

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

*MLB season shortened due to strike

450

THE ’90S

455

Seattle’s superstar

400

350

Through 11 seasons between 1989 and 1999, Griffey hit .299 while averaging 300 158 hits and 36 home runs. He was selected to play in the All-Star Game 10 times during that span and won all seven of his Silver Slugger awards. 250

300 250

260 Missed 73 games due to injury (Mariners went 36-37 during his absence) during 1995 season.

200 150 100 50

’89

5,832 1989-1999 TOTAL

Hits

200

173

Runs

’89

100

Home runs 67

’99

134

123

120

150

RBIs

1,742 1989-1999 TOTAL

61

’99 ’89

52

1,063 1989-1999 TOTAL

50

61 42 ’99 ’89

1,152 1989-1999 TOTAL

16 ’99 ’89

48

398 1989-1999 TOTAL

’99

BRUCE KELLMAN Staff file, 1999

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE.....................................................................................

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

After being traded by the Mariners to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four players, Griffey Jr. said at the Feb. 10, 2000, press conference, “Well, I’m finally home.”

MARK A. STAHL AP file, 2000

Griffey’s move to Cincinnati set up long

journey back to Seattle

BY DAVE BOLING

dave.boling@thenewstribune.com

Ken Griffey Jr. exhibited an extraordinary grace in everything he did. Except his exits. Those needed work. With a generation having passed, Griffey fielded a question this spring about his first break-up with the Mariners, after the 1999 season when he demanded a trade out of Seattle.

JUNIOR GOES HOME

After a preface that minimized all the subplots and drama, and the disenchantment he felt at the time, Griffey concluded that “it was just one of those things that happened.” It seemed a verbal shrug, as if it had been one of life’s existential absurdities, an uncontrollable act. Maybe a millennial glitch. It was February Y2K, after all, when he took his leave. But it wasn’t happenstance, of course. There was the dead air of Safeco Field. The emerging Alex Rodriguez sharing the marquee. His kids growing up at a distant home. He forced management’s hand into a bad trade and beat feet after 11 seasons. Assessing his going and coming was a matter of perspective at the time. In Seattle, the jilted cried: We lost Griffey! Can you believe it? In Cincinnati the joyous cried: We’re getting Griffey! Can you believe it? “There was no hard feelings,” Griffey said of his departure, denying the obvious — or at least recognizing the futility of revisiting the moment. This was in April, when he was in town to throw out the first pitch at the Mariners’ home opener. A new generation of fans cheered wildly at the mention of his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Clearly eroded over time were the sense of abandonment from the fans and whatever alienation Griffey felt for the franchise. “Things (after the ’99 season) were out of people’s control and sometimes either you have to look back and go, ‘OK, it was a decision that was based on … what was best for my family, not what everybody thought the decision should be.’ It was one of those things that happened.” The Mariners brass and the legion of fans were among those who thought it was the wrong decision. Griffey reportedly gave M’s

general manager Pat Gillick a list of four teams he saw as prime trade candidates. Gillick noted: “It was not an ideal situation in which to negotiate.” Without leverage, the Mariners got little in return for the game’s best player.

Looking back at the moment, now, Reds general manager Jim Bowden had a view from the other side: “My favorite moment was the day we traded for Ken Griffey Jr. and I was blessed to have the opportunity to walk to the podium to declare ‘baseball is back in Cincinnati .’ To be able to bring a future Hall of Famer, MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger superstar to the children of the greater Cincinnati area was an epic moment for me.” Griffey accepted a contract from the Reds of some $30 million less than the Mariners had offered in an attempt to extend his stay. In essence, Griffey was willing to “pay” the Mariners a fortune to let him go. He told the Cincinnati fans: “It doesn’t matter how much money you make, it’s where you

