• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Ken Griffey Jr. (MLB HOF)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
DDN

Griffey hits No. 600 against Marlins

By CHARLIE MCCARTHY
For The Associated Press
MIAMI ? Ken Griffey Jr. insisted he never dreamed of joining baseball's ultimate group of power hitters when he reached the majors 19 years ago.
"My father hit 152 home runs, and that's who I wanted to be like," said Griffey, who hit his 600th career homer Monday night to join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa as the only players to do so.
(enlarge photo)
Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., smiles in the dugout before the start of a baseball game against the Florida Marlins Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Griffey connected off Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Cincinatti Reds' 9-4 victory over the Florida Marlins. The 38-year-old slugger hit a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats with Jerry Hairston on third and one out.
"I was just trying to get a pitch I could hit and be as patient as possible," Griffey said. "And I was fortunate enough to get a curveball I could drive."
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Griffey_Ken_cin_080416a.jpg

Congrats, Junior!
 
Upvote 0
MDS108061003_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., hits his 600th home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Florida Marlins Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

[/FONT]
MDS103060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., hits his 600th home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Florida Marlins on Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) [/FONT]

MDS105060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., waves to the crowd after he hit his 600th home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Florida Marlins Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

[/FONT]
MDS107060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Cincinnati Reds' Ken Griffey Jr., rounds second base after hitting his 600th home run as Florida Marlins second baseman Jorge Cantu during the first inning of a baseball game against the Florida Marlins Monday, June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) [/FONT]
GYI0055090781060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Ken Griffey Jr. #3 of the Cincinnati Reds is congratulated by teammates after hitting his 600th career home run against the Florida Marlins in the first inning on June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

[/FONT]
GYI0055090774060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Ken Griffey Jr. #3 of the Cincinnati Reds is congratulated by teammates after hitting his 600th career home run against the Florida Marlins in the first inning on June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images) [/FONT]

GYI0055090745060920_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Ken Griffey Jr. #3 of the Cincinnati Reds runs the bases after hitting his 600th career home run against the Florida Marlins in the first inning on June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images) [/FONT]

GYI0055090735060919_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Ken Griffey Jr. #3 of the Cincinnati Reds runs the bases and is congratulated by first base coach Billy Hatcher #22 after hitting his 600th career home run against the Florida Marlins in the first inning on June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

[/FONT]
GYI0055090720060919_1024x768.jpg
[FONT=arial,helvetica] Ken Griffey Jr. #3 of the Cincinnati Reds hits his 600th career home run against the Florida Marlins in the first inning on June 9, 2008 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)


[/FONT]
 
Upvote 0
When I was about, I guess, 14 or 15 years old, I bought some of those new fangled Upper Deck baseball cards, back when the kids my age were stuck with the stale, old assortment of Topps, Fleer, or Donruss.

The first pack of Upper Deck cards I ever opened had two Ken Griffey Jr rookie cards in it. Double fed from the machine packaging, probably. I thought that was the most awesomest thing evar!11!! back then.
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
DDN

McCoy: Griffey deserves applause as he leaves Cincinnati


By Hal McCoy
the Dayton Daily News

Friday, August 01, 2008

In 1979, Joe Morgan stuck a finger in my face and said, "Don't ever try to talk to me again." I haven't.
Morgan was in his free-agent year, and I wrote a column saying it was time for Joe to go, that the Reds were reloading and had no need for him.
And now I'm saying the same thing about Ken Griffey Jr. It was time for him to go, and I know he won't stick a finger in my face.
He has too much class.
It is a sad time in Cincinnati, but perhaps it is the dawn of the Walt Jocketty Era. He was brought in as general manager to turn around seven straight years of losing.
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
DDN
Junior?s 5 a.m. farewell to Marty

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, July 31, 2008, 03:06 PM
Broadcaster Marty Brennaman was shocked that Ken Griffey Jr. was traded Wednesday and the way he discovered the trade was even more shocking.
The Cincinnati Reds arrived from Houston to their hotel in Washington at 5 a.m. this morning. As it happened, Griffey and Brennaman were on the elevator together headed for their rooms.
?I was on the seventh floor and he was on the sixth,? said Brennaman. ?When the door opened for his floor, he stuck his briefcase against the door to block it and said, ?Can we talk a minute?? ?
When Brennaman said yes, Griffey stuck out his hand and said, ?I want to thank you for everything. You were fair with me.?
Said Brennaman, ?What?s this all about??
Griffey said, ?I?ve been traded.?
Brennaman thought it was a typical Griffey gag and said, ?C?mon, Griff. It?s 5 a.m. and we?re tired and let?s just go to bed.?
Griffey pulled out his cell phone and showed Brennaman a text message Griffey received from his Cincinnati-based agent, Brian Goldberg, confirming the trade to the Chicago White Sox.
?I was shocked,? said Brennaman. ?I?m still shocked.?
Asked if he thought Griffey?s recent problems with a fan and with broadcaster Jeff Brantley had anything to do with the trade, Brennaman said, ?If anything, it might have brought it to a head.?
Nothing was said to anybody after Wednesday?s 9-5 win over the Astros. Baker mentioned no trade to any of the media, but Griffey was absent from his locker.
Baker said he had no idea the trade was made until after the game, after the media left the clubhouse, and nothing was said to anybody until Griffey told Brennaman, although Griffey privately said his goodbyes to teammates.
?Griffey told me if he had it to do all over, he wouldn?t change a thing,? said Brennaman. ?He?d still come to Cincinnati. He thought it was important for him to wear the uniform his father once wore. It was rather touching.?
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
DDN

Senior: Junior received death threats

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, July 31, 2008, 03:42 PM
Father knows best and Ken Griffey Sr. knows what his son went through, things people don?t know.
How about death threats during Griffey?s first three years in Cincinnati?
?When Seattle wanted to trade him, Cincinnati was the only team to which he wanted to go,? Griffey?s father, Ken Griffey Sr., said today. ?He received threats to kill his family, kidnap his kids. When his family didn?t show up at games on time, to start the game, I could see his demeanor change. He didn?t care about the game. You could see it in his face. He wasn?t the same until his family showed up at the game.
?That?s why he never wanted pictures taken of Melissa (his wife) or the kids, and can you blame him?? Griffey added.
And the injuries?
?People have no idea what he went through in his career,? Griffey said. ?The first time he broke his hand in Seattle, it was bad, man. I thought he might miss two years. They put a plate in his hand and he was back in six weeks. Then a screw came loose in the plate and he screwed it back in himself.?
Then there were all the injuries in Cincinnati.
?I?m proud of what he did and he doesn?t owe anybody anything,? he said. ?I know what he went through. There is no doubt in my mind that without the injuries he would be right there with Barry Bonds right now in home runs. No doubt.?
Senior said he could see the trade coming, ?Because I know the direction of the team and I can see in the minors what?s coming up.?
Griffey, who works for the Reds as a scout, said Junior called him at 2 a.m. this morning to tell him he had been traded and that the team needed his approval. He wanted advice.
?I told him he had a great eight-year run in Cincinnati, nothing to apologize for. With the injuries, it was amazing he reached 600 homers. A great accomplishment. I told him the only thing he didn?t have was the ring and that he should go for it. The White Sox have a chance to get him that ring.?
Senior said Junior said softly, ?OK, dad. Thanks.?
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Dispatch

Griffey headed to White Sox
Reds to receive to prospects in trade
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:51 AM
Updated: Thursday, July 31, 2008 03:49 PM
By Scott Priestle


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ken Griffey Jr.?s uneven tenure with the Cincinnati Reds is over. His pursuit of a championship has just begun. The Reds traded the future Hall of Fame outfielder to the Chicago White Sox today for two fringe prospects, ending a relationship that was often testy, occasionally thrilling and ultimately unfulfilling.
In exchange for Griffey, the Reds received reliever Nick Masset and infielder Danny Richar. Masset went 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 32 appearances for the White Sox, while Richar is an athletic middle infielder who hit just .230 in 56 big-league games last season.
Rookie Jay Bruce likely will move from center field to right field, a move that seemed destined to happen for the past year. Griffey is in the final year of an expensive contract, and Bruce has been considered one of the top prospects in baseball. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Corey Patterson likely will play center field for the remainder of the season.
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top