  
George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born Nov. 21, 1969, in Donora, Pa., the first of two sons for Ken Sr. and Alberta (Birdie) Griffey. At the time, Donora, a steel-mill town near Pittsburgh, already had produced one famous major league star, someone who would become a Hall of Famer with the St. Louis Cardinals -- Stan Musial. Junior’s dad was a two-sport star in high school, excelling in football as a running back. Despite numerous college scholarship offers, Senior Griffey decided to play professional baseball and signed with the Cincinnati Reds.
Thanks to 7-month-old Junior, dad was able to survive the most difficult summer of his life while playing in Sioux Falls, S.D. Encountering racism for the first time in his life, Griffey was unable to find housing in Sioux Falls. No one would rent him a room because of his African-American heritage. Griffey Sr. said he slept and ate at the ballpark, until he finally found a place to live -- six miles outside of town. Without transportation -- the family automobile remained in Donora with Birdie and Junior -- Senior walked to and from the ballpark every day. Finally, a teammate, Joel Youngblood, learned of Griffey’s plight and began providing round-trip transportation. Even so, Senior still wasn’t allowed to shop in local stores because of his race. It wasn’t until later that summer, when Birdie and Junior drove to Sioux Falls from Donora, that store doors finally opened.
“(Birdie) kept calling and talking about coming to join me, but I kept telling her not to,’’ Senior said.
He didn’t tell her why. But Birdie and Junior came anyway and life suddenly became a little better with a baby in arms.
“They (store owners) didn’t mind if Birdie and I starved to death,’’ Senior said, “but even those people wouldn’t allow a youngster to starve. Without Junior, I don’t know how we would have made it.’’
The Griffeys eventually made it to Cincinnati, where Senior became a key part of the Big Red Machine during the 1970s, and Junior began molding the skills that would make him a star less than 20 years later in a faraway place called Seattle.
“That boy loved ball from the time he could walk,’’ Birdie said. “He walked around the coffee table at six months, walked at seven months and ran at eight months.’’
All the while, Junior intently watched some of his dad’s teammates.
“When I was a kid, I used to mimic the swings of all the Cincinnati Reds players, guys like Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan, all my dad’s teammates. I was pretty good at it, too. When the Reds won, the players’ kids were allowed to go in the locker room, and I guess that’s why I like winning so much. I would go into the clubhouse and grab my dad’s glove. My younger brother Craig would grab Joe Morgan’s glove because it was smaller. That’s the way things happened and when the kids come into our (Mariners) clubhouse, I give them my bat -- one cut down and weighing 22 ounces -- and off they go.
“When kids come into the clubhouse, they’re happy because it’s a big deal for them. Dads are happy, too. Most Sundays at home are the best times for me. Trey gets up with me and rides to the park with me. I can still remember driving him home from the hospital. Ten years from now, he’ll be driving me around. He’s at the age now when he can start playing football and I think I’m getting more excited about that than just about anything. The good thing is the kids don’t actually hit each other. It’s more like bumping into each other.
“Time really goes fast. When I was about 9, I put on my baseball uniform and performed in a talent show. I did all the swings and afterward everyone say, “Take Me Out to The Ball Game.” But my dad found out and wasn’t very happy. He said, ‘You’re not them. You are my son and I want you to swing the way you want to swing.’”
So Junior stopped pretending and began creating his own identity, first in Little League and then beyond.
Married, wife’s name is Melissa...they have two children, son Trey Kenneth (1/19/94) and daughter Taryn Kennedy (10/21/95) ...is a 1987 graduated of Cincinnati’s Moeller High School, where he played three years of football and four years of baseball...named high school league’s Player of the Year in 1986 and 1987...voted Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Sports Star of the Year in 1989...also in 1989 Ken Jr. and Ken Sr. became the first father-son combination to play in the Major Leagues at the same time while Sr. was a member of the Reds...the two became the first father and son combination to appear in the same lineup on August 31, 1990...following 1993 season made his acting debut in the movie “Little Big League”...received 1994 Celebrity Recognition Award from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the A. Bartlett Giamatti Award from the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) in recognition of his ‘caring for fellow citizens”...sponsored Christmas dinners for 350 youngsters from the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club every December from 1994...selected as Mariners’ Roberto Clemente Award winner for community service in 1996, 1997, and 1998.
