When Ken Griffey Jr. entered the field for his debut in the big league in Oakland, California, on April 3, 1989, the television announcer of the Seattle Mariners channel proclaimed: “In twenty-five years you will want to say: “I was there when Ken Griffey Jr. debuted.” In this first match, he hit a double. In a week, he hit his first home run. Even then, everyone knew the purpose of this player known simply as “Younger” or “Kid”. The announcer of the Mariners in 1989 turned out to be a prophet. Ken Griffey Jr. became a very famous baseball athlete.

Ken Griffey’s sports career

Ken Griffey Jr. is a baseball athlete, who was born in 1969 in Donora, Pennsylvania. Ken Griffey was the son of an outstanding outfielder (also Ken Griffey, but Sr.). For the first time in his biography, Ken Griffey Jr. began to play in the AL for the Seattle Mariners in 1989. In 1990, he and his father simultaneously appeared in the field (as outfielders). This event remains an exception in MLB history. The sportsman played more than 20 seasons in the MLB as an outfielder.

The athlete spent most of his professional career with the Seattle Mariners and the Cincinnati Reds, and also played shortly for the White Sox. A multiple participant of matches of all MLB stars, the sportsman is considered one of the most known knock-out players in baseball. The sportsman also performed as good defender and received 10 Golden Glove awards among center-fielders.

The athlete was named the excellent universal player of the 90s. In the AL, the sportsman was successful in some perfect homeruns in 1994, 1997-1999, he also made 56 homeruns in 1997, 1998. Ken performed his 500th homerun in 2004. He shared the record for MLB by the quantity of matches played in a row, in which the homerun was knocked out.

The former athlete currently works in the management of the Seattle Mariners as an expert. On August 10, 2013, Griffey became the seventh person to be included in the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame. As we mentioned above, Ken is a second-generation baseball player.

Achievements of Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr. can boast of the following achievements:

• he participated 13 times in matches of all MLB stars (first time in 1990, and most recently in 2007);
• he was awarded the Golden Glove 10 times (for the first time in 1990, and most recently in 1999);
• 7 times received the Silver Slugger award;
• most valuable sportsman AL (1997);
• most valuable sportsman of the match of all the stars of the US MLB (1992);
• the return of the year (2005);
• he won 3 times the HomeRun Derby (1994, 1998, 1999);
• he is included in the MLB’s team of the century.

And most importantly: in 2016, Ken was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He received a lot of votes (more than 99%).

Interesting facts about Ken Griffey Jr.

• Long ago, Ken Griffey Jr. and his manager Lou Piniella decided to start a dispute. The winner had to treat his opponent with dinner. Lou Piniella won, but instead of a steak, received in his office an entire live cow.
• In 2016, the world-famous company Nike released the Air Griffey Max sneakers, created in honor of our character, appeared in a series dedicated to the 20th anniversary of this event. This popular model is presented in two new colors: blue, symbolizing the colors of the Seattle team, and the coloring “First Field” in original colors, designed specifically for Griffey the younger.
• In 2017, the character of the animated television series “The Simpsons” Homer Simpson was introduced to the Hall of Fame. The decision was made on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the occurence of the episode “Homer at the Bat”, where the team with Simpson wins the game. In the series, there are characters of MLB players Roger Clemens & Ken Griffey.
• Only once did father and son play in one MLB game and both knock out on a homerun: Ken Griffey, Jr., and his dad. This happened in a game against the Angels on September 14, 1990.
• In 1989, Ken Cray Griffey Jr. signed a baseball card at an average of $ 30 – $ 40. Most likely, now it costs much more. The only question is how not to buy a fake.

Did Ken Griffey, Jr. use steroids?

There are some players who took steroids in baseball. These are guys like Mark McGwire, Alex Rodrigues, Rafael Palmeiro, and others. Despite the fact that a particular player may not have received a positive result on steroids, indirect evidence is pretty convincing. In addition, there is a big group of players who, according to many fans, did not use steroids to increase performance. But why do users exclude the possibility that any of these players used “juice”? The main argument that they use is that these players do not have large muscles. But the theory that all people who take anabolics become a big and awkward muscle mountain is false.

It is believed that Alex Rodriguez took Primobolan. It is an expensive steroid that does not lead to water retention. Therefore, the muscles do not look swollen, they look quite ordinary. Why then do not people assume that the athlete took steroids? He grew up inside a culture where it was normal to take pills to get some advantage. In addition, during the first 11 years of his career, he was fairly persistent. Since the 2001 season, he has missed many matches due to injuries that could have been caused by anabolic steroid abuse. Nevertheless, we hope that the sportsman didn’t use steroids.