DREW PERINE Staff file, 2007

Ken Griffey Jr. acknowledges the cheering Mariners crowd at Safeco Field on June 22, 2007 in his first appearance in Seattle after he left to play for the Cincinnati Reds . Batting average

feel happy.” The inference was easy: He wasn’t happy in Seattle, and it was worth it to him to sacrifice money to get out. It worked in Cincinnati for a while, and then only sporadically thereafter because of injuries. He hit 40 home runs the first season and made another AllStar appearance, but in the following six seasons his injuries limited him to no more than 128 games in a season. Griffey’s connection to his old teammates remained strong, he said, as he still called his Mariners friends, Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez especially. He made two more All-Star appearances after the first year, and rallied with an impressive 35 home runs in 2005 at age 35 to win the National League’s comeback player of the year award. And he left a mark with the Reds organization even when he wasn’t producing on the field. “It was an honor to play alongside one of the greatest players in the history of the game,” shortstop Barry Larkin said. “He played the game the right way offensively, he impacted the game defensively. … Junior had great range, tremendous athleticism and a cannon of an arm. And he played with a smile on his face.” Ah, the Griffey smile. It was revived in Cincinnati, and teammates there developed the same powerful attachment to Griffey his Mariners teammates had. “His talent made him a firstballot Hall of Famer,” infielder Aaron Boone said. “But what I appreciate most about Ken is how much he wanted to just be one of the guys. I’m proud to call him a friend.” Griffey already had been a 10-time All-Star with 398 home runs when he left Seattle. He had Hall of Fame credentials already. But Reds teammates said that his persona had nothing to do with star power. “Junior was one of my favorite teammates,” said pitcher Danny Graves. “He had a great clubhouse presence, and made the game look so easy … and, of course, he had the sweetest swing ever.” First baseman Sean Casey, now with the MLB Network, also

.271 .286 .264 .247 .253 .301 .252 .277 .249

At-bats 550

520

Games played

500

490

145

111

70

53

83

128

109

144

143

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008*

* Played for both the Reds and White Sox

marveled at how the superstar could be just one of the guys in the clubhouse. “There are only certain times in your career where you can say you had the privilege of playing with a Hall of Famer,” Casey said. “As I played next to Junior for six seasons, I knew we all were watching one of the greatest ever to play the game. I’m proud to say that while he was a great player, he is an even better friend.” Teammates in Cincinnati saw some qualities in an aging Griffey that the Mariners never had to witness, particularly the way he dealt with the injuries that diminished his game. The things that seemed so easy and natural in Seattle started to involve more grit and determination. “He was tough,” pitcher David Weathers said. “I saw him take bloody bandages off his leg from where he had torn a muscle three years earlier, and all of his teammates were amazed he played and never said a word.” But Weathers remembers with equal amazement the way Griffey would get down on the floor of the clubhouse and wrestle with his son. The Mariners thrived in the short term after his departure, advancing to the ALCS in 2000 and winning an American League-record 116 games in 2001. When the Reds came to Seattle in 2007 for an interleague series, Griffey was stunned by the response of the fans in Safeco. So many had been so critical of his departure in 1999, a time when Griffey said he’d received death threats. No more. Through the filter of time, fans realized the ways in which Griffey had helped save baseball in Seattle, and get the new stadium built. “Never did I imagine that it would be like this coming back,” Griffey said then. “I didn’t realize how much I missed being in Seattle.” He came back briefly in 200910, and hit a very respectable 19 home runs at age 39 in ’09. “Getting back for the second stint was to give back,” he said. “(At) 38-39, you know you’re not going to play every day.” Then amid more controversy, stemming from published reports he had fallen asleep in the clubhouse during a game, Griffey made another abrupt exit. Poof. But his welcome at his firstpitch ceremony this spring proved how well the relationship between Griffey and the Mariners had healed. After he was voted into the Hall of Fame by a record percentage, Griffey announced that he would wear a Mariners hat for his Hall induction. He made it sound as if it had been a foregone conclusion. “I think with the situation that has gone on now, it was a very easy decision for me to put on a Mariners hat for me to go into the Hall of Fame,” he said. “That wasn’t even a question.” He’s wrong about that. It was a big deal, not just something else that happened. It was hugely symbolic, and a gracious thank-you to the fans in Seattle and the franchise that gave him his start. Staff writer Bob Dutton contributed to this report. Dave Boling: 253-597-8440, dboling@thenewstribune.com, @DaveBoling

Junior’s production dropped in Cincy due to various injuries.

450

THE ’00s 400

300

Safeco Field may be the house that Griffey built, but he spent much of his prime away from it. He orchestrated his own trade with Cincinnati before the 2000 season. He spent nine years with the Reds — and a brief stint with the Chicago White Sox in 2008 — before returning to Seattle.

