Ranking the Center Fielders Joe DiMaggio made playing center field for the New York Yankees cool. He was graceful and he was a winner (10 pennants in 13 seasons), and helped establish the Yankee mystique. Switch-hitting Mickey Mantle combined power and speed in ways no one ever had before. Other great Yankee center fielders…
Ken Griffey, Jr. is elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA with the highest percentage of votes ever – 99.3%. Joining him in this year’s class is Mike Piazza, who makes it on his fourth attempt. Griffey is the first #1 overall draft pick to make the Hall, while Piazza is the lowest pick (62nd round).
In his first game back from the DL after suffering a torn right testicle when a bad hop grounder hit him in the groin last month, Adri�n Beltre hears the The Nutcracker Suite when he steps into the batter’s box. Mariner teammate Ken Griffey Jr. arranged to have the Safeco Field PA system play the waltz to have some fun with the third baseman, who decided not wear a protective cup until today’s game.
In front of a sold-out crowd at the Metrodome, Ken Griffey, Jr. hits a record-tying eighth Opening Day home run in his first game back with the Mariners since being traded before the start of the 2000 season. The “Kid’s” historic home run, a sixth-inning blast off Francisco Liriano, ties him with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, who established the mark playing for the Indians in 1975 during his first at-bat as major league baseball’s first black manager.
On June 9, 2008. Reds’ center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 600th home run, a 2 run shot in the first inning off left hander Mark Hendrickson. the Red’s will win the game 9-4. The 2 run shot traveled 413 feet into the right field seats, Jr will say, “I don’t think I touched…
Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 200th home run as a member of the Cincinnati Reds. He becomes the fourth player in major league history to hit 300 for one team and 200 with another. Preceding him are Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jimmie Foxx.
On April 15, 2007, on the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s debut, the entire Dodger team wears uniform #42 in his honor. At least one player on each MLB team wears #42, after Ken Griffey Jr. had asked commissioner Bud Selig for permission to do so. In Oakland, Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, who is the only major leaguer still grandfathered in to wear #42, allows a three-run walk-off homer to Marco Scutaro of the A’s.
At Petco Park in his first at-bat of the season, Kaz Matsui hits an inside-the-park round tripper, making it the third successive season in which the Mets second baseman has hit a home run in his initial plate appearance of the year. Ken Griffey Jr. also accomplished the feat starting in 1997 with the Mariners but had walked before going deep.
2002 – The Reds and Padres reach an agreement to trade Ken Griffey, Jr. for Phil Nevin, but Nevin, with a no-trade clause in his contract, nixes the deal. He says he will only agree to a trade to a West Coast team that trains in Arizona. Griffey tore a tendon in his knee during the first week of last season, setting up another season limited by leg injuries. He also pulled a hamstring and strained hip muscles, limiting him to 70 games, a .264 average, eight homers and 23 RBIs. In a week, the White Sox will turn down an offer of Griffey for Magglio Ordonez.
The Reds defeat the Cardinals, 5 – 4, on Ken Griffey, Jr.’s 11th-inning inside-the-park home run. The “run-off” home run breaks the Cardinals’ 11-game winning streak. The Cards, who also won 10 in a row in May, are the first team since the 1978 Pirates to post a pair of double-digit win streaks in the same season.