1999 Season: Was voted to the AL All-Star team for the 10th time, leading the Major Leagues with 2,928,055 votes…was voted Player of the Year by the Seattle Chapter of the BBWAA…was named to The Sporting News AL All-Star team for the seventh time…won his seventh Silver Slugger Award and 10th Gold Glove…was named to the AP ML All-Star team…was voted Players Choice Player of the Decade…hit 48 HR to become the first player since Harmon Killebrew (1962-64) to lead the American League in home runs in 3 consecutive seasons…was among the league leaders in HR (1st), RBI (3rd), runs (5th), total bases (349, 3rd), extra-base hits (77, 6th), and HR/at-bat ratio (12.6, 4th)…also led the league with 17 intentional walks…had 100 RBI for the seventh time...stole a career-high 24 bases…had 4 multi-HR games, giving him 40 career multi-HR games (38 games w/ 2 HR)…hit seventh career opening night HR on April 5 at the Kingdome; 7 Opening Day HR ranks second in ML history…belted grand slam home runs in consecutive days April 29-30 to become only the 28th different player in ML history and second Mariner (Blowers) with GSHR in consecutive days…tied career-best with 6 RBI including GSHR #11 Apr. 29… sets club record on April 30 by accumulating 11 RBI in 2 days in addition to hitting career GSHR #12… drove in 14 RBI in 3 games April 28-30, setting club record for RBI in three consecutive games…from 5/9-5/26 had career-high 16-game hitting streak (27-63, 429, 8HR, 21RBI)...hit HR #20 on May 31, the 3rd time in career with 20 HRs before June 1; is the only ML player to do it more than once…hit final Kingdome home run June 27 off Texas’ Aaron Sele; later in that game took a home run away from Juan Gonzalez… hit his first SAFECO Field home run July 18 vs. Arizona, giving him a home run in 23 different ML parks…stroked career-hit #1,700 off of Chicago’s Jamie Navarro Aug. 11… won All-Star Game home run contest for third time in his career…launched 5 HR in interleague play to give him 19 career against the NL…is 75-for-92 (82%) in stolen base attempts over last 4 seasons.
Owns 3 ML home run records:, including most HR through the end of April (13, 1997), most consecutive games hitting HR in each game (8, July 20-28, 1993), and most 3-run HR in a season (13, 1996)…holds AL record for most HR through the end of May (19, 1998) and is tied for AL record for most HR through July…hit 198 HR in the Kingdome, including 20 into third deck in RF…with 398 career HR is tied for 32nd in history…holds Mariners franchise records in nearly every offensive category, including games, at-bats, runs, hits, home runs, RBI, total bases, extra-base hits, and slugging percentage…career batting average of .299 is third in Mariners history, behind Edgar Martinez (.320) and Alex Rodriguez (.308)…has won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves (1990-99) and 7 Silver Sluggers (1991, 1993-94, 1996-99)...has been voted to starting lineup in each of the last 10 All-Star Games (1990-99), winning the ASG home run-hitting contest 3 times (1994, 1998-99)...in 1992 was All-Star Game MVP. 1998: Had second consecutive MVP-type season...matched career-high with 56 home runs (also: 1997) and 146 RBI was one off career-high…led the Majors in homers off LHP (21), road homers (26), and inter-league homers (10)…among the AL leaders in homers (1st), RBI (3rd), runs (3rd), total bases (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd/.611), extra base hits (3rd/92), and intentional walks (4th/11)…was one of only two Mariners (Alex Rodriguez) to play in all 161 games…hit two home runs April 13 (off Cle’s Burba & Mesa) to become second youngest player in ML history to 300 HR (see box) finished May with 19 home runs, breaking Babe Ruths AL record for most HR through May 31was named AL Player of the Week from June 29-July 5 (2nd in 98, 9th of career)set Mariners club record with six consecutive extra-base hits (two HR, triple, three doubles) on July 1-2had 35 HR and 79 RBI at the All-Star...was 2x3 and won the home run contest at the All-Star Gamehad two HR July 14 off Texas Burkett & Bailes; 1st HR was career hit #1,500hit HR #41 July 30 vs. Cleveland, equaling AL record for HRs before Aug. 1 (also Babe Ruth, 1928 and Jimmie Foxx, 1932) had four RBI on Sept. 25 vs. Minnesota, giving him 1,003 in his career and making him the fourth youngest player ever to 1,000 RBI...swiped 20th base of the year (a new career-high) Sept. 16 at Oakland becoming the third player ever in the 50 HR-20 SB club (also Willie Mays (51 HR, 24 SB in 1955) and Brady Anderson (50 HR, 21 SB in 1996)...hit two-HRs off A's Witasick and drove in his 140th run for the third consecutive season on Sept. 22; joined Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as only players to record 140+ RBI in three straight seasons...hit HR #56, equaling career-high & becoming fastest in ML history