250 200 150 100 50

PAUL CONNORS AP file, 2005

Over there

350

141

166

Hits

Missed parts of 2001-2004 seasons due to injuries

150

122

118

Runs

100

RBIs

100

Home runs 17

71 40

67

18

41 ’00

3,484 2000-2008 TOTAL

’08

’00

938 2000-2008 TOTAL

7H

’08 ’00

549 2000-2008 TOTAL

’08 ’00

620 2000-2008 TOTAL

’08 ’00

213 2000-2008 TOTAL

’08

50

8H

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

.....................................................................................THE NEWS TRIBUNE

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

24

2

Junior’s most memorable

moments

July 28, 1993. On the first pitch he saw from Minnesota’s Willie Banks to lead off the seventh inning, Griffey tied a major-league record by hitting a home run in an eighth consecutive game. It was his 30th blast of that season. GARY STEWART AP file

Jan. 6, 2016. Along with catcher Mike Piazza, Griffey was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He set a record by being listed on 99.32 percent of the voters’ ballots — 437 of 440.

3

4

Nov. 12, 1997. After hitting 56 home runs and driving in a career-high 147 runs, Griffey was selected just the 13th unanimous AL most valuable player in baseball history. It would be the only MVP nod of his career. ELAINE THOMPSON AP file

Sept. 14, 1990. First, Ken Griffey Sr. hit a home run out to left field in the first inning against the Angels. And Griffey Jr. followed by hitting one in almost the same spot, making them the first fatherson duo to homer in the same game.

6

MICHAEL SCHUMANN AP file

5

1

April 3, 1989. At age 19, in his first major-league at-bat, Griffey doubled off Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart. The line drive hit off the base of the wall in left center.

BOB GAILBRAITH AP file

ELAINE THOMPSON AP file

7

Oct. 4, 2009. Following the Mariners’ final game of the 2009 season — a 4-3 win over Texas — Griffey was lifted on his teammates’ shoulders and carried around Safeco Field for a final victory lap.

Oct. 8, 1995. In arguably the biggest moment in franchise history, Griffey scored the game-winning run from first base to cap Seattle’s 6-5 come-from-behind, 11th-inning victory over the New York Yankees to win the ALDS.

8

June 20, 2004. With his parents in attendance, Griffey hit career home run No. 500 with Cincinnati on Father’s Day in St. Louis off Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris. It also was his 2,143rd career hit, tying his father’s career total.

9

13

AP file

July 1990. In just his second season, Griffey became the first Mariners player to be elected into the starting lineup of an All-Star Game.

10

April 10, 1989. In his first game in the Kingdome, Griffey hit the first pitch he saw from Chicago White Sox pitcher Eric King for his first career home run.

12

JEFF GLIDDEN AP file

Apr. 26, 1990. It was the catch that set the tone for Griffey’s career in center field, taking a home run away from Jesse Barfield by climbing the wall in left center at Yankee Stadium.

DUNCAN LIVINGSTON Staff file

TOM GANNAM AP file

June 22-24, 2007. In his first at-bat at Safeco FIeld since his 2000 trade to Cincinnati, Griffey singled off Mariners pitcher Ryan Feierabend. He went 5-for-13 with two home runs in the series.

11

April 15, 1997. After getting permission from Major League Baseball, Griffey wore No. 42 in honor of the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut. It’s a tradition every player has continued since 2008.

GARY STEWART AP file

14

April 6, 2009. In his first game back with Seattle after nine seasons in Cincinnati, Griffey connected on his record-tying eighth Opening Day home run at Minnesota.

15

May 26, 1995. This one was painful: Griffey broke his left wrist crashing into the right-center wall in the Kingdome to rob Baltimore’s Kevin Bass of extra bases. He missed 73 games.

16

Sept. 7, 1997. The 50-home run plateau had never been reached in Seattle — until Griffey homered off Minnesota’s Bob Tewksbury. He finished with 56 that season. (Seen celebrating with Jay Buhner)

ANN HEISENFELT AP file

Feb. 19, 2009. Wanting to return to his original team, Griffey signed a one-year, $2 million freeagent deal with the Mariners. He ended up making $3.15 million that year with incentives.

17

22

TED S. WARREN AP file

18

July 14, 1992. “The Kid” stole the show at the 1992 All-Star Game, going 3-for-3 with a double and home run in the AL’s 13-6 win in San Diego. He was named the game’s MVP. AP file

9, 2008. After 19 June his blast deep to right field off pitcher Mark Hendrickson, Griffey became the sixth man in major league history to hit 600 home runs. He finished with 630.

