Griffey, Piazza Make Cooperstown Hat Choices

It will be the first time in the team’s 39-year history that a Mariners’ player will have his number retired.

In fact, Griffey received a higher percentage of votes than any other player in history – he appeared on 437 of 440 ballots, good for a percentage of 99.3 in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot – almost becoming the first-ever unanimous selection.

The Mariners had a surprise for him.

While such conversations are repeated countless times daily across the country, when Ken Griffey Jr. revealed his career aspirations, it was in Yankee Stadium, where his father was in the midst of his Major League Baseball career. Weekend in Seattle set to take place August 5-7.

When the pair arrives to Cooperstown, N.Y., for its induction on July 24, it will be the first time Griffey visits the baseball museum.

Ken Griffey Jr. will go into the Hall of Fame with a Seattle Mariners’ cap and Mike Piazza will have a New York Mets’ hat.

Yes, Griffey had his best years with the Seattle Mariners, along with stretches with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. It will be retired throughout the organization for every minor league team.

The press also asked how he felt about the Mariners retiring his number. I went 1-for-17.

“I think I did most of my damage as a Mariner, ” Griffey said. Four players wore No. 24 prior to Reynolds.

It is a sentimental honor that isn’t without coincidence or meaning to Griffey. He slugged 35 home runs and earned an All-Star Game nod in his first full season in 1993.

Beyond his athletic prowess, Junior made baseball matter again in Seattle.

Would MLB be the multi-billion dollar industry it is today after the devastating 1994/95 player strike had it not been for McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s “run for 61” and other such exhilarating moments that captivated people and brought them back to the sport?

Griffey’s respect for those that came before him in the game has always been one of his most admirable qualities.

“If he didn’t do what he did, maybe none of this would have been possible”, Griffey said of Robinson. If [Robinson] didn’t do what he did, who knows if any of this is happening?

Griffey is the only Mariner to wear that number since it was issued to him as a rookie in 1989. Griffey said quietly, while pausing and collecting his thoughts and emotions. The Mariners literally rolled out the red carpet for the honoree and gave him a welcome fit more for royalty. Baseball-wise, yeah, you’re going to look at numbers and things like that. But the way he went about his life and the things he did off the field nobody can compare to that. “He is a trailblazer in more ways than one”. I’ve heard the stories. I knew I could play baseball, but I didn’t know at this level until later in my career.

Two decades later, with his own sons in tow, Griffey Jr. spoke with admiration about how his father handled his playing career.

Just outside the door, Griffey Jr. had been in earshot of the conversation.