Ken Griffey Jr. to Join the Ranks in the Mariners Club Hall of Fame

When my husband was twenty-one, he showed up at Safeco field early to catch the Seattle Mariners’ batting practice prior to a game, in hopes that he would catch a ball. He sat in the left field area where the score board is. Sure enough, he wasn’t disappointed. His favorite player stepped up to the plate and swung. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a ball almost directly to him – the girl behind him wound up catching it and keeping it.

It’s no wonder that the Mariners would want to induct such a figure into their club’s Hall of Fame. After all, Griffey Jr. spent 22 years playing ball on the field – that’s a rather long run in the world of baseball. He started out as a young man of 20 in 1989 and continued to play his heart out for three teams over the course of his career: Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, and a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. Griffey Jr. was a thirteen-time All-Star, and he has the sixth largest record for career home runs (630 after Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Alex Rodriguez – strikeouts reflect my personal qualms over giving records to players with suspected steroid use – sure they hit the balls out of the park a bunch, but would they have done so otherwise?). (more…)

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