21

20

Feb. 10, 2000. Yielding to his wishes, Seattle traded Griffey to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitchers Brett Tomko and Jake Meyer, infielder Antonio Perez and outfielder Mike Cameron.

June 27, 1999. Griffey closed the Kingdome in style, hitting a home run against Texas, and robbing slugger Juan Gonzalez of a home run in a 5-2 victory.

GARY STEWART AP file

23 LUI KIT WONG Staff file

Aug. 10, 2013. Griffey became the seventh inductee into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame with an emotional ceremony at Safeco Field.

24

May 25, 1991. It is known as the “Spider Man” catch — perhaps Griffey’s finest — as he robs New York’s Ruben Sierra of extra bases in the Kingdome.

Oct. 1999. At 29, Griffey was voted to baseball’s “All-Century” team. He was the youngest member on that squad.

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE.....................................................................................

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

Fans at Safeco Field cheer Seattle Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. as he steps to the plate in the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels on April 14, 2009.

TED S. WARREN AP file, 2009

Griffey’s return was a fine

ending to a storybook career

BY JOHN MCGRATH

jmcgrath@thenewstribune.com

Ken Griffey Jr. quit baseball with a long drive ... to Florida. As morning broke on June 2, 2010, some 14 hours before he was expected to be in uniform for a Mariners game against the Twins in Seattle, Griffey turned the ignition key of his Infiniti QX56 and headed for home. The excuse-me-while-I-disappear departure struck many fans as impulsive. It wasn’t. Griffey’s role at age 40 had been reduced to that of a left-handed DH and occasional pinch hitter. His batting average of .184 was statistically symbolic — 100 points below the .284 that will appear on his Hall-of-Fame plaque — and he had yet to hit a home run.

FINAL DAYS IN SEATTLE

A sad moment revealed the extent of Griffey’s decline three weeks previously, when manager Don Wakamatsu called on him to bat for Adam Moore against the Orioles at Baltimore. Trailing 5-1 in the top of the ninth, the Mariners had men on first and third. Griffey lofted a fly ball to right field for a sacrifice fly RBI. When Griffey got back to the dugout, he was embraced by veteran Mike Sweeney, his selfappointed bodyguard and mental-skills coach. Sweeney appeared to shout: “That’s what I’m talking about!” The most electrifying player of his generation was being congratulated for having managed to drive home an inconsequential run in a 5-2 defeat. Griffey had made a mistake common to virtually every baseball legend but Ted Williams: Not knowing when to say when. A chance for a much more compelling exit had presented itself after the Mariners’ 2009 season finale, when Griffey took a joy ride around Safeco Field on the shoulders of teammates who regarded him as an idol. They suspected that his last-at bat of the game, an eighth-inning single, would be the last at-bat of his career. Although Griffey’s offensive numbers during his ballyhooed return season with the Mariners in 2009 were far from spectac-

JOHN FROSCHAUER AP file, 2009

Griffey Jr. is carried around the field by teammates after a win over the Texas Rangers Oct. 4, 2009 in Seattle. Griffey hit the last home run of his career the game the day before.

ular — he hit .214, with 19 homers and 57 RBIs in 117 games — they were good enough to convince him and the front office that a final verse of the swan song was in order. Besides, he’d had a blast.

9H

Serving as the team’s goodhumor man and original prankster, Griffey’s ability to energize a dreary, polarized clubhouse was a subtle but prominent factor in the Mariners putting together their second winning

