In 1994, Ken Griffey Jr. broke Babe Ruth’s record for the most home runs by the end of June with a total of 31 home runs.Â
From 1989 until 2010, Griffey Jr. had a total of 9,801 At-bats, 630 Home Runs, 1,836 Runners Batted In, and 184 Stolen Bases. He had a batting average of .284, an on-base percentage, and a slugging percentage of .908.Â
Griffey Jr. played with the Seattle Mariners from 1989 until 1999 when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. He played one season with the Chicago White Sox in 2008 and was then traded back to the Seattle Mariners for his last two seasons until 2010.Â
He was a 9-time American League (AL) Player of the Week and two-time AL Player of the month. He was a 10-time AL All-Star and won the All-Star Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1992. He won the Rawlings AL Gold Glove 10 times and the AL Silver Slugger seven times. He won the Mariners MVP award six times and the MLB Players Choice AL Outstanding Player in 1997.Â
He was also named National League (NL) Player of the week once, and three-time NL All-Star. He was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year, MLB Players Choice NL Comeback Player, and was awarded the Reds Ernie Lombardi MVP and the Reds Joe Nuxhall Good Guy Award in 2005. He also won the MLB Rawlings All-Time Gold Glove in 2007 for his excellent career.Â
He was an eight-time participant in the Home Run Derby and three-time Home Run Derby Winner.Â
After retirement in 2010, Griffey Jr. was awarded the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award for his major impact on the sport of baseball in 2011, and in 2016, the Seattle Mariners retired his jersey. In 2016, Griffey Jr. was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame for his incredible 22-year-long baseball career.Â
Since his baseball-playing career ended, he has served as a Youth Ambassador for both MLB and MLB Players Association on their joint baseball development initiatives. He recently was named Senior Advisor to Commissioner Rob Manfred and currently works for him.
