The Kid and how he changed my life

You know today at 3 PM Ken Griffey, Jr., will become the first unanimous Hall of Famer in Major League Baseball history. But you know, Jr didn't just dazzle fans with his amazing talent, his ability to catch damn near every baseball hit his way, or his beautiful swing that swatted 630 home runs, but he made me the Mariners fan and a lover of sports and a sports writer/podcaster all in one day.

Back in 1994 my family and I were just moving back to Washington after living in California for about 2 years, so my grandma decided to bring me into the living room one day and made me watch the Seattle Mariners game that was being broadcast. It changed my life. For that day I saw The Kid smack two of his 630 home runs and after watching him make a couple of dazzling plays in center field I knew then that I wanted to be like Jr.

Now back in the early 90s you would probably hear kids say that they wanted to "be like Michael Jordan", hell no! For me I "wanted to be like Ken Griffey, Jr.!". It would be a whole year till I got to see my first professional baseball game live inside, to what at the time I considered my 2nd home, the Kingdome. That night I witnessed Jr hit a towering 420 ft home run that helped the Mariners win.

During 1995 I got to enjoy not just one but several other magical games, including Game's 4 and 5 of the American League Division Series. I have my dad to thank for that, I mean come on what dad would pull his 5 year old out of kindergarten to play hooky and go watch the Mariners kick ass? THE BEST DAD THAT'S WHAT!!!

1995 came to a heart-breaking end when the Mariners lost in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series to the Cleveland Indians (I hate them forever). Imagine a 5 year old being held by his grandmother and crying more than Joey Cora did! That though wasn't the end of my heart break, the Mariners have been breaking my heart for years in the postseason, but that's not my point. My point I'm making here and also talking about is how Ken Griffey, Jr., became my idol, hero, and the reason for me being the struggling sports writer/podcaster right now and a die hard Mariners fan and sports lover.

I will say this, I may have been a Mariners fan but every time Jr stepped up to the plate I always got more and more excited. During 1997 I think I witnessed at least 20 of his historic and Mariners franchise record 56 home runs and that season was his only (really should have been his 3rd or 4th) MVP.

Then came 1999, the end of the Kingdome. Like most historic games in the Kingdome from 1995-99 I was there for the curtain call, the final game! Where Jr did not fail in giving me and 50,000+ one more final Jr Kingdome home run. And boy did that home run feel good to watch in person! Then came Safeco Field. By far the most beautiful ballpark in baseball where Jr's power seem to fade but I still got to see his first ever Safeco Field home run and 3 others I didn't think life was any better. Then came that faithful day in 2000 where I wake up and find out that Jr, my idol, has been traded to the Cincinnati Reds. As a 10 year old I started balling my little eyes out and I was this close from never cheering for the Mariners again and giving up on baseball as well.

Thankfully my dad and my mom suggested that I write a letter to Jr, what can I say? I was one desperate 10 year old trying to keep my favorite player in Seattle by simply writing a letter. 3 weeks after sending the letter off I got a response from Jr, not really but again I was 10, stupid and very easy to fool, but again getting a letter with the thought of Jr writing to me telling me not to give up on Mariners baseball and to keep supporting the team through anything made me not give up on baseball, Jr, and the Mariners. They say Griffey saved Mariners baseball for Seattle well he saved Mariners baseball for me.

So, guess what every time I saw the Reds on TV I was watching every time Jr stepped to the plate, and believe me I only watched it when Jr was at the plate and that's it. So you can imagine my surprise come 2001 when my dad tells me that me and my family are going to Atlanta to watch the Braves play, you guessed it the Reds! I got to enjoy a new ballpark and the joy of Braves baseball while watching my favorite player of all time in a different uniform.

And come on lets face it most Mariners fans somewhat like the Braves due to Braves baseball on TBS in the 90s right? RIGHT! And then came the year that Jr made his return to Seattle and who was there for those 3 games? ME! And in the final game Jr decided to really give the fans something to cheer for by hitting 2 home runs and his 2nd pushed him past Mark McGwire!

