MLB Hall of Fame: 5 best moments of Ken Griffey Jr.’s career

Ken Griffey Jr. will have his Hall of Fame Induction on Sunday, and here are five of the greatest moments from his incredible career.

Whether you called him “The Kid,” or “Junior,” Ken Griffey Jr. was a fan favorite during his time in the Major Leagues. For 22 seasons, Griffey blasted monster home runs, climbed walls, and seemed to make the ever frustrating game of baseball look easy.

Griffey was drafted as the first overall selection of the 1987 draft by the Seattle Mariners, and by the time his career was over, he would become arguably the greatest player of his generation. Earlier this year, Griffey was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, garnering 99.32% of the vote, which broke Tom Seaver’s record of 98.84%.

It was a fitting tribute to a player who loved the game of baseball, and whom the game of baseball loved back.

The son of Ken Griffey Sr., who himself had a great Major League career, Junior made his Major League debut at the young age of 19 years old in 1989. The next year he began a string of 11-straight All-Star Games, becoming an absolute superstar. In his first 11 seasons with the Mariners, Griffey hit 398 home runs, becoming the best player of the 1990s.

Prior to the 2000 season, Griffey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, which was his hometown team and the team he watched his father play for as a kid. Though he played well for the Reds, he was never quite the star he was in Seattle, and he was bitten by the injury bug often. Eventually he was moved off his centerfield position, and into right field, and by 2008, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox.

After short stint with the White Sox, Griffey made his way back to Seattle to finish his career. In total, Griffey put together one of the most impressive careers of any Major Leaguer, finishing with 630 home runs and almost 2,800 hits. His defensive prowess earned him a spot on the All-Time Rawlings Gold Glove team. Announced in 2007, it was a list made up of the nine best defensive players from the past 50 years.

Griffey had plenty of memorable moments in his career, and here are the top five.

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