Ken Griffey Jr. Elected into Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in Emotional Return (VIDEO)
Recently retired baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. was honored by his former team, the Seattle Mariners, on Saturday when they elected him to their team Hall of Fame.
Saturday August 10 the future MLB Hall of Famer walked out to a standing ovation that reverberated throughout the stadium, as Seattle fans of all ages knew exactly what "The Kid" meant to the city of Seattle and the history of the Mariners.
According to Yahoo, Griffey came up to his signature "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty by Nature as all the Mariners players and coaches wore their hats backwards in honor of Juniors playful attitude while playing baseball.
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The event was supposed to last 30 minutes, however, as Junior spoke about his time in the Majors, the friends he made, and the memories he will always have, it went on for about an hour as he spoke unrehearsed.
''I can honestly say I am thankful to be part of the Seattle Mariners,'' Griffey said.
He became the seventh played elected to the Mariners HoF, joining the likes of former teammates, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson, Alvin Davis, and announcer Dave Niehaus.
''I am truly honored and humbled to be associated with these people here,'' Griffey said as he spent more time talking about his teammates then himself.
An emotional moment occurred when Griffey talked about his best friend in the big leagues, Buhner. He spoke about the trust and bond they had together while playing.
''There is no other person in the world, other than my parents, that if something happened to me or my wife, that I would want to raise my kids,'' Griffey said, as Buhner wiped the tears away.
He spent 13 years with the Mariners and was their number 1 draft pick in 1987, debuting two years later at the age of 19 where he was able to share an outfield with his father towards the end of his career. They became the first father and son to play together and hit back-to-back homeruns in game.
Giriffey finished his career with 630 homeruns, good for sixth all time, and was a 13 time all-star, and 1997 MVP.
The later years of his career were plagued with injuries as he the impressive numbers he already put up, could have been much higher as he lost an almost combined three seasons due to various ailments.
Most importantly for Griffey and the game of baseball, he did it steroid and PED free.