Year after year went by and I watch Jr hit his 400th, 500th, and 600th home run wearing a different uniform, till 2009 came and the news came in that Jr was coming back to Seattle! That season I attended at least 20 games, and Jr homered in 10 of those. Its funny, but in perhaps the 70 games that I have gone to where Ken Griffey, Jr., played he's hit a home run in at least 60 of those games! I will also say that I have the privilege of seeing Jr's final hit, at bat, and swing in both a Mariners uniform and for the final time in his 22 major league career.

22 years of greatest and I witnessed 18 of those great years. Come this August I will be going to Cooperstown, New York for what I am calling the final Ken Griffey, Jr., curtain call for me and watch him be inducted to the baseball Hall of Fame and come today he will be the first player in history to have 100% of the votes. Now think about this, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron never received 90% of the votes.....Jr is doing something no player in history has done! Funny even when Jr's sitting at home he's still setting records and amazing us all.

I want to take this time to thank the Seattle Mariners, who drafted the greatest baseball player of all time. Its thanks to this organization that brought so much joy to my life and to thousands of fans as well, and the Mariners and Jr not only made me a fan of baseball but made me the sports fan that I am today. I would also like to thank Jr for making millions of kids into fans of baseball and also bringing the joy of America's past time into their lives as well as mine.

Finally I want to thank Ken Griffey Jr., who made this post responsible, the man who dazzled us with Spider-Man like catches, mammoth home runs, and who brought a smile to our faces just by smiling himself. I want to thank Ken Griffey, Jr., for making me the man and sports writer/podcaster I am today. If it wasn't for you this never would have happened and I want to say thank you. Thank you Jr, I hope one day I can sit down and have a conversation with you and talk about your illustrious career.

Thank you Ken Griffey, Jr.

Flashback Friday: The Kid

In 1994 I had just moved back to Washington after spending 2 years in California. It was spring time when me and my mom and dad moved back so baseball was about to start. Now, when I moved back I didn't know anyone and I didn't have any interests in anything so I was one of those shy kids. At the time of the move back to Washington spring training had started for the Mariners and at the time I was not into sports of any kind, but one day my grandma called me into the living room and she sat me down and turned onto the first Mariners game of the 1994 season. 

Now for the first three games I didn't show any interest in the team but the fourth game of the year changed my life forever. In the top of the fourth inning a young slugger by the name of Ken Griffey, Jr., stepped in and drove a deep drive for his first homerun of the season, when I saw that homerun hit with the sweetest swing in baseball I immediately fell in love not with just the Seattle Mariners but with Ken Griffey, Jr. Now, Griffey made me love the game of baseball even more in the top of the seventh inning by hitting another sweet swing homerun of the year. Unfortunately the Mariners lost the game 8-6 but I was instantly hooked on the team.

The 1994 baseball season was cut short due to the players strike but after that year I would become not just a fan of the Mariners but a fan of the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Supersonics. I had the privilege of watching my first Seahawks game with my grandmother as well and got to see them dominate the Washington Redskins 28-7! The Supersonics did the same thing to me in their first game as I got to watch both Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp beat the Utah Jazz 110-101. My love for sports grew so much in one year and every since 1994 I have not stopped loving the game of baseball, football, or basketball. 

1995 would see my love for the Mariners reach a new height, I watch the team go to their first playoff series in their franchise history but I also attended the team's home opener. That first game would be amazing for me being a 5 year old, when Griffey came up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning I cheered my loudest and told my dad that Griffey would hit his first homerun of the year and Jr., didn't disappoint as he hit a 3-run homerun to put the M's up 3-0 on the Detroit Tigers and Randy Johnson also dealt an incredible game throwing 6 innings of shutout baseball and striking out 8 batters.

