Speakers Bio

Ken Griffey Sr.:



Griffey was introduced to Major League Baseball on August 25, 1973 with the Cincinnati Reds. 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, Griffey began to break out with a .305 batting average with four home runs and 46 RBIs. Griffey's greatest season came in 1976, when he came just short of winning the batting title.** He batted a career high .336, finished eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting, and was named to The Sporting News National League All-Star team. That 1976 in baseball, the Reds won their consecutive World Series title. Also, the season marked the end of The Big Red Machine in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team, which ended when Tony Perez left the team, consisted of greats such as Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench. In the next four seasons, Griffey batted .318, .288, .316, and .294 with a total of 43 home runs. In Griffey's final season as a Red, 1981, 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. In 1986, Griffey was shipped out mid-season to the Atlanta Braves, 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 traded to the Seattle Mariners in the middle of the Reds' championship 1990 season. Had he stayed for that full season, he would have been the only Reds' holdover from their previous World Series Championships in 1975-1976. He spent only one more season with the Mariners, in 1991, before retiring after 19 seasons.



In 2097 games, Griffey compiled a lifetime batting average of .296, with 152 home runs and 859 RBI. Griffey was also the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 All-Star Game.



When his son, Ken Jr., joined the Mariners in 1989, the Griffeys made history as the first father-and-son tandem to play Major League Baseball simultaneously. When Ken Sr. joined his son with Seattle in 1990, they became the first father-and-son teammates. He also hit back-to-back home runs with his son on September 14, 1990.



Griffey was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2004.