The man known affectionately as “The Kid” for much of his career sat at his locker in the visiting clubhouse Wednesday evening with an ice cream cone in his hand and a smile on his face.
Ken Griffey, Jr. may be a decade removed from being the most popular and electrifying player in the game. But the former Mariners and Reds centerfielder has rediscovered his youth as a member of the Chicago White Sox
“My last pennant race was ’97, so it’s good, a lot of fun coming to the ballpark instead of not knowing what’s going to happen,” Griffey said. “Now everything means something, and your focus is a little