record since 2003. “He’s a superstar, and not just because of his numbers and his stats, but because of his personality,” former teammate Ichiro Suzuki said upon learning of Griffey’s Hall-of-Fame enshrinement. “He was about caring for each other. It’s something we all need to learn from him, and it’s what makes him better than a superstar.” That Ichiro got to know Griffey involved a confluence of events beginning in 2007, when Junior came back to Safeco Field for the first time as an opponent. His request to be traded after the 1999 season — he wanted to be closer to his family in Florida — turned into a boondoggle fraught with complications. A deal sending Griffey to Cincinnati, where he grew up, was worked out, and it worked out well. Among the players the Mariners received in exchange for their superb center fielder was Mike Cameron, another superb center fielder. Cameron was a key cog on Seattle’s 2000 wild-card team, and an All-Star for the 2001 powerhouse that won 116 games. Still, Griffey was wary about the reception awaiting him in 2007 at Safeco Field, where Alex Rodriguez remains a pariah for signing the free-agent contract, then the most lucrative in American pro sports history, that delivered him to the Texas Rangers in 2001. The “reception” was celebrated in the spirit of a garden party honoring a golden wedding anniversary. A 15-minute pregame tribute to Griffey concluded with a four-minute standing ovation that planted the seeds for him to wind up in Seattle. After a 2008 season split between the Reds and Chicago White Sox, Griffey became a free agent for the first time. No suitors were more obvious than the Mariners, coming off a 61101 record and desperate for some positive PR spin in the wake of several calamitous moves arranged by deposed general manager Bill Bavasi. A few weeks before spring training, Bavasi’s replacement, Jack Zduriencik, and Wakamatsu, the newly appointed manager, met with Griffey, his wife Melissa, and agent Brian Goldberg in Arizona. The Mariners reportedly pitched a one-year contract to Griffey for $2 million. Along with incentives related to plate appearances and attendance, the deal topped out at $4.5 million. But the plot was thickened when the Braves got involved, offering essentially the same salary. A National League destination wasn’t ideal for some-

body who profiled as a designated hitter after knee surgery, but Atlanta presented geographic benefits beyond its relative proximity to Griffey’s Florida home in Orlando. He could drive to the team’s spring training site in 20 minutes. Furthermore, there was a family-tree connection in Atlanta. Ken Griffey Sr. played for the Braves between 1986 and 1988, a bit of history Henry Aaron likely referenced when he made a phone call to Junior. Griffey Jr. chatted with Willie Mays, who finished his career in New York, where his legend was launched in 1951. “Willie hit on it a little harder,” Griffey’s agent, Goldberg, told ESPN.com in 2009. “But they both said, ‘You have to do what you want to do.’ They told him, ‘You might have to make some short-term struggles, but the bottom line is go by how you want to be remembered for the next 50 years after you’re done.’ ” Newspapers in Atlanta and Seattle reported that a deal with the Braves was imminent, but Griffey, whose natural baseball talent did not extend to the business side of the industry, insisted he was flummoxed. “We are still kicking things around and have not made a decision,” he told MLB.com. “This is the first time in my career that I’ve been a free agent, and it’s nerve-racking. I love Seattle, but you know how close I am to my wife and kids.” It turned out that one of Griffey’s three kids, 13-year-old daughter Taryn, had a voice that resonated most forcefully with a man who’d been talking to Henry Aaron and Willie Mays. “She told him, ‘Dad, I really think you should go back to the Mariners, and not have any regrets about how you finished,’ ” Goldberg recalled for ESPN.com. “That kind of put it over the top.” The advice paved the way for a two-season experience that mirrored Griffey’s career: The first part was silky smooth and radiated the sheer joy of playing baseball. The second part was a bumper-car pileup that revealed the difficulty of playing baseball. Bored by his consignment one night as a pinch hitter for a team going nowhere, Griffey went to the clubhouse during the middle innings and settled into his recliner chair for a nap. Taking a nap, while a game is in progress, isn’t as egregious a violation of baseball etiquette as, say, cracking open a beer and feasting on fried chicken like Red Sox players did in Boston. But Griffey’s indifference to a sport he once personified with his glad-to-bealive-and-doing-what-I-love smile was heartbreaking evidence the end was near. Hearts break, and hearts heal. For 11 seasons, Mariners fans had the privilege of watching a fabulous talent in his prime. And though he returned well past that prime, a final thought prevails: There was greatness in the midst. John McGrath: jmcgrath@ thenewstribune.com, @TNTMcGrath

FOR 11 SEASONS, MARINERS FANS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WATCHING A FABULOUS TALENT IN HIS PRIME.

TED S. WARREN AP file

10H

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

.....................................................................................THE NEWS TRIBUNE

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

BY PITCHER

BY YEAR ● HOME RUNS

● GRAND SLAMS

1989

16 1990

22 1991

22 1992

27 1993

45 1994

40 1995

17 1996

49 1997

56 1998

56 1999

48 2000

40 2001

22 2002

8 2003

13 2004

20 2005

35 2006

27 2007

30 2008

18 2009

19

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

● MILESTONES

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

●● First home run ● ● ● ● ● Griffey Jr. hit his first homer ● on the first pitch he saw at the ● Kingdome vs. Chicago White ● Sox (Eric King) on April 10.