The scare of my young life came in that game where Griffey raced to make one of the greatest catches of his career but on that play Griffey broke his left wrist and would be sidelined for 72 games. Once Griffey made his return the Mariners pulled together to make a late season surge to take their first American League West title. The 1995 Division Series was just as nerve racking as the season was but as a 5 year old you would think that I wouldn't pay much attention but your dead wrong, my eyes were glued to the screen and everything my grandmother did I did. Going into Game 3 we were worried that we would be swepted by the New York Yankees, but that would not be the case. The Mariners made sure that they would continue their new slogan "Refuse To Lose" and came back from a 2-0 deficit in the series and won the series to move on to their first American League Championship Series against the winningest team in baseball that year the Cleveland Indians. The Mariners would lose in 6 games.

The 95 season would see the Seahawks finish 8-8 but would see the Sonics go 66-14 and would lose in the NBA Finals in 6 games to the 72-10 Chicago Bulls.

Now the blog is named The Kid for a reason, because Ken Griffey, Jr., was the reason I got into sports. From 96-99 season I attended 100 games in the Kingdome and I also attended the final Kingdome game where Griffey would hit one more homerun in the beloved stadium. Griffey was not just a player to me, he was a God and he was then and still my favorite player and hero. When I played on a baseball team I made sure I was the first one to snatch up the number 24 and I continued to wear that number with every baseball team I played for. When Jr., was traded away to Cincinnati I was devastated and I wrote him a letter telling him he was the reason I watched Mariners baseball, and he actually wrote me back saying in the letter "I appreciate your letter and your interest in baseball. Because of the thousands of letters I receive each week, it is not possible to respond to each one personally. I am enclosing you a special baseball card, and hope that you enjoy following the Mariners and Major League Baseball. Best wishes from your hero Ken Griffey Jr." After I received that letter I told myself to not to continue loving the Mariners but to also following him as his career continued in Cincinnati.

The 2000 Mariners season saw Mike Cameron make plays that made me just love the Mariners still and the team made a great American League Wild Card champion run in the playoffs by sweeping the Chicago White Sox but falling to the Yankees in the ALCS. Griffey had a terrific 2000 batting .271 slugging out 40 homeruns and batting in 118 RBIs. Over the next 4 years would see Jr.'s superstardom decline as the injuries crept up on the aging superstar. 2004 would see Griffey hit his 500th homerun of his career on Father's Day. 2005 would see Griffey renew his career by hitting 35 homeruns and driving in 85 RBIs and winning the National League Comeback Player of the Year. 2006 would see Griffey play well again and he would play for Team USA in the first World Baseball Classic, as he batted .524 and hit 3 homeruns but the USA failed to make the semifinals, Griffey would make the All WBC Team and would finish tied for the most RBIs in the tournament with 10. 

The regular season Griffey would hit 27 homeruns and drive in 72 RBIs. After both the 2007 and 2008 season the Mariners announced the signing of Griffey and as I knew this day would come again I celebrated all night. I attended 18 games that year at Safeco Field and I was able to watch Griffey hit 8 homeruns in those 18 games, he would finish the year off 19 homeruns. The next year Griffey signed again with the team but it would turn out to be the worst season of his career as he would not hit any homeruns and batted a mediocre .184, in the middle of the season Griffey just left the state of Washington and announce that his career was done.

It was a sad day when my hero retired, I admit that I did cry knowing that I would not see that sweet swing anymore. Ken Griffey, Jr., was not just a player to me, he was an inspiration, he was a terrific athlete, he was my hero, and he is the reason that I have a great love of baseball and sports. If I never would've watched that one game in 1994 I don't think I would've never gotten into sports or have a love for the Seattle teams. So to Ken Griffey, Jr., I want to thank you for being that one inspiration I needed to develop such a love for the Seattle Mariners, the Seattle Seahawks, the Seattle SuperSonics, and for getting me involved in playing sports.

Thank you Jr., for everything that you have done for me. For making me fall in love with the game of baseball and for making me a Seattle Mariners fan.