Happy Birthday to the Kid
Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Turns 48
To celebrate Ken Griffey Jr.’s 48th birthday today, we take a look back at the timeline of the Hall of Famer’s outstanding career.
1987
· Selected first overall by Seattle in the 1987 June Draft out of Cincinnati’s Moeller High School.
· Made his pro debut with the Mariners short-season A affiliate, the Bellingham Mariners, where his first hit was a home run.
1988
· Split the season between the Vermont Mariners in the double-A Eastern League and the San Bernardino Spirit in the single-A Cal League.
· Finished 3rd on the San Bernardino club in home runs (11) and 4th in stolen bases (32), despite playing in only 58 games.
1989
· Made the big league club out of Spring Training as a non-roster player after batting .359 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI during Cactus League play.
· Made his Major League debut on April 3, 1989 at the age of 19 years and 133 days. He was the youngest player in the Major Leagues.
· Doubled in his first at-bat in the big leagues off the Athletics Dave Stewart on April 3 at Oakland.
· Homered on the first pitch he saw at the Kingdome vs. the White Sox on April 10.
· Received 79,051 votes for the All-Star Game, all write-in.
1990
· Finished 4th in the AL in total bases (287), 5th in hits (179), 7th in batting (.300), T8th in triples (7) and 9th in slugging percentage (.481).
· Named AL Player of the Month for April.
· Became the first Mariner ever elected to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game when he received 2,159,700 votes. He became the 2nd-youngest player to start in an All-Star Game (Al Kaline in 1955).
· On Aug. 31 vs. Kansas City, played with his father for the first time.
· Hit back-to-back home runs with Ken Griffey Sr. in the 1st inning on Sept. 14 at California.
· Earned his first Gold Glove Award, becoming the 2nd-youngest player to receive the honor (Johnny Bench in 1968).
1991
· Re-wrote the Mariners record book as he set club marks for batting (.327, since broken), doubles (42, since broken), slugging percentage (.527, since broken), intentional walks (21, since broken) and grand slams (tied at 3, since broken).
· Led the American League in grand slams while also ranking 4th in batting average and doubles, 6th in slugging, 8th in on-base percentage (.399) and RBI, and 10th in total bases (289).
· On May 25 vs. Texas, made one of the best catches of his career to rob Ruben Sierra of an extra-base hit; back-handed the line drive on a dead run an instant before crashing feet-first in the wall in right-center field.
· Was the American League’s leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game (2,248,396 votes); was in the starting lineup for the second straight year.
· Received his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove Award and his first Silver Slugger Award.
1992
· Named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player at the 63rd annual midsummer classic in San Diego; went 3-for-3, including a home run off Greg Maddux. Was the first All-Star Game home run by a Mariner.
· Recorded his 500th career hit — a home run off Jack Morris — on May 7 vs. Toronto.
1993
· Established club records in runs (113, since broken), total bases (359, since broken), intentional walks (25, since broken) and slugging (.617, since broken).
· Became the 6th-youngest player ever to reach 100 home runs on June 15 vs. Kansas City.
· Tied a Major League-record by homering in 8 consecutive games, July 20–28. Equaled the record with an 8th-inning blast off the facing of the third deck on July 28 vs. Minnesota. Joined Atlanta’s Dale Long (1956) and New York-AL’s Don Mattingly (1987) as the only players to hit a home run in 8 straight games.
· Hit his 40th home run of the season on Sept. 1 vs. Detroit’s Mike Moore, becoming the first Mariners with 40 home runs in a season and the 10th-youngest in Major League history.
· Was the AL’s top vote-getter for the All-Star Game with 2,696,918 votes.
· Became the first player ever to hit the B&O Warehouse at Baltimore’s Camden Yards during the Home Run Derby on July 13 with a 460-foot blast.
· Earned his 4th Gold Glove and 2nd Silver Slugger Award.
1994
· Became the first Mariner ever to lead the American League in home runs with 40 during a strike-shortened season.
· Hit career home run #161 on June 15 at Texas, becoming the club’s all-time leader, surpassing Alvin Davis (160).
· Selected to the starting lineup of his 5th consecutive All-Star Game; was the leading vote-getter in the Majors, amassing an all-time record of 6,079,688 tallies.
· Won the Home Run Derby on July 11 at Pittsburgh with 7 long balls.
1995
· Hit a game-winning 3-run, third-deck home run on Opening Day in the Mariners 3–0 win.
· Missed 73 games due to a broken wrist (the Mariners went 36–37 during his absence.
· Selected to his 6th straight All-Star Game starting lineup and received the 2nd-most votes in the AL (1,204,748).
· Collected career hit #1,000 with a single on Aug. 16 at Minnesota, becoming the 7th-youngest player to reach the 1,000 hit plateau.
· Belted a 9th-inning, 2-run home runs off John Wetteland to beat the Yankees on Aug. 24 for his first career game-ending hit.
· Had an outstanding postseason, batting a combined .364 with 6 home runs and 9 RBI in 11 games.
· Hit 2 home runs in the Game 1 of the Division Series vs. the Yankees. Singled and scored the winning run from 1st base in the 11th inning of Game 5 of the ALDS on Edgar Martinez’s double.
· At the time, his 5 home runs in the Division Series tied Reggie Jackson’s mark for the most home runs in a postseason series.
· Won his 6th consecutive Gold Glove.
1996
· Despite missing 20 games with a broken hamate bone in his right wrist, posted an MVP-type season, finishing 4th in the voting.
· Set then-franchise records with 49 home runs (3rd in AL) and 140 RBI (5th in AL) and ranked among the league leaders in runs (5th), total bases (6th), slugging (5th) and extra-base hits (8th).
· Hit his 200th career home run on May 21 at Boston to become the 7th-youngest player in Major League history to reach 200 home runs.
· Recorded his first career 3-homer game on May 24 vs. the Yankees.
· Broke the hamate bone in his right wrist on June 19 in his first at-bat; missed 20 games.
· Led the Majors in All-Star Game balloting (3,064,814 votes) and was elected to his 7th straight midsummer classic.
1997
· Became just the 13th unanimous MVP selection in Major League history after posting the best season ever by a Seattle player.
· His 56 home runs were the 7th-most in baseball history, the 3rd-most since 1961, and his 147 RBI were 6th-highest total in previous 48 years.
· Led the Majors in RBI and led the AL (2nd in Majors) in home runs, total bases, slugging percentage (.646) and extra-base hits (93).
· Elected to his 8th straight All-Star Game and led the AL in voting for the 5th time and the Majors for the 3rd time.
· Hit his 50th home runs of the season on Sept. 7 at Minnesota; became just the 15th player in history with 50 or more home runs in a season.
· Won his 5th Silver Slugger and 8th consecutive Gold Glove.
1998
· Matched his 1997 home run total with 56.
· Ranked among AL leaders in home runs (1st), RBI (3rd), runs (3rd), total bases (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd, .611), extra-base hits (3rd, 92) and intentional walks (4th, 11).
· Homered twice on April 13 at Cleveland, becoming the 2nd-youngest player to hit 300 homers.
· Hit his 41st home run of the season on July 30 vs. Cleveland, tying the AL record for home runs prior to Aug. 1 (Babe Ruth in 1928 and Jimmie Foxx in 1932).
· Belted his 350th career home run on Sept. 25 vs. Texas, becoming the youngest player ever with 350 home runs (28 years, 308 days).
1999
· Hit 48 home runs to become the first player since Harmon Killebrew (1962–64) to lead the American League in home runs in 3 consecutive seasons.
· Hit his 7th career Opening Day home run on April 5 vs. the White Sox.
· Hit grand slams in consecutive games April 29–30, becoming only the 19th Major League and second Mariner (Mike Blowers) to do so).
· Hit the final home run in the Kingdome on June 27 vs. Texas.
· Won the Home Run Debry with 16 homers on July 12 at Boston.
2000
· Traded to Cincinnati prior to the start of spring training.
· Voted to the All-Star Game’s starting lineup for the 11th consecutive year, his first as a national league player.
· Recorded his 400th career home run on April 10 at Colorado, becoming the youngest player in baseball history to hit 400 homers (30 years, 141 days and hit it on his father’s 50th birthday).
2001
· Led the Reds with 22 home runs and ranked 3rd with 65 RBI despite being bothered all season by a torn hamstring.
· Missed an Opening Day start for the first time in his career.
Did not make the All-Star team for the first time since his rookie year (1989).
2002
· Limited to 70 games because of a pair of stints on the disabled list.
· Collected his 2,000th career hit on June 28 vs. Seattle, becoming the 29th player in Major League history with at least 2,000 hits and 400 home runs.
2003
· Recorded the first hit at Great American Ballpark on Opening Day vs. Pittsburgh; the baseball was sent to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
· Homered in 5 consecutive games, July 8–12, to tie the Reds club record shared by Ted Kluszewski (8/11–15/54, 5 HR) and Johnny Bench (5/30–6/3/72, 7 HR).
2004
· Selected to the All-Star Game for the 12th time; at the All-Star Game in Houston, participated in ceremonies honoring the 14 living players who hit at least 500 home runs.
· With his parents in attendance, hit his 500th home run on June 20 at St. Louis; was his 4th career home run on Father’s Day and career hit number 2,143, the exact number produced by his father in 19 Major League seasons.
2005
· Won the Ernie Lombardi Award as the Reds MVP and was a unanimous selection for the Joe Nuxhall Good Guy Award, both as voted by the Cincinnati chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
· Received National League Comeback Player of the Year Awards in voting by fans and in voting by his peers.
· Was a finalist for the National League’s Hank Aaron Award and the Hutch Award.
2006
· Hit career home run #563 on Sept. 25 vs. the Cubs, tying Reggie Jackson for 10th on the all-time list.
· Hit his 15th career grand slam on May 20 at Detroit.
· Hit the 700th Griffey home run (Senior, 152 and Junior, 548) on June 19 at New York-NL with his father in attendance.
· Played for Team USA in the inaugural World Baseball Classic; named to the WBC All-Tournament Team after batting .524 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI.
· Was the Reds nominee for both the Roberto Clemente Award and the Hutch Award for his humanitarian and charitable efforts.
2007
· Produced his 9th 30-home run season and his 11th season with at least 90 RBI.
· Led all NL players in All-Star fan voting (2,986,818).
· Named to the Rawlings Gold Glove All-Time Team as voted by fans.
· Hit career home run #569 on May 10 vs. Houston, tying Rafael Palmeiro for 9th-most all-time.
· Moved into 8th all-time (Harmon Killebrew) his 573rd career home run on May 22 vs. Washington.
· Moved into 6th place with his 587th career home run on July 16 at Atlanta, moving past Frank Robinson.
· Went 5-for-13 in a 3-game series in Seattle, June 22–24, his first visit to Safeco Field since he was traded.
2008
· Spent most of the season with Cincinnati prior to being traded to Chicago-AL on July 31.
· Became the 6th player (3rd left-hander) in Major League history to reach the 600-home run plateau on June 9 at Florida.
· Became the 18th player in baseball history with 5,000 total bases with a home run on July 4 vs. Washington.
· Made his White Sox debut on Aug. 1 at Kansas City, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.
· His his first home run with the White Sox on Aug. 20 vs. Seattle, tying Sammy Sosa (609) for 5th place on the all-time list.
2009
· Re-signed with the Mariners as a free agent on Feb. 21.
· His home run on June 23 vs. San Diego was the 5,000th homer in Mariners history; it also tied Griffey with Lou Gehrig (2,721) on the all-time hits list.
· Became only the 12th player in Major League history to notch double-digits in home runs 20 times in a career (every year but 2002).
· Hit a walk-off single in the 14th inning on Aug. 12 vs. the White Sox in a 1–0 victory; marked his 9th career walk-off hit (last: 6/20/08 vs. PIT w/CIN).
· Hit a game-tying, 2-run pinch-hit home run on June 19 vs. Arizona; marked his 6th career pinch-hit home run (first since 9/25/06 vs. CHI w/CIN).
· Hit a solo home run on Opening Day at Minnesota; was his 8th career Opening Day homer, all coming his 12 seasons with the Mariners. Tied Frank Robinson for the most Opening Day home runs in MLB history.
· Hit his 400th home run as a Mariner on April 15 vs. the Angels; became the first player in Major League history to hit 400 home runs with one team (Seattle) and 200 homers with another team (210 home runs with Cincinnati).
· Hit a game-tying 2-run home run on May 10 at Minnesota; 7th career homer on Mother’s Day (T2nd-most in Major League history).
2010
· Announced his retirement from baseball on June 2, 2010, capping a 22-season career.
· Retired on the same day (June 2) 23 years to the day after he was selected first overall in the 1987 June draft.
· Griffey had 572 different teammates (played at least one game) during his 22-year MLB career.
· Is among an elite group of 29 Major Leaguer to appear in at least 4 decades.
2013
· Inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame.
· Became the 7th member of the Mariners Hall of Fame, joining Alvin Davis, Dave Niehaus, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson and Dan Wilson (later joined by Lou Piniella and Jamie Moyer).
2016
· Became the first player inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Seattle Mariner on July 24.
· Became the first №1 overall draft pick to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
· Earned on 99.3 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of American, the highest percentage of any Hall of Famer in history.
· His number 24 was retired by the Mariners in a pre-game ceremony at Safeco Field on Aug. 6; became the first Mariner in franchise history to have his number retired.
· Became the 3rd №1 overall draft pick to have his number retired by a club, joining the Braves Chipper Jones (number 10, retired in 2013) and the White Sox Harold Baines (number 3, retired in 1989).