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

● ●●●

●●● ●●●

● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct.

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ●

BY C CITY OTHER STATS

●●●● ●● ● ●●●

3 Montreal

Against righthanded pitchers

24 NYC

20 Chicago

444

9 Denver

Left-handed pitchers: 186

3 Phoenix

24 Cleveland

10 Kansas City

18 Anaheim

106 Cincinnati 14 Arlington

On July 28, he set the record for most consecutive games with a home run.

434

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●● His home run ●● total for 1997 was 7th-most ●●●●●●●●● in history. ●●●●●●●●●

Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

● ● ● ●

Still slamming ●●●● ● ● ● ● ● ● Junior hit ●● grand slams ●● in consecutive ●● games April 29-30, ●● becoming only the 19th major leaguer ●● to do so. ●● ●●●●●●● ● Traded to Cincinnati, he led the Reds with 40 home runs.

8

Day game: 196

Opener winner Hit a game-winning three-run, third-deck homer on Opening Day in Mariners 3-0 win.

●●● ●●●●●

Tied with Frank Robinson for most home runs hit on o Opening Op Day

BY STADIUM 198 Kingdome 405 331

312

Hit on home field

332

404

Three home runs in one game

He knocked home runs off three e ● ● ● ● ● ● different Yankee ●● pitchers to drive in ●●● six runs on May 24.

328

68 Great American

8

●● ●●●●●●

On the road: 298

Tied record for most consecutive games with a home run on July 20-28, 1993

325

404

38 Cinergy gy Field

330

Hit when playing center field

542 29 Safeco Field

405 40 326

Al ot All other othe her positions: 88

300 home runs

●●

3

210

Hit during a night game

Eight in a row

●●●● ●●●●●●●●●●●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● His highest month ● for home runs was ● May 1994.

● ● ● ●

Record number of home runs hit as a Mariner

14 Houston

●●●●●● ●●●●●● ●●●●● ●

● ● ● ● ● ●

417

26 Minneapolis

100 home runs On June 15 vs. Kansas City, he became the 6th-youngest player ever to reach 100.

● ●●●●

Apr. ● May ● June ● July ● Aug. 0 Sept. 0

227 Seattle

●●●● ● ● ● ●

BY TEAM

25

10 Los Angeles

Apr. ● May ● June 0 July 0 Aug. ● Sept. ●

Apr. ● May ● June ● July ● Aug. 0 Sept. 0

Home runs: 1

15 Toronto

●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

Apr. ● May 0 June ● July ● Aug. ● Sept. ●

5

SIX PITCHERS: Andy Benes, Livan Hernandez, Jimmy Key, Dave Stewart, art, Jeff Jef Suppan Supp and Woody Williams

Two grand slams First against the Yankees in NY on July 23 and another July 30 against Baltimore in the Kingdome.

Apr. ● May ● June ● July ● Aug. ● Sept. 0

Apr. 0 May 0 June ● July ● Aug. ● Sept. ● Oct. ●

6

Tom Gordon

Back-to-back with Dad

●●●● ●●●●● ●●●

● ● ● ● ● ●

6

Roger Clemens

Hit back-to-back home runs with Ken Griffey Sr. at California on Sept. 14.

● ● ●●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

8

David Wells

26 Metrodome

● ● ● Hit two April 13 at Cleveland. ● ●●●●●●● ●

40 408

343

327

●●●

Missed an Opening Day start for the first time in his career. ●●● ●●● ●●●●●●●●●● ●

●●●

●●●● ● ●●●●

Reds record set Homered in 5 consecutive games July 8-12 to tie Reds club record.

●● ●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●

500 home runs His homer June 20 at St. Louis was his 4th career homer on Father’s Day

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

●● ●●● ●●● ●●● ●●● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept.

● ● ● ● ● ●

●●● ● ●●● ●●●●

Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct.

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

● ●● ●●●

● ● ● ● ●

● ● ● ●

●● ● ●●●● ●●●●●

●● ● ● ● ● ● ● Ties Reggie ●● Hit career homer No. 563 ●● Sept. 25 vs. Chicago, trying Reggie Jackson for 10th on the all-time list. ●●●●●●● ●●●●●●● ● Produced his 9th ● 30-homer season.

