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Ken Griffey Sr.

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Ken Griffey
Griffey with the Reds circa 1977
Outfielder
Born: (1950-04-10) April 10, 1950 (age 74)
Donora, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
August 25, 1973, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
May 31, 1991, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average.296
Hits2,143
Home runs152
Runs batted in859
Teams
Career highlights and awards

George Kenneth Griffey Sr. (born April 10, 1950) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1973 through 1991, most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won three division titles and two World Series championships between 1973 and 1976.[1] He also played for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, and Seattle Mariners.

A three-time All-Star, Griffey hit over .300 in five seasons for the powerful Cincinnati batting order that was known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the mid-1970s.[1] In 2004, Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.[1] He is the father of Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.; the two were teammates on the Mariners for 51 games between 1990 and 1991.

Early life

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Griffey was raised by a single mother of six; his father Buddy—a high school teammate of another Hall of Fame outfielder, Stan Musial—left the family when Griffey was two years old. In a 2016 interview with ESPN, he said he did not see his father again until he was 16. His contemporaries in his hometown of Donora, Pennsylvania, did not think he would become a baseball star; they considered his best sport to be football, where he was a star wide receiver. Griffey himself considered football to be his best sport, followed by basketball, track, and only then baseball. At times, he even competed in track meets during baseball games, rushing up the hill between Donora High School's baseball field and track between at-bats when it came time for his track events.[citation needed]

However, as his high school graduation in 1969 neared, he discovered his girlfriend was pregnant. He was soon chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 29th round (682nd overall) of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft,[2] signed with the organization, and married his girlfriend. After his first minor-league season, Ken Jr. was born. Though Griffey left Donora in 1972 as his professional career advanced, he retained close ties to the town.[3]

MLB career

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Griffey at Dodger Stadium, June 25, 1978

Griffey made his MLB debut with the Reds on August 25, 1973, finishing 2-for-4 in a 6–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.[4] That season, Griffey played in only 25 games, but batted .384 with three home runs and 14 RBI.[5] The following season, Griffey saw more playing time with 88 games, and hit .251 with two home runs and 19 RBI.[5] In 1975, Griffey began to break out with a .305 batting average with four home runs and 46 RBI in 132 games.[5]

Griffey's best season came in 1976, when he came just short of winning the batting title behind Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs. Griffey chose to sit out the final day of the season to protect his batting title, but it came back to haunt him as Madlock collected four hits that same day. Griffey entered the game late after hearing the news, and went 0-for-2.[6] Many baseball purists[who?] were disappointed in Griffey (and perhaps more so in his manager, Sparky Anderson, for choosing to sit him out to gain an individual accolade).[citation needed] Griffey finished with a career-high .336 average, six home runs, and 74 RBI in 148 games. He also finished with a career-high 34 stolen bases.[5] After the season, he finished eighth in NL Most Valuable Player voting,[7] and was named to the Sporting News National League All-Star team.[8] The Reds won their second consecutive World Series title in 1976, but that year also marked the beginning of the end of their "Big Red Machine" phase. In the next four seasons, Griffey batted .318, .288, .316, and .294 with a total of 43 home runs.[5] In Griffey's final season of his first stint with the Reds, the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, he batted .311 with only two home runs and 34 RBI in 101 games.[5]

On November 4, 1981, the Reds traded Griffey to the New York Yankees for Fred Toliver and Brian Ryder.[9] He played for the Yankees from 1982 to 1986 at first base and outfield. Injuries often plagued Griffey, who hit .306 with 11 homers and 46 RBI in 1983, his best season with the Yankees.[5] Tommy John thought Griffey was a better player on Astroturf fields (like Riverfront Stadium) than natural grass fields (like Yankee Stadium).[10] An incident during his tenure, where he was told to take his son off the field, while white teammate Graig Nettles' son was allowed to stay, resulted in Griffey's son refusing to ever sign with the Yankees.[11]

On June 30, 1986, Griffey was traded to the Atlanta Braves alongside Andre Robertson in exchange for Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella.[5][12] Griffey played only one full season with the Braves in 1987, batting .286 with 14 home runs and 64 RBI in 122 games.[5] However, he struggled to begin the 1988 season, batting .249 with two home runs and 19 RBI in 69 games.[5] On July 28, Griffey was released by the Braves.[5]

Five days after his release from the Braves, Griffey signed a contract to return to the Reds on August 2.[13] He batted .280 with two home runs and 4 RBI in 25 games with the Reds to finish the season.[5] He spent the 1989 season with the Reds, and was then released in the middle of the Reds' championship 1990 season.[5] Griffey then signed with the Seattle Mariners to conclude the season, joining his son, Ken Jr.[14] By becoming teammates with his son, they became the first father and son to be teammates in Major League Baseball.[15] Although he played in only 21 games to finish the season, Griffey excelled, batting .377 with three home runs and 18 RBI.[5] On December 17, 1990, he returned to the Mariners on a one-year deal for the 1991 season.[16]