to 350 (see box), on Sept. 25 vs. Texas...named Co-Player of the Year by the Seattle Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America...homered vs. every opponent, a total of 18 clubs...named to post-season All-Star team by AP and The Sporting News ...1997: Became just the 13th unanimous MVP selection in baseball history after posting the best season ever by a Seattle player and one of the best years all-time...at end of 1997 season, his 56 home runs was 7th most in history, the 3rd-most since 1961, and his 147 RBI was 6th-highest total in previous 48 years...had 393 total bases, the 29th most in ML history...led the Majors in RBI and was second in home runs, total bases, slugging percentage (.646), and extra base hits (93)...led the AL and was fourth in the Majors in runs...also led the AL in IBB (23) and was second in SF (12)...became just the sixth Major Leaguer (ninth time) to hit more than 100 HR over 2 consecutive seasons...had eight multi-HR games (seven 2-HR games and one 3-HR game)...had a club record 147 RBI and notched his fourth 40+ HR yearstarted season with a bang, connecting for a pair of home runs off New Yorks David Cone in first two at-bats of season on Opening Night in the Kingdome...became the 34th player in ML history to hit multiple home runs on Opening Day...had second career 3-HR game April 25 at Toronto, connecting twice off Roger Clemens and once off Mike Timlin; third HR was #250 of his career ...became the fourth youngest player in history to reach the 250-HR plateau despite missing 201 games to injuries and strikes...his 13 HR in April was a ML record and as many or more than Pittsburgh & Philadelphia team totals...blasted HR #20 at Anaheim, an estimated distance of 490 feet though the ball was never located...collected HR #25 on June 2 vs. Toronto, and missed by one game equaling the fastest 25 HR in history; the quickest-ever to 25 was Babe Ruth in 1928; he did it in team game #55...matched Jimmie Foxx for the second-quickest to 25 in ML history...hit ninth career grand slam June 21 at Texas (off Bobby Witt) tying Alvin Davis for most in Seattle history; blast also put him over 800 RBI...hit HR #30 July 5 at Anaheim, becoming just the third player ever to record two seasons with 30+ HR prior to the All-Star break (also Willie Stargell and Mark McGwire)...hit HR #50 Sept. 7 at Minnesota off Bob Tewksbury; became just the 15th player in history with 50 or more home runs in a season...hit 53rd longball Sept. 19 at Oakland (off Aaron Small); solo shot broke his own club record for RBI (140) in a season...homered off every AL team, as well as San Diego and LA...named to post-season All-Star team by AP and The Sporting News; TSN also named him ML Player of the Year...1996: Depite missing 20 games with broken hamate bone in right wrist, he posted a MVP-type season (finished fourth in the voting with 188 points and four first place ballots)... set (then) franchise records with 49 home runs (third in AL) and 140 RBI (5th in AL) and ranked among the league-leaders in runs (5th), total bases (342/6th) slugging percentage (.628/5th), and extra base hits (77/8th)...homered into the deck above the Hard Rock Cafe at Torontos SkyDome (off Giovanni Carrara) April 12...HR #6 (off Toronto's Juan Guzman) April 20 gave him 1,879 total bases, tops in Seattle history (passing Alvin Davis, 1,875)...hit 200th career home run May 21 at Boston (off Vaughn Eshelman) to become seventh youngest in history to reach 200 HRs...May 24 vs. NY was first career three-HR game; had club-record five runs and six RBI (matched career-high)...stole 100th career base June 2 vs. Boston to become the first Mariner with 100 steals and 100 homers...broke the hamate bone in his right wrist June 19 in his first at-bat, had surgery to remove the bone and was placed on the 15-day DL June 20...missed 20 games (June 20-July 13) on the DL; team was 12-8 without him...became Seattle's all-time hit leader Aug. 19 with career hit #1,164, passing Alvin Davis...had two-run homer washed out by rainout Sept. 6 at Cleveland...1995: On Opening Day hit a game-winning, 3-run, third-deck shot off Detroits Sean Bergman...made an amazing catch crashing into the right-center field wall on a drive off the bat of Baltimore's Kevin Bass on May 26, but fractured both bones in his left wrist...underwent three-hour surgery the next day and had a four-inch metal plate and seven screws attached to the wrist...surgery was performed by hand specialist Dr. Ed Almquist and team physician Dr. Larry Pedegana in Seattle...was expected to miss three months, but returned two weeks early on Aug. 15...played one game at triple-A Tacoma Aug. 13 on an injury rehabilitation assignment...missed 73 games due to the injury (Mariners went 36-37 during his absence)...went 1x4 in his first game back Aug. 15 at Minnesota, the next night he collected