Ken Griffey Jr. (Character)

Ken Griffey Jr.

CHARACTER» George Kenneth Griffey Jr.

Retired professional baseball player that played from 1989 to mid-2010 for the Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox.

Character Images Related Pages

EditHistoryPage info

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born on November 21, 1969 in Donora, Pennsylvania. His father was a professional baseball player who debuted for the Cincinnati Reds in 1973.

Griffey Jr was drafted first in the 1989 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners (Concept) and made his pro debut the very same year were he played along side his father Griffey Sr. Towards the end of the 1990 season, both Senior and Junior would be the first father-son duo to his back-to-back home runs.

Ken Griffey Jr. quickly built a reputation of his own as an energetic, skilled outfielder with a smooth swing and penchant for hitting home runs. In an era where many other players' reputations went on to be tarnished by steroid use, Griffey stayed clean.

Nicknamed "The Kid," Griffey was a family-friendly star with youthful exuberance, personified by his trademark backwards cap, one of many new faces that helped bring renewed interest to the MLB in the 1990s. He was one of nine major-leaguers to appear in the 1992 episode of The Simpsons (Franchise) "Homer at the Bat" that is considered a classic. In 1993, Nintendo (Company) signed an exclusive licensing deal with Ken Griffey Jr. that produced four games.

Seattle Mariners (1989-1999)

Griffey Jr would play with the Mariners from 1989 to 1999. During his time in Seattle, Junior accumulated 398 Homerus, and 1,152 runs batted in. Junior also scored the series winning run in the famous 1995 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees (Concept) in the bottom of the 11th inning after being down two games in a best of 5 series. In 1997 he was named the American League Most Valuable Player, were he batted .304 and hit a career best 56 Homeruns.

From 1990 to1999 Junor made the all star team, and was also crowned the Home-run Derby Champion in 1994,1998, and 1999.

During this time period Ken Griffey Jr is often regarded by fans as the man who saved baseball inSeattle (Location). Additionally some feel that his team leadership skills and high playing ability is what ultimately led to the construction of the Mariners current stadium Safeco Field, or "the house that Griffey built" as fans in Seattle like to say it, which opened at the start of the 1999 season, which would end up being Juniors final season with the Mariners before signing with the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincinnati Reds (2000-2008)

At the end of the 1999 season Griffey's request for a trade to the Cincinnati Reds (Concept) was granted so that Junior could be closer to this family. His time in Cincinnati was plagued with multiple season ending injury's in 2002, 2003, and 2004, which kept him out of play for extend periods of time. While he reached key career milestones with the Reds, his playing ability was not as impressive as it was when he was with Seattle. During his time in Cincinnati Junior only made the all-star team 3 times in 2000, 2004, and 2007.

One of the first milestones Junior reached as a Red is when he became the 20th player in MLB history to reach the 500 career homerun mark when he hit a towering homerun to right field in St. Louis on Fathers Day, a game in which Griffey Sr. was attending. While Junior and the Reds were the visiting team, Junior received a standing ovation from the St. Louis fans.

At the start of the 2005 season Junior had aged, but was more healthy than he was in his early Cincinnati (Location) years. His next milestone would come towards the beginning of the 2008 season were Junior hit his 600th career homerun in Florida against the Marlins were he received yet another standing ovation as a visiting player. Today, Junior is one of seven players to have hit 600 career homeruns in baseball history.

Chicago White Sox (2008)

At the July 31st 2008 trade deadline Junior was traded from Cincinnati to the Chicago White Sox (Concept). However at the end of the Season, the White Sox released him, and for the first time in his career Junior became a free agent.

Seattle Mariners (2009 - 2010 and Retirement)

During the off-season after his short time with the White Sox, Junior announced that he would be returning to Seattle to play for the Mariners once again. Junior filled a minor roll, often coming off the bench to pinch hit, or filled the lineup as a designated hitter.

However, due to declining ability and age, by June in the 2010 season Ken Griffey Jr announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 40 and 21 seasons in the major leagues. Junior would exit with a career batting average of .284 and 630 career homeruns.

Career Statistics and Accomplishments

Batting Average: .284

Homeruns: 630

RBI's: 1,836

Stolen Bases: 184

Doubles: 524

Triples: 38

Walks: 1,312

Strike outs: 1,779

10x Gold Glove Award Winner

3x Home run derby champion

7x Silver Slugger Award Winner

13x All-star

In Video Games

Ken Griffey Jr as a member of the players association has appeared in just about every yearly video game spanning his career. He was featured as the cover athlete in Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Runand Ken Griffey Jr Presents Major League Baseball (Game) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Platform)

He was also featured in the video games Major League Baseball baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr and Ken Griffey Jr's Slugfest for the Nintendo 64 (Platform), respectively.

Games view all →]