“Ken Griffey Jr. was the first player selected in the 1987 draft, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, the first player in Hall of Fame history to amass over 99 percent of the vote and the first player to wear a Mariners cap on his Hall of Fame plaque”, Mather said.
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He almost made a clean sweep in Hall of Fame voting.
Griffey Jr. was elected into the Hall of Fame Wednesday with a record percentage of the vote (99.3) and just confirmed Thursday that he would wear a Mariners hat on his plaque. Over his 17 seasons in the AL East, Mussina never won a Cy Young or World Series but was a symbol of consistency in the most hard division in baseball.
“He actually fined me for missing curfew”, Griffey said.
“Forward”, he declared before pausing.
There were stories and good humor Thursday, a day after the two were elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
There had been speculation Griffey could become the first unanimous selection.
The actual induction ceremony won’t be held until this Summer, but, nonetheless, congratulations are certainly in order for Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza.
Mike Piazza is entering the Hall of Fame as a New York Met. He spent eight of his 16 seasons with the Mets after starting his career with seven years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mariners announced they will retire Griffey’s No. 24 throughout the organization as part of Ken Griffey Jr. weekend on August 5-7.
“You’re going to look at numbers and things like that”, Griffey said.
At one point, I actually cheered for the majority of the players I just mentioned – as a matter of fact, the home run chase between McGwire and Sosa in 1998 was one of the high points in the history of baseball at the time – but I have no sympathy for players who have cheated the game. After almost a decade of playing for the team his father spent most of his career playing for, he returned to Seattle during a two-season farewell tour in 2009 and 2010.
Former Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr.is greeted by team staff members on his arrival before a news conference Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in Seattle.
The holidays are over, and Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is back in the swing with some new roster moves. Like every other 20-year-old, it was like no big deal.
“We’re looking forward to seeing Ryan in a Mariners uniform”, Dipoto said. He’s a trailblazer in more ways than one.
“His presence enhances both our bullpen depth and overall upside”. He remained with NY through 2005, hitting a memorable go-ahead home-run in the first game in the city following the 2001 terrorist attacks, then finished with San Diego in 2006 and Oakland the following year.
Boston acquired Cook in a July 31 deal, but he fared even worse, allowing 14 runs in 4 1/3 innings over five outings.
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The Mariners also released right-handed pitcher Anthony Bass to allow him to pursue an opportunity to pitch in Japan.
