Ken Griffey Jr National Baseball Hall of Fame Stats Bat

From the day the Seattle Mariners made Ken Griffey Jr the first pick in the 1987 MLB Draft, he was expected to be great.  Born George Kenneth Griffey Jr. on Nov. 21, 1969 in Stan Musial’s hometown of Donora, Pa., on Musial’s 49th birthday, no less.  Griffey grew up in Cincinnati watching his All-Star father, Ken Griffey Sr., patrol the outfield for the Reds.

In his first at-bat in the big leagues, Griffey doubled off A’s ace Dave Stewart. With his dad a member of the Reds at the tail end of his career, Junior and his father became the first father-son combo to play in the majors at the same time.  The next season the Griffeys teamed up in Seattle when Senior joined the Mariners late in the year. They homered in the same game on Sept. 14, 1990 against the Angels.

By the end of the 1990 campaign, Griffey had been named to his first All-Star Game, won his first Gold Glove Award in center field and hit .300 with 22 homers and 80 RBI.  By 1993, the 23-year-old Griffey had filled out his lanky frame with muscle – all while keeping his picture-perfect lefty swing intact. The result was an assault on the record books with seven 40-plus home run seasons in eight years.  In 1993, Griffey homered in eight straight games to tie the MLB record.  Griffey became the just the second player (following Reggie Jackson in the 1977 World Series) to hit five home runs in a single postseason series.

From 1996-99, Griffey was at his peak. He led the AL in home runs three times, hitting 56 in both 1997 and 1998 while falling just short of Maris’ mark. He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1997, totaling an astounding 393 bases while also leading the loop in runs (125) and RBI (147).

By the time he retired, Griffey totaled 13 All-Star Game selections, 10 Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards, a .284 batting average, 2,781 hits, 1,662 runs scored and 1,836 RBI.

Griffey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016.