The class of 2016 included arguably the best hitting catcher of all time, Mike Piazza, and one of the game’s most exciting players, Ken Griffey Jr. “I’m … proud to be a Seattle Mariner”, he said. If you’re nervous on the putting green, it’s a reliable indication you’ll have jitters on your first drive.
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Tom Mooney was rather impressed by Junior, but one of the most intriguing parts of his report is when he states that Griffey “will drop his hands with a slight hitch and a tendency to uppercut”.
Griffey’s tears weren’t evidence that he lacks valor.
“He taught me how to play this game, but more importantly, he taught me how to be a man”, said Griffey, who failed hopelessly and delightfully his pre-speech prediction of coolness. “But fans had come from all over”.
No, it was his family – particularly his three children, Trey, Taryn and Tevin – sitting front and center that was the culprit. Not quite – Griffey’s Nike Swingman logo, a silhouette of the signature follow-through on his regal, majestic swing, can be seen in different positions on it. “How to work hard, how to look at yourself in the mirror each day, and not worry about what other people are doing. If Griffy made it, I was going to be there” said David Rush, Seattle Mariners fan. “Don’t do that?’ And you do it anyway?” Every password I have involves the number 24 or Griffey.
“Would I do it all over again?”
There were about 50,000 people at the ceremony, but at times, each dad felt that his son was speaking directly and privately to him.
One of the career highlights Mike Piazza recalled in his speech was catching Al Leiter’s one-hitter in the one-game playoff against the Reds in 1999.
“Looking out today at the sea of all the blue and orange brings back the greatest time of my life, you guys are serious” said Mike Piazza.
Ken Griffey Sr. on Thursday said the backward hat started when his son was either 5 or 7. He also was the American League MVP in 1997.
“I want to thank my family, my friends, the fans, the Reds, the White Sox and the Mariners”, Griffey said before pausing as his voice broke, “for making this kid’s dream come true”.
Piazza’s Phoenixville roots didn’t go unnoticed in his eloquent induction speech Sunday.
Griffey noted that numerous 48 Hall of Famers on hand for the ceremony were not anxious to hear him ramble on an uncomfortably hot, muggy afternoon, “and you don’t want the Hall of Famers at your back throwing stuff at you”.
When Griffey was elected earlier this year, there was some speculation that his plaque would have a backwards cap, though that did not happen. It was Frank Thomas’ idea.
Griffey said he lost track of how many times he cried during his speech.
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That it did, culminating a momentous event more stressful than Griffey envisioned.
