An Ode to Ken Griffey Jr.

Nobody knows their future.

How was I supposed to know a bicycle ride from Windsor’s east side to a small hobby shop on Ottawa Street during the spring of 1989 would change how I celebrated baseball for most of my life?

How was anyone supposed to know Ken Griffey Jr. would ultimately become one of the greatest ball players of all time?

As a 14-year-old card collector and fan, I had never heard of Ken Griffey Jr. until I got my hands on his first baseball card. He was card number one of Upper Deck’s 1989 debut baseball card series. His card was the first one in the set. He was front and centre ahead of everybody else.

Like many rated prospects, Griffey was expected to be better than “insert hall-of-fame player name here,” and the card shop owner was sure to go on and on about how great of a player he was predicted to become. Needless to say I bought a lot of packages of those cards with hopes of finding one of those beauties.

As a young Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays fan torn between the two franchises, I somehow never owned a jersey of either team but I wore holes into my old white Seattle Mariners jersey. All the credit to Mr. Griffey Jr.

On April 3, 1989, Griffey Jr. made his debut with the Mariners. He was a 19-year-old rookie born Nov. 21, 1969 in Denora, Pennsylvania, so it was fitting he was referred to as “Junior.” This also had something to do with the fact he came into the league where his father, Ken Griffey, had been playing since 1973.

Ken Griffey Sr. was a three-time all-star and two-time World Series champion who was a part of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine. The Griffeys were one of the first father and son combos to play on the same professional team. Their first game together was Aug. 31, 1990 against the Kansas City Royals. Later that year on Sept. 14 they became the only father and son to hit back-to-back home runs in a game in major league history, a feat which still stands alone today.

I enjoyed the privilege of watching Griffey Jr. perform his craft on numerous occasions at old Tiger Stadium in Detroit and a few other stadiums throughout his career. I have witnessed him hit towering home runs, make dramatic catches in the outfield and even go hitless from time to time. He is human after all.

During the summer of 2007 when my younger brother, Brigham, and I travelled to visit all 30 MLB stadiums for a game in 28 days we saw him play at The Great American Ballpark and PNC Park during his tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

Before finding our seats in Pittsburgh on Aug. 29, 2007, I waited for my brother and our friend, Cale, to use the restroom while I watched Griffey Jr. launch a monster shot off Ian Snell. The long ball landed only a few rows from leaving the stadium over the right field wall. He went 1-for-4 that night with 3 RBIs and a walk in addition to his homerun.

Earlier that season on April 15, 2007, Griffey started the tradition of wearing Jackie Robinson’s league retired #42 on the 60^th anniversary of Robinson breaking the colour barrier in baseball, a date which became known as Jackie Robinson Day in 2004. I always enjoyed the stories of the Brooklyn Dodgers and respect Jackie Robinson for everything he accomplished. It encouraged me to collect video footage of the 42 retired in every ball park we visited that summer.

Windsor Social magazine later hired me as their Sports and Entertainment Editor which allowed me to access field level credentials at Comerica Park during Tigers home games in order to interview players for my monthly recap.

After Griffey found his way back on the Seattle roster, I found my way on the field when his Mariners visited the Motor City on July 21, 2009.

Once my work was done with the Tigers, I patiently waited by the Seattle dugout for Griffey to make his way off the field after batting practice. Intercepting him as he walked past, I politely requested a moment of his time to ask him a few questions. He responded by telling me he had to say hello to some friends who were waiting for him and would be right back to talk with me.

While patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation, I noticed him look over at me several times as security tried to make me exit the field considering pre-game access was over. I honestly believed the opportunity had passed. Griffey knew I would have to eventually leave and he would not have to be bothered. I also believe he saw the pure disappointment on my face and recognized I wasn’t a media threat to him. It was at that moment he made his way up the stairs and let me ask him a couple quick questions.

With no real purpose for the interview other than to have a quick moment with my favourite ball player, I started by asking him about his return to the Mariners to finish his sure to be hall of fame career.

“It’s good (to be back in Seattle after all these years),” said Griffey. “It was an opportunity I was honoured that came about. I’m excited and it’s going well. When it comes to trades, whatever happens, happens. Things work out.”

Assuming the switch back to the American League would find him playing more often as a designated hitter rather than an outfielder, I wondered if there was really an overall difference in playing in one league over the other.

“No (there is no difference between playing in the National League and the American League). Everybody plays in the same league so it’s not really that big a deal anymore,” said Griffey. “For the most part, it’s the same. You have just got to go out there, take what they give you and work with it.”

The 38-year-old Griffey reached a milestone in 2008 which made him a member of an exclusive group with only five other men who hit 600 homeruns in their professional careers.

Griffey launched a one-out pitch off Florida Marlins lefty Mark Hendrickson 413 feet into the right field stands of Joe Robbie Stadium. The two-run bomb put him in elite company with Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660) and Sammy Sosa (609).

Two other players have since surpassed the 600 homerun plateau. Jim Thome finished his career with 612 and Alex Rodriguez who recently announced his retirement to follow the 2017 season currently sits at 687 long balls.

Griffey, who finished his illustrious career with 630 dingers, spoke very modestly of his magnificent achievement during our conversation.

“It’s one of those things that happens. If I hit 700 plus, then it happens,” said Griffey. “I don’t really worry about the numbers. I think everybody else worries about that. For me it’s just trying to win ball games and help the team.”

With time for only one more question, I was curious of his thoughts on the demolition of the old Yankee Stadium and Tiger Stadium as well as what one of his fondest memories might be from the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

“There was a lot of tradition in both stadiums and a lot of great ball players have played there,” said Griffey. “My favourite Tiger Stadium moment is when I robbed Luis Gonzalez of a homerun.”

It was Aug. 10, 1998, at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, where Gonzalez blasted what would have been a two-run homer over the right-centerfield wall. Unfortunately for him, Griffey was the centerfielder. Junior made a perfectly timed dynamic jump into the air and extended his arm over the wall to steal a round-tripper, maintain a 1-0 lead and receive a standing ovation from the Detroit fans.

The Associated Press published Gonzalez as saying, “I looked at the replay afterwards and he jumped from the middle of the warning track. That’s kind of inhuman, you know what I mean?”

The recollection of that amazing catch was also the conclusion of our conversation.

I thanked Mr. Griffey for his time and just like that the moment had passed.

During the Tigers 9-7 win over the Mariners that night, I was happy to get some photos of Griffey at the plate and was very thankful for the photos my photographer in tow was able to get of us during the interview.

It was one of the happiest nights of my life and the last time I would ever see Ken Griffey Jr. play the game I love so much.

Griffey played for the Seattle Mariners from 1989-1999, the Cincinnati Reds from 2000-2008, the Chicago White Sox in 2008 and closed out his professional campaign on May 31, 2010 after returning to the Mariners to finish his career in 2009.

Over his 22 years in major league baseball he had 2,781 hits with 630 homeruns, 1,836 runs batted in and a .284 batting average.

Earlier this year on Jan. 7, 2016, Ken Griffey Jr. was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, receiving the highest voting percentage in history.

The 13-time all-star slugger who survived his success through the steroid era without ever being accused of drug use earned 99.3 per cent of the vote on his first appearance on the ballot. Griffey earned 437 of 440 possible votes, surpassing Tom Seaver’s 98.84 per cent in 1992 where his name was on 425 of 430 ballots.

His flash, flair, big smile, backwards ball cap, bubble gum bubble blowing in the outfield waiting to chase down fly balls and steal homeruns, and of course that perfect swing will never be forgotten by baseball fans.

Griffey will be inducted and enshrined into the great hall in Cooperstown on July 24, 2016.

Will any player ever supersede his near perfect entry?

Like I said in the beginning, nobody knows the future.