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
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]
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 NewsNational 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-shortened1981 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]
Ken's father,Joseph "Buddy" Griffey,was a local athlete who was a teammate of Stan Musial on the Donora High School baseball team.[24]
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.[25] 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.[26] 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.[27]
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