Ken Griffey Jr. Marquee Hall of Fame 2016

b. November 21, 1969 · Seattle Mariners 1989–1999, 2009–2010, Cincinnati Reds 2000–2008, Chicago White Sox 2008

Seattle brought him up at 19 in 1989 and he played center field there for eleven seasons, winning a Gold Glove in every one of them from 1990 on. In 1997 he led the American League in home runs with 56, in runs batted in with 147, and in runs with 125, and was named Most Valuable Player. He hit 56 again in 1998.

Cincinnati, where his father had played, traded for him in 2000, and he hit 40 home runs in his first season with the Reds. Then the injuries: 111 games in 2001, 70 in 2002, 53 in 2003, 83 in 2004. He never reached 40 home runs again and never won another Gold Glove.

He and his father were Seattle teammates in 1990 and 1991. He went back to the Mariners in 2009 and finished with 2,781 hits. He was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, the town Stan Musial came from, and the Hall of Fame elected him in 2016 with 437 of 440 votes, the largest share any player had drawn to that point.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	13	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
Gold Glove	10	1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Player of the Week	8	1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007
The Sporting News All-Star	8	1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005
Silver Slugger	7	1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Player of the Month	2	1990, 1997
All-Star Game MVP	1	1992
Comeback Player of the Year	1	2005
MLB Players Choice Comeback Player	1	2005
MLB Players Choice Outstanding Player	1	1997
Most Valuable Player	1	1997
The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year	1	2005
The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year	1	1997

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1989	SEA	127	455	61	120	23	0	16	61	44	83	16	.264
1990	SEA	155	597	91	179	28	7	22	80	63	81	16	.300
1991	SEA	154	548	76	179	42	1	22	100	71	82	18	.327
1992	SEA	142	565	83	174	39	4	27	103	44	67	10	.308
1993	SEA	156	582	113	180	38	3	45	109	96	91	17	.309
1994	SEA	111	433	94	140	24	4	40	90	56	73	11	.323
1995	SEA	72	260	52	67	7	0	17	42	52	53	4	.258
1996	SEA	140	545	125	165	26	2	49	140	78	104	16	.303
1997	SEA	157	608	125	185	34	3	56	147	76	121	15	.304
1998	SEA	161	633	120	180	33	3	56	146	76	121	20	.284
1999	SEA	160	606	123	173	26	3	48	134	91	108	24	.285
2000	CIN	145	520	100	141	22	3	40	118	94	117	6	.271
2001	CIN	111	364	57	104	20	2	22	65	44	72	2	.286
2002	CIN	70	197	17	52	8	0	8	23	28	39	1	.264
2003	CIN	53	166	34	41	12	1	13	26	27	44	1	.247
2004	CIN	83	300	49	76	18	0	20	60	44	67	1	.253
2005	CIN	128	491	85	148	30	0	35	92	54	93	0	.301
2006	CIN	109	428	62	108	19	0	27	72	39	78	0	.252
2007	CIN	144	528	78	146	24	1	30	93	85	99	6	.277
2008	CHW/CIN	143	490	67	122	30	1	18	71	78	89	0	.249
2009	SEA	117	387	44	83	19	0	19	57	63	80	0	.214
2010	SEA	33	98	6	18	2	0	0	7	9	17	0	.184
Career	—	2671	9801	1662	2781	524	38	630	1836	1312	1779	184	.284

On this day & linked events

1969

Born November 21, 1969

Donora, PA, USA

1989

Major-league debut: Ken Griffey

Ken Griffey made a major-league debut on April 3, 1989.

1996

Ken Griffey Jr.'s Three-Home-Run Game, 1996

Ken Griffey Jr. hit three home runs for the Seattle Mariners against the New York Yankees on May 24, 1996.

1997

Ken Griffey Jr.'s Three-Home-Run Game, 1997

Ken Griffey Jr. hit three home runs for the Seattle Mariners against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 25, 1997.

2010

Final major-league game: Ken Griffey

Ken Griffey played a final major-league game on May 31, 2010.

Image: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0