Top 106 Baseball Players: #94 - Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr. was destined to be a star from the time he was a small child. His father was an All-Star outfielder, and Junior was the #1 overall pick in the 1987 draft. When he reached the Major Leagues in 1989, his father was still playing for the Cincinnati Reds, making them the first father-son duo to play in the majors at the same time.

To make that relationship even more interesting, Ken Sr. joined the Mariners the following season, and in September 1990 they hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first inning of a game against the Angels, a feat that has never been and probably never will be duplicated.

Griffey was a great power hitter, even if he didn't look like it. He hit at least 40 home runs 7 times in 8 seasons from 1993 to 2000, falling short just once when he broke his wrist in 1995. He even had 40 home runs in 1994, when the season was cut short by a strike, and he was within striking distance of the single-season record at the time.

In 4 of those seasons he led the AL in home runs, reaching 56 twice, including the 1998 season when he was overshadowed by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. He was awarded the MVP in 1997 after leading the league in runs, home runs, RBI's, and total bases.

Seattle traded him away to his hometown of Cincinnati after the 1999 season amid worries that he wouldn't stay in free agency, and he had one more star-level season for the Reds before the injury bug really started to bite. He had season-ending injuries in 3 straight seasons, and his production when he was on the field dropped off as well.

In 2005, he bounced back somewhat, batting 35 home runs while hitting .301, which earned him the Comeback Player of the Year award. He hung around for 5 more seasons, reaching numerous home run milestones on the way, and ended his career with 630. At one point he reached #5 on the all-time list, but has since fallen behind Alex Rodriguez, and could fall behind Albert Pujols in the near future.

Griffey never reached the World Series, but he had a memorable playoff run in 1995. The Mariners went down 0-2 to the Yankees in the ALDS, but Griffey turned in one of the best playoff series performances of all time, becoming just the second player ever to hit 5 home runs in a single playoff series, and he capped it off by scoring from first base on a double in the bottom of the 11th inning, sliding into home to win the series. Despite failing to reach the World Series that year, he still had the best overall playoff performance of any player that postseason.

Had his career not been derailed by injuries, there is no telling how high he might have climbed on this list. Still, even with just half a career at full strength, he received a great honor from the Hall of Fame voters, receiving the highest vote total ever in his first season on the ballot, and he definitely deserves his spot on this list.