The player known as The Kid is the 67th inductee into the Baseball Hall of Immortals.
Ken Griffey Jr. was born to play baseball, or at least he was raised to play the game.
The son of an All-Star and World Series champion, Griffey made his debut with the Mariners on opening day in 1989 at the age of 19. In his very first at bat, Griffey doubled off Oakland Athletics starter Dave Stewart. So began an amazing 22-year career.
Beginning in his second season, Griffey was selected to 11 consecutive all-star teams. Along the way he won an MVP and finished in the top 10 in voting 6 other times.
A natural slugger, Griffey hit 20 or more homeruns in 15 of his 22 seasons, including 7 where he hit 40 or more. In 1997 and 1998 he led the league, hitting 56 homeruns each year.
More than just a slugger, Junior was one of the top centerfielders as well, winning 10 straight Gold Gloves.
When Griffey retired, he had 630 homeruns, almost 2,800 hits, more than 1,800 RBIs and just ner 1,700 runs scored.
A natural in every sense of the word, Ken Griffey Jr. is an Immortal.
