KEN GRIFFEY, JR.

BASEBALL STAR

Ken Griffey, Jr., has become one of the biggest stars in baseball, and a hero to many young fans. He is a superb fielder, an excellent hitter, and a serious home run threat.

Griffey was born on November 21, 1969, in Donora, Pennsylvania, the same town as his father as well as Hall of Famer Stan Musial. His father was also a major league ball player, and they became the first father and son to both play in the Majors at the same time in 1989, the father with the Cincinnati Reds, and the son with the Seattle Mariners. On August 30, 1990, they were the first father-son combination to ever appear in the same lineup.

He had great teaching from the Major League players when he hung out around the ball park with his dad, but his dad was his best tutor. Griffey was a star from the time he played Little League, and everyone saw his great potential very early. He was, of course, a star in high school, and was a sure bet to be the first player chosen in the baseball draft. The Seattle Mariners got the honors, and it was assumed that Griffey would not spend long in the minor leagues. His first year in the minors was disappointing, and at the end of the season Griffey almost ended his career. However, he recovered and soon was promoted to the majors, where he quickly began setting records.

Among Griffey's awards are Player of the Year in 1986 and 1987, the All-Star MVP in 1992, and the unanimous selection for the American League MVP in 1997. Griffey hit 56 home runs in 1997, and became the fourth-youngest player to hit 250 career home runs and the youngest to hit 300 homers. He has also won 8 straight Gold Glove Awards for fielding excellence. And Griffey would certainly continue his outstanding career for years to come if he had not sustained a series of injuries. In 2000, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, and for a great part of the time since then he has been playing injured or totally out of action. Out for the rest of the 2004 season, he will have missed 43 percent of the games since joining the Reds. A very disappointing eries of events for what looked like one of baseball's immortals.