HOF Ken Griffey Jr. reveals why he DESPISED playing for NY Yankees despite receiving trade offer in 2003
Ken Griffey Jr. recalls the time when he was racially discriminated by the New York Yankees which led him to never playing for the team during his entire legendary career.
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Ken Griffey Jr. (Image via Sports Illustrated)
Ken Griffey Jr. is a name to be reckoned with in the MLB world. Junior was one of the most talented players of his time which is evident from the scores of awards and records to his name. In his documentary named ‘Junior’ which was released in 2020, the former Mariner talked about his legendary career but most importantly he explained his hate for the New York Yankees.
The Sterling K. Brown narrated documentary revealed that when Griffey Jr. visited his father, Yankees player Ken Griffey he was escorted off the field for being black. Ken said that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had ordered one of the guards to escort everyone from the dugout. However, when he was leaving the field, he saw that Graig Nettle’s son was still on the field because he was white!
This racial discrimination was forever imprinted in Ken’s mind and infuriated him to the core. That’s when he decided to not play for an organization that discriminated against people on the color of their skin.
In the documentary, a clip was shown in which one fan asked him to come play for the Yankees. Griffey Jr, replied, “If the Yankees were the last team — if they were the only team that gave me a contract, I’d retire.” In 2003, the Yankees tried to trade for the superstar but couldn’t. After the way Griffey Jr. was discriminated against, no wonder why he didn’t want to play for such an organization.
Ken Griffey Jr. had one of the best MLB careers
Ken Griffey Jr. was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 1987 MLB draft. He played 11 seasons for them before moving on to the Cincinnati Reds for nine years. He then played one season for the White Sox and Griffey eventually came back home to the Mariners.
He played for them before hanging up his cleats in 2010. During his illustrious career, Griffey Jr. won many awards both as a hitter and a defender. He won 13x All-Star, 10x Gold Glove, 7x Silver Slugger, and was crowned AL MVP in 1997.
In his 22-year-long career, Junior hit a total of 630 home runs which is the seventh most in MLB history. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2016 with 99.32% votes which shatter the 24-year record of Tom Seaver. Griffey Jr. is also a part of the ownership group of the Seattle Mariners and now works as a senior advisor to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
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Yash Karandekar
(1023 Articles Published)