●

●●● ●●●

A visual breakdown of Junior’s

Limited to 70 games and 51 starts because of a pair of stints on the disabled list.

630 HOME RUNS

Ken Griffey Jr. hit the long ball like few in baseball history. He ended up sixth on the all-time list for home runs and led the American League four times. He also tied a record by hitting homers in eight consecutive games. And the only center fielder to hit more in a career? That would be Willie Mays with 660.

600 home runs Became the 6th player in history to reach the milestone June 9 at Florida. Re-signed with Mariners as a free agent on Feb. 21, 2009.

Junior’s return His last homer was vs. Texas on Oct. 3 (one of only three home runs hit in the month of October).

Junior announced his retirement on June 2, 2010, capping a 22-season career.

JAY DROWNS AP file, 1998

BY COUNT Balls: 0

Balls: 0

Balls: 1

Balls: 2

Balls: 3

Strikes: 0

Strikes: 1

Strikes: 2

Strikes: 0

Strikes: 1

Strikes: 2

Strikes: 0

Strikes: 1

Strikes: 2

Strikes: 0

Strikes: 1

Strikes: 2

109 63

16 69 65 43

36 56 74

9

26 64

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

THE NEWS TRIBUNE.....................................................................................

KEN GRIFFEY JR.

11H

ROAD TO COOPERSTOWN

A look at Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown BY TJ COTTERILL

tcotterill@thenewstribune.com

Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame might as well be interVISITOR’S changeable. GUIDE Pro football has Canton, Ohio. Basketball has Springfield, Massachusetts. Baseball has Cooperstown, New York. There’s more to Cooperstown — a village founded by William Cooper, the father of famed “Last of the Mohicans” author James Fenimore Cooper — than the three-story Hall. But not much. What makes Cooperstown is that museum housing the legacies of the Great Bambino, Teddy Ballgame, The Flying Dutchman and, this year, Junior. It has about 40,000 threedimensional items, 3 million books and documents, 500,000 photographs and the bronze plaques immortalizing all the greats, which will include Ken Griffey Jr. — even if his cap will face forward. Here’s a look at the top 80 miles 87 hits on the Hall of Fame’s induction schedule this Rochester Syracuse weekend — other than tour90 ing the Hall itself — as well Albany Buffalo 81 as some of the other lesserknown Cooperstown hotCooperstown spots. New York ELAINE THOMPSON AP file, 2013

Former Seattle Mariners center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. waves to fans as he steps up to speak during a pregame ceremony to induct him into the team’s Hall of Fame on Aug. 10, 2013. This weekend, he will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The heroic journeys of Junior

Hall of Fame weekend Ump’s Eye View Sports Talk Q&A talk with Al Clark, who was a former major league umpire of 26 years. He officiated at Nolan Ryan’s 300th win, Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-breaking streak of consecutive games played and the “earthquake” World Series between Oakland and San Francisco in 1989. When: Friday

Hall of Fame Awards Presentation Two awards will be presented: Radio pioneer Graham McNamee will receive the Ford C. Frick Award for baseball broadcasting excellence, and Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy will be honored with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. New York City Fire Department Battalion Chief Vin Mavaro will share his thoughts afterward on baseball’s role in helping New York City and the nation recover after the 9/11 attacks. When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday

Parade of Legends The 2016 Hall of Fame class members, Griffey and Mike Piazza, ride in trucks through downtown Cooperstown from Doubleday Field, down Main Street and ending at a private reception at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Now in its seventh year, the parade also includes previous Hall of Fame inductees, with more than 50 scheduled to be in attendance. When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

To us, he would be forever Junior. Maybe he needed a place where he could just be ‘Ken’ Calling Ken Griffey Jr. a fivetool player seemed almost an insult. He had way more than that — six or seven, at least, in addition to the conventional assessment of gifted baseball players. The sixth, perhaps, being an effortless and immeasurable grace. Not a tool as much as a gift of genetics applied with a generous amount of personal style. And the seventh was even rarer: star power. Luminous and streaking across the outfield, Griffey brought light to the gray catacomb that was the Kingdome, infusing life into what had been a grim, soulless space. He was unique. Sublime. A talent unto himself, with a powerful magnetism to match. And in a time of inflated statistics, ballooning biceps and all

