Outfielder, Seattle
Mariners
Age: 27
9th season
with Mariners
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’3” Weight: 195
Prior to 1997:
Son and
namesake of major league outfielder Ken Griffey, Griffey Jr. shared a
birthplace (Donora, Pa.) and birthday (Nov. 21) with Hall of Famer Stan Musial,
who was born 49 years earlier. He grew up spending time with his father in
major league clubhouses and starred at Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High
School, impressing with his speed, all-around hitting ability, and fielding.
The Mariners chose him first overall in the 1987 amateur draft. Griffey signed
for $160,000 and started out with Bellingham of the Short Season Class A
Northwest League where he hit .313 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs in 54 games.
Griffey moved on to San Bernardino of the Class A California League in 1988 and
in 58 games batted .338 with 11 home runs, 42 RBIs, and 32 stolen bases.
Promoted to Vermont of the Class AA Eastern League later in the season, he
appeared in 17 games and hit .279. Following an excellent Cactus League spring
training performance in 1989 he made the Mariners roster and started
immediately in center field at age 19. He missed a month of his rookie season
due to a broken right hand and ended up batting .264 with 16 home runs and 61
RBIs, placing third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. In August of 1990 Griffey
was joined by his father on the Mariners, who had just been released by
Cincinnati at age 40. They became the first father-son teammates in major
league history. “Junior” hit .300 with 22 home runs and 80 RBIs and was an
All-Star for the first time as well as receiving a Gold Glove for his
outstanding outfield play. The progress continued each year and through 1996
Griffey had compiled a .302 batting average with 238 home runs and 725 RBIs. He
had reached 40 home runs three times, including the strike-shortened 1994
season when he led the AL with 40, and he had hit 49 in ’96. He had also
compiled four 100-RBI seasons, including 140 in ’96, and was a seven-time
All-Star and Gold Glove recipient. Griffey also finished second in AL MVP
voting in 1994 and fourth in ’96. His only major injury had been a broken wrist
suffered while making a backhanded catch in 1995 that cost him 73 games. The
Mariners were a steadily improving team that finished first in the AL West in
’95 and advanced to the ALCS. Griffey hit .364 in the 11 postseason games with
6 home runs and 9 RBIs. In the offseason he became major league baseball’s
highest-paid player as he signed a four-year contract worth $34 million.
1997 Season Summary
Appeared in 157
games
CF – 153, DH –
4, LF – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 704 [6]
At Bats – 608 [11]
Runs – 125 [1]
Hits – 185 [6]
Doubles – 34
Triples – 3
Home Runs – 56
[1]
RBI – 147 [1]
Bases on Balls
– 76 [16, tied with Geronimo Berroa & Matt Lawton]
Int. BB – 23 [1]
Strikeouts – 121
[14, tied with Brian Hunter]
Stolen Bases – 15
Caught Stealing
– 4
Average - .304
[15]
OBP - .382 [16,
tied with Jeromy Burnitz]
Slugging Pct. -
.646 [1]
Total Bases – 393
[1]
GDP – 12
Hit by Pitches
– 8 [12, tied with four others]
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 12
[2, tied with Jeff King & Paul Molitor]
League-leading
runs scored were +3 ahead of runner-up Nomar Garciaparra
League-leading
home runs were +12 ahead of runner-up Tino Martinez
League-leading
RBIs were +6 ahead of runner-up Tino Martinez
League-leading
int. bases on balls were +6 ahead of runner-up Mo Vaughn
League-leading
slugging pct. was +.035 ahead of runner-up Frank Thomas
League-leading
total bases were +28 ahead of runner-up Nomar Garciaparra
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 5 AB) at Chi. WS 8/17, (in 4 AB) vs. San Diego 9/1
Longest hitting
streak – 8 games
HR at home – 27
HR on road – 29
Most home runs,
game – 3 (in 5 AB) at Toronto 4/25
Multi-HR games
– 8
Most RBIs, game
– 4 on seven occasions
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 403
Put Outs – 388
Assists – 9
Errors – 6
DP – 3
Pct. - .985
Postseason
Batting: 4 G (ALDS vs. Baltimore)
PA – 16, AB –
15, R – 0, H – 2, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 2, BB – 1, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB –
2, CS – 0, AVG - .133, OBP - .188, SLG -.133, TB – 2, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0,
SF – 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star (Started
for AL in CF)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Ken Griffey Jr,
Sea.: 392 pts. - 28 of 28 first place votes, 100% share
Tino Martinez,
NYY.: 248 pts. – 63% share
Frank Thomas,
ChiWS.: 172 pts. – 44% share
Randy Myers,
Balt.: 128 pts. – 33% share
David Justice,
Clev.: 90 pts. – 23% share
---
Mariners went 90-72
to finish first in the AL Western Division by 6 games over the Anaheim Angels
while leading the league in runs scored (925), home runs (264), and slugging
(.485). Lost ALDS to the Baltimore Orioles, 3 games to 1.
Aftermath of ‘97:
Griffey
followed up with another 56-home run season in 1998 to go along with 146 RBIs
and a .284 batting average. He placed fourth in AL MVP voting and led the
league one more time in home runs in 1999 with 48. In 2000 he was traded to the
Cincinnati Reds for four players and the Reds signed him to a nine-year, $112.5
million contract. Returning to his home town Griffey had a typically strong season
with 40 home runs, 118 RBIs, and a .271 batting average while hindered by a
sore hamstring. He was limited by injury to 111 games in 2001 and batted .286
with 22 home runs and 65 RBIs. A knee injury that required surgery held him to
just 70 games in 2002 and an ankle injury that also required surgery limited
Griffey to 53 games in 2003. Further injury trouble struck in 2004 but he
returned in 2005 to receive Comeback Player of the Year honors after appearing
in 128 games and batting .301 with 35 home runs and 92 RBIs. He followed up by
hitting .252 in 109 games in 2006 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs and had one
last 30-home run season with Cincinnati in 2007. During the 2008 season Griffey
was dealt to the Chicago White Sox and altogether for the year hit 18 home
runs, compiled 71 RBIs, and batted .249. A free agent following the season, he
returned to Seattle for the last two years of his career in 2009 and ’10.
Overall in the major leagues, Griffey batted .284 with 2781 hits that included
524 doubles, 38 triples, and 630 home runs. With Seattle the numbers were a
.292 batting average with 1843 hits, breaking down to 341 doubles, 30 triples,
and 417 home runs. He also compiled totals of 1662 runs, 1836 RBIs, and 184
stolen bases, with 113 runs, 1216 RBIs, and 167 stolen bases occurring while
with the Mariners. He was a 13-time All-Star (10 with Seattle and 3 with the
Reds) and was awarded 10 Gold Gloves (all with the Mariners) and 7 Silver
Sluggers (also with Seattle only). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
with a record 99.32 % of the vote in 2016. The Mariners retired his #24 and he was
also inducted into Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall
of Fame.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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