In the 1995 ALDS, he became just the second player in major league history to hit five home runs in a single postseason series (Reggie Jackson of the Yankees in the 1977 World Series is the other).
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Nicknamed “The Kid”, Griffey’s timeless swing and grace in the outfield made him one of the most exciting and popular players in baseball history, and he once again thrilled fans during his ceremony in Cooperstown, New York. “I’m (dang) proud to be a Seattle Mariner”.
“That really wasn’t my idea (ending his speech by putting on a backward hat)”, said Griffey Jr. “I could look at anybody else and go, ‘All right, I’m good.’ I think those three are the only ones that can do that to me”. I was like ‘Let’s go, we’ve got this, we’ve got this.’ We were talking like we were going out to play.
“To my dad, who taught me how to play this game – but more importantly, he taught me how to be a man. How to work hard”.
A 13-time All-Star selection and 10-time Gold Glove Award victor, Griffey hit 630 home runs, sixth all-time, and drove in 1,836 runs. Griffey later met the Marino children when the Reds played the Mets in NY in July 2002.
“Greatest teammate I ever had”, Griffey said, per Baseball Hall.
“The only way I thought I’d be here with you is if I bought a ticket.”
“Now it’s time to smell the roses”. Griffey was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 draft, while the Dodgers selected Piazza with the 1,390th overall pick in 1988. “I’ll never forget the first time I witnessed your skills”.
“I remember everybody saying “Don’t look down at your kids, don’t look down at your kids” until you have to”, Griffey said.
Griffey, meanwhile, said he lost track of how many times he cried during his speech.
The latter half of his career – following his demand to be traded and landing with the Cincinnati Reds, his father’s former team – included hamstring tears, knee and ankle tendon ruptures and a dislocated shoulder that limited him to an average of less than 80 games per year from 2001-2004.
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Regarding the home run he hit in the first game in NY after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Piazza was as gracious as could be, thanking the first responders and calling on the country to always fight to defeat the kind of evil that brought the Twin Towers down. The highest figure, estimated at over 80,000 was in 2007 when Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were enshrined. The leading returning candidates are Jeff Bagwell, who garnered 71.6 percent of the vote in 2016, and Tim Raines, who received 69.8 percent of the vote.