career hit #1,000 with a single off Frankie Rodriguez, becoming the seventh-youngest player in history to reach the 1,000-hit plateau...hit a ninth-inning, two-run HR off John Wetteland to beat New York on Aug. 24 for his first ever game-ending hit...passed Alvin Davis to become the all-time Kingdome HR leader with #102 on Sept. 26 off California's Rich Monteleone...had an outstanding post-season, hitting a combined .364 with six home runs and nine RBI in 11 games...hit two home runs in Game 1...singled and scored winning run from first base in the 11th inning of Game 5 of the Division Series...his five home runs in the Division Series tied Reggie Jackson's mark for most home runs in a post-season series (Jackson had five in the 1977 World Series; Juan Gonzalez, Texas, hit five in the 1996 DS) his six total HRs tied the record for most in a post season (also Bob Robertson, 1971 Pirates and Lenny Dykstra, 1993 Phillies)...had surgery Dec. 3, 1995 to remove the plate and the seven screws...1994: Earned first AL home-run crown in Mariners history...ranked among league leaders in grand-slam HR (2, T1st), home-run ratio (2nd, 1:10.8 AB), intentional walks (2nd, 19), total bases (2nd, 292), runs (3rd), slugging percentage (3rd, .674), extra-base hits (3rd, 68), hits (T5th), RBI (T7th), and batting average (8th)...etched his name in the ML record books by breaking Mickey Mantle's mark for home runs thru May 31 with 22 (old was 20 in 1956) and Babe Ruth's record for HR thru June 30 with 32 (old was 30 in 1928 & 1930)...had 20 RBI in April, a new club record for the month (old was 19 by Jeffrey Leonard in 1989)...hit the 150th HR of his career on May 20 vs. Texas (off Roger Pavlik); at 24 years and 5 months of age, was the third-youngest player ever to reach that milestone (Mel Ott at 23-6 and Eddie Mathews at 23-10)...on June 13 at Texas, hit grand-slam HR off Bruce Hurst and collected career-high six RBI...hit a solo shot off Kevin Brown at Texas on June 15; blast was #161 in his career, as he became the club's all-time HR leader (Alvin Davis held record with 160)...tied club record with 5 hits on July 2 at New York (ninth time, second by Griffey)...amassed an all-time record 6,079,688 ASG votes (old mark was 4,292,740 by Rod Carew in 1977)...won ASG's home-run hitting contest...finished second in AL MVP balloting, behind Frank Thomas...following the season, was named to The AP ML All-Star...1993: Established club records in runs (113, since broken), total bases (359, since broken), home runs (45, since broken), intentional walks (25), and slugging percentage (.617, since broken)...ranked among the AL leaders in 11 categories, including first in total bases and extra base hits (86) second in HR, IBB, and slugging, sixth in runs, doubles, and on-base percentage (.408); eighth in hits and walks; and 14th in average...became sixth-youngest player ever to hit 100 career home runs on June 15 vs. KCs Billy Brewer...homered in eight straight games to tie ML record...went 2-for-4 with a double off the right-center wall in his attempt for nine straight on July 29...hit 40th HR on Sept. 1 vs. Detroit's Mike Moore, becoming the first Seattle player to hit 40 in a season and the 10th-youngest in history...hit 41st HR on Sept. 13 at California (off John Farrell) and drove in his 100th RBI, becoming the fourth-youngest player ever to have three 100 RBI seasons...hit 45th HR at Minnesota (off Larry Casian) on October 1 and broke Ruppert Jones 1979 club record for runs scored...became first player ever to hit B&O warehouse at Baltimore's Camden Yards during HR-hitting contest on July 13 with a 460-foot shot; finished second to Gonzalez in the contest...established new AL record for outfielders with 542nd consecutive errorless chance on July 18 at Boston...broke record set earlier in the year by Milwaukee's Darryl Hamilton (541)...the streak, which began April 16, 1992, ended on August 8 at Texas at 573 consecutive errorless chances over 240 games...wore #30 in honor of his father on Turn Back the Clock Day at Kansas City on May 21...made first career appearance at first base October 2 at Minnesota in ninth inning...1992: Among AL leaders in a number of categories, finishing third in extra-base hits (70), fourth in slugging (.535), fifth in doubles and multi-hit games (tied at 52), sixth in total bases (302), and eighth in batting average and HR...also finished second among AL outfielders in fielding (.997)...on June 8 at Texas, dove for fifth-inning single off bat of Al Newman and suffered sprained right wrist; was placed on D.L. the next day...was activated on June 25 and homered in first at bat that night vs. California (off Julio Valera)...was named MVP of the Mid-Summer Classic in San Diego, after going 3-for-3 with a HR off Cubs' Greg Maddux (it was first round-tripper by a Mariner in All-Star history); Griffeys al |