Griffey played in his final major league game on May 31, 1991 against the Texas Rangers.[17] In November 1991, Griffey chose to retire after 19 seasons due to a neck injury.[18] In 1,997 games, Griffey compiled a lifetime batting average of .296, with 152 home runs and 859 RBI.[5] Griffey was also the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 All-Star Game. In 2014, Griffey published his memoir Big Red: Baseball, Fatherhood, and My Life in the Big Red Machine, in which he discussed his childhood, formative years, professional career with both the Reds and the Yankees, and his relationships with friends and family.[19]

The Griffeys

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Joseph "Buddy" Griffey was a local athlete who was a teammate of Stan Musial on the Donora High School baseball team.[20] He was the father of Ken Griffey Sr. and the grandfather of Ken Griffey Jr.

The Griffeys (Ken Sr. and Ken Jr.) became the first father-and-son tandem to play on the same Major League Baseball team at the same time. They played their first game together for the Seattle Mariners on August 31, 1990 against the Kansas City Royals.[21] On September 14, 1990, father and son hit back-to-back home runs in a game against the California Angels; this is the only time in major league history that this has happened.[22] Griffey's younger son Craig played in the Mariners' minor league system and appeared with his brother in the outfield during some Cactus League games. Craig Griffey retired from baseball after failing to make it past Triple-A, where he appeared in a handful of games with the Tacoma Rainiers.[23]

Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004.[24] In 2010, Griffey was hired as the batting coach for the Dayton Dragons, the Reds' Single-A minor league affiliate.[25] In 2011, he was named manager of the Bakersfield Blaze, the Reds' Single-A affiliate of the California League.[26] In 2014, Griffey was replaced by Pat Kelly.[27] Griffey remained in the organization as a roving instructor, focusing on hitting and bunting.

Griffey's grandson Trey Griffey went undrafted in the 2017 NFL draft and spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame at MLB.com". Cincinnati Reds. MLB.com. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  2. ^ "29th Round of the 1969 MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  3. ^ Caple, Jim (July 22, 2016). "Welcome to Donora, Pa.: The unlikely intersection of The Kid and Stan The Man". ESPN. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  4. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds Box Score: August 25, 1973". Baseball-Reference.com. August 25, 1973. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Ken Griffey Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  6. ^ "Ken Griffey Sr". The Baseball Page. Archived from the original on April 29, 2009.
  7. ^ "1976 Awards Voting". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  8. ^ McGuire, Justin (April 24, 2014). "A look at Sporting News' 1976 MLB awards". The Sporting News. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  9. ^ Chass, Murray (November 5, 1981). "Yankees Acquire Griffey; Jackson Stunned by Deal". The New York Times.
  10. ^ John, Tommy; Valenti, Dan (1991). TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball. New York: Bantam Books. p. 233. ISBN 0-553-07184-X.
  11. ^ Davis, Scott; Gaines, Cork (June 24, 2023). "Ken Griffey Jr says he refused to sign with the Yankees because he felt the team discriminated against him when he was a kid". Business Insider. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  12. ^ "Yankees Trade Dissatisfied Griffey to Braves for Washington, Zuvella". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. June 30, 1986. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  13. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Griffey Rejoins Reds". The New York Times. August 3, 1988. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  14. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL; Mariners Sign Griffey". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 30, 1990. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  15. ^ Cortes, Ryan (August 31, 2016). "Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. become the first father-son duo to ever play together". Andscape.
  16. ^ "Griffey Sr. signs with Mariners for '91". United Press International. December 17, 1990. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  17. ^ "Seattle Mariners vs Texas Rangers Box Score: May 31, 1991". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "GRIFFEY SR. DECIDES TO RETIRE RATHER THAN STAY ON THE DL". Deseret News. November 4, 1991. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  19. ^ Eddy III, Art (May 12, 2014). "Ken Griffey Sr. Chats With MANjr". MANjr. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  20. ^ Donora Historical Society (January 24, 2013). "Stan Musial and the Donora HIgh School baseball team". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  21. ^ Schwartz, Larry (November 19, 2003). "Griffey Sr. and Jr. first to play together in MLB". ESPN Classic. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  22. ^ Acquavella, Katherine. "Griffey Jr. and Sr. hit back-to-back home runs for Mariners". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  23. ^ "Craig Griffey Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "Reds Hall of Fame | Alumni Directory". Cincinnati Reds. MLB.com. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  25. ^ "Field Staff | Dayton Dragons Roster". Dayton Dragons. Archived from the original on May 3, 2010.
  26. ^ "Ken Griffey, Sr. to Manage Blaze in 2011". Bakersfield Blaze. January 26, 2011. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012.
  27. ^ "Bakersfield Blaze name new manager". KBAK-TV. January 5, 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  28. ^ "Colts waive-injured receiver Trey Griffey". NBC Sports. June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
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