COMMENTARY BY DAVE BOLING

the other external evidence of cheating, Griffey seemed to be the last untainted star. Onehundred percent natural, Griffey was so good that he didn’t need to cheat. It was the rest of the Major League players who had to use performance-enhancers just to try to get a glimpse of his shadow. Outside of war and courageous public service — to as great an extent as a ballplayer can be in his community — Ken Griffey Jr. was our hero. Griffey didn’t have the tragic flaws of the mythical Greeks of that status, but in the place of flaws, he certainly carried a few contradictions. He was known as the “The Kid,” but it seems as if he never had the chance to be one, not in the conventional sense. He was someone of whom so much was expected at such a young age. And he was always being watched in the process. After a while, the Griffey who was so conspicuously joyful could seem so grumpy at times. Not with kids, he was always great with them. But maybe after 11 seasons in Seattle, he got tired of being “The Kid” to all of us. He was 30. A man with kids of his own. Sometimes an image can seem like a tedious job. It’s possible, too, we didn’t let him grow up; it’s hard to let go when you’ve for so long viewed somebody as Peter Pan. To us, he would be forever Junior. Maybe he needed a place where he could just be “Ken.” When Griffey demanded to be

traded, it felt like a personal rejection to the fans. Can heroes do that? The fans had invested emotional equity in him, and suddenly he was somebody else’s. Now, we thought, he would break the all-time home-run record for somebody else. Seattle fans not only would lose that moment, but that moment’s delicious aftermath, the decades of sweet nostalgia. But all journeys turn into an allegory for something given enough time to figure it out. And Griffey’s leaving for Cincinnati created time for fans to heal from the abandonment. When he came back with the Reds in 2007, Mariners fans welcomed him unreservedly. And when he re-signed with the M’s in 2009, it was a joyful reunion with the fans — largely disconnected to whatever he still could do on the field. Time had slowed Griffey by then, as it most vengefully seeks those who defy it early. He carried some extra weight, as you’d expect of man nearing 40. He couldn’t be asked to be a freerange center fielder, or a silky slugger ever again. But every time he came to the plate, fans waited for that one moment when he might turn back time. Maybe, if even just another time or two, he would unleash that swing. Maybe they’d see that dramatic hip twist and fluid rotation, and that perfect contact with the fat of the bat, as if that were exactly the place the ball was aimed. It was rare, of course. His baseball tool-belt was largely empty, by then. But the fans didn’t mind. He was still Griffey. Their Griffey, once again. Dave Boling: 253-597-8440, dboling@thenewstribune.com, @DaveBoling

Griffey and Piazza give their speeches and will officially be inducted into the Hall during a three-hour ceremony at the Clark Sports Center. When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday

Legends of the Game Roundtable An opportunity to meet and converse with Griffey and Piazza at Doubleday Field. Event is for members only and tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under. When: 10:30 a.m. Monday

Village of museums An unfounded claim continues to survive that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown. If you could care less about discussing the myth, Cooperstown possesses a few non-baseball museums:

Farmers’ Museum About what you’d expect with farming exhibits, a working farmstead, a historic village and more that recreates rural life from the 19th century. Considered the second-most famous museum in the village behind the one about baseball.

Fenimore Art Museum Home to the Fenimore House, the museum features extensive galleries of fine folk and Native American art along with a separate library building. TJ Cotterill: 253-597-8677, @TJCotterill . ..........................................................................................................................

Hall of Fame inductee: Mike Piazza Mike Piazza joins Ken Griffey Jr. as the 2016 Class to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The slugging catcher, in his fourth year of eligibility, earned 83 percent of the vote in January to secure his spot in Cooperstown. His career highlights: • He hit .308 with 437 home runs and 1,335 RBI. • Piazza is the lowest-drafted player ever to reach the Hall. He was the 1,390th pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft. (Old record: John Smoltz, 22nd round, 574th overall pick). • He is the all-time leader in home runs for catchers with 396. • A 10-time consecutive Silver Slugger Award winner, Piazza won that award more than any other catcher. • He was the Rookie of the Year in 1993 and the All-Star Game MVP in 1996. • Piazza is the only catcher in MLB history to record three seasons with an OPS over 1.000. ............................................................................

12H

FRIDAY JULY 22 2016

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