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George Kenneth Griffey (born April 10, 1950) is an American former professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from through , most notably as a member of the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
dynasty that won three division titles and two
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Wor ...
championships between and . He also played for the New York Yankees,
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bo ...
and the Seattle Mariners. A three-time All-Star, Griffey hit over .300 five times in his role as the table-setter for the powerful Cincinnati batting order that was known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the mid-1970s. In 2004, Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. He is the father of Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.


Early life

Griffey was raised by a single mother of six; his father Buddy—a high school teammate of another Hall of Fame outfielder,
Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...
—left the family when Griffey was two years old. In a 2016 interview with
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
, he said he did not see his father again until he was 16. His contemporaries in his hometown of
Donora, Pennsylvania Donora is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. Donora was incorporated in 1901. It got its name from a combination of William Donner and Nora Mellon, banker ...
, did not think he would become a baseball star; they considered his best sport to be football, where he was a star wide receiver. Griffey himself considered football to be his best sport, followed by
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
, and only then baseball. At times, he would even compete in track meets during baseball games, rushing up the hill between Donora High School's baseball field and track between at-bats when it came time for his track events. However, as his high school graduation in 1969 neared, he discovered his girlfriend was pregnant. He would soon be chosen by the Reds in the 1969 draft, signed with the organization, and married his girlfriend. After his first minor-league season, Ken Jr. was born. Though Griffey left Donora in 1972 as his professional career advanced, he retains close ties to the town, making frequent visits to this day.


MLB career

Griffey made his MLB debut on August 25, 1973, with the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
. That season, Griffey played in only 25 games, but batted .384 with three homers. The following season, Griffey saw more playing time with 88 games. In
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, Griffey began to break out with a .305 batting average with four home runs and 46 RBIs. Griffey's best season came in 1976, when he came just short of winning the batting title behind
Bill Madlock Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock, Jr. (born January 12, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1973 to 1987. Madlock is notable for being a four-time National League ...
of the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
. Griffey chose to sit out the final day of the season to protect his batting title and it came back to haunt him as Madlock collected four hits that same day. Griffey entered the game late after hearing the news, and went 0-for-2. Many baseball purists were disappointed in Griffey (and perhaps more so in his manager,
Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...
, for choosing to sit him out to gain an individual accolade). Griffey finished with a career high .336. He also finished eighth in the
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
voting, and was named to '' The Sporting News''
National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
All-Star team. The Reds would win their second consecutive
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Wor ...
title in 1976, but that year also marked the beginning of the end of their " Big Red Machine" phase. In the next four seasons, Griffey batted .318, .288, .316, and .294 with a total of 43 home runs. In Griffey's final season of his first stint with the Reds, the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, he batted .311 with only two home runs and 34 RBIs. After the 1981 season, Griffey (along with most of the remaining members of The Big Red Machine) was shipped out. Griffey was sent to the New York Yankees, where he played from 1982 to 1986 as a utility player at first base and outfield. Injuries plagued Griffey, who hit .306 with 11 homers and 46 RBIs in his best season with the Yankees. Tommy John thought Griffey was a better player on
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fields (like Riverfront Stadium) than natural grass fields (like Yankee Stadium). In 1986, Griffey was shipped out mid-season to the
Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bo ...
, where he played for only one full season. Griffey was traded back to Cincinnati in the middle of the 1988 season. He only spent the 1989 season with the Reds, and was then released in the middle of the Reds' championship 1990 season, signing with the Seattle Mariners to conclude the season, joining his son Ken Jr. By becoming teammates with his son, they became the first father and son to be teammates in Major League Baseball. Griffey didn't play in the 1990 World Series, but he got a ring anyway. He spent only one more season with the Mariners, in 1991, before retiring after 19 seasons. In 1,997 games, Griffey compiled a lifetime
batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
of .296, with 152 home runs and 859 RBI. Griffey was also the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 All-Star Game. In 2014, Griffey published his memoir ''Big Red: Baseball, Fatherhood, and My Life in the Big Red Machine'', in which he discussed his childhood, formative years, professional career with both the Reds and the Yankees, and his relationships with friends and family.


The Griffeys

Joseph "Buddy" Griffey was a local athlete who was a teammate of
Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...
on the Donora High School baseball team. He was the father of Ken Griffey Sr. and the grandfather of Ken Griffey Jr. The Griffeys (Ken Sr. and Ken Jr.) became one of the first father-and-son tandems to play on the same Major League Baseball team. They played their first game together for the Seattle Mariners on August 31, 1990. On September 14, 1990, father and son hit back-to-back home runs in a game against the California Angels; this is the only time in major league history that this has happened. Griffey's younger son Craig played in the Mariners minor league system and appeared with his brother in the outfield during some
Cactus League Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
games. Craig Griffey retired from baseball after failing to make it past Triple-A, where he appeared in a handful of games with the Tacoma Rainiers. Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004, and now resides in Winter Garden, Florida. In 2010, Griffey was hired as the batting coach for the
Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. I ...
, the Reds' Single A minor league affiliate. In 2011, Griffey was named Manager of the Bakersfield Blaze, the Reds Single A affiliate of the California League. In 2014, Griffey was replaced by Pat Kelly. Griffey will remain in the organization as a roving instructor, focusing on hitting and bunting. His grandson
Trey Griffey George Kenneth "Trey" Griffey III (born January 19, 1994) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the University of Arizona. He is the son of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Amateur caree ...
went undrafted in the
2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...
, and spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...
.


Personal life

Griffey is married to Valarie Griffey. He is the father of Hall of Fame outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and former minor league player Craig Griffey. The family lived in
Beckett Ridge, Ohio Beckett Ridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,192 at the 2020 census. History Beckett Ridge began as a planned community in the 1970s. Beckett Ridge occupies ...
.Profile of a Cincinnati star
Retrieved 2018-05-16.
He is also the grandfather of
Trey Griffey George Kenneth "Trey" Griffey III (born January 19, 1994) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the University of Arizona. He is the son of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. Amateur caree ...
, a former wide receiver in the NFL. He and his elder son Ken Jr. share the same birth town as
Baseball Hall of Famer The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...
Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...
. Ken Jr. also shares the same birthday as Musial, November 21.


See also

* List of second-generation Major League Baseball players * List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders * List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders *
List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders In baseball statistics, a stolen base is credited to a baserunner when he successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is throwing the ball to home plate. Under Rule 7.01 of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Official Rules, a runner acqu ...


References


External links


Ken Griffey Sr.
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffey, Ken Sr. 1950 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves players Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds players Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Gulf Coast Reds players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders National League All-Stars New York Yankees players People from Donora, Pennsylvania People from West Chester, Butler County, Ohio People from Winter Garden, Florida Seattle Mariners coaches Seattle Mariners players Sioux Falls Packers players Sportspeople from Pennsylvania Tampa Tarpons (1957–1987) players Trois-Rivières Aigles players United States national baseball team people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople