Classic Mariners Games: Ken Griffey Jr. Claims Second Straight Home Run Derby Title

Tune in to ROOT SPORTS tonight at 7:00 PM for an encore broadcast of the 1999 Home Run Derby

With the start of the 2020 season delayed due to the COVID-19 response, ROOT SPORTS NW and 710 ESPN Seattle will feature encore broadcasts of classic Mariners games throughout the month of May. A full schedule of the broadcasts is available at Mariners.com/Classics.

Tonight’s featured program is the 1999 Home Run Derby — July 12, 1999 at Fenway Park in Boston. Follow the action tonight at 7:00 pm on ROOT SPORTS NW, Twitter.com/Mariners and right here, From the Corner of Edgar & Dave.

Ken Griffey Jr. became the first player to claim back-to-back Home Run Derby titles at the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston.

After defeating Jim Thome at the 1998 Midsummer Classic at Coors Field in Denver, Junior returned the following summer to best then-Brewers slugger Jeromy Burnitz. Yoenis Cespedes (2013–14) later joined Griffey as the only players to win back-to-back Home Run Derbies.

Chris Berman and Joe Morgan were joined in the ESPN booth by then-Mets catcher Mike Piazza. Griffey and Piazza were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Entering the 1999 All-Star break, Griffey’s 29 home runs were 2nd-most in the American League, trailing only Tampa Bay’s Jose Canseco (31). Griffey finished the 1999 campaign with 48 home runs, leading the AL in homers for the third consecutive season.

Griffey entered the 1999 season with exactly 350 career home runs. He belted his 350th career home run on September 25, 1998 vs. the Rangers. At 28 years, 308 days, he became the youngest player in Major League history at the time to reach the 350-homer milestone. Junior joined Jimmie Foxx (29 years, 216 days), Eddie Mathews (29 years, 235 days) and Mickey Mantle (29 years, 266 days) as the only players to hit 350 home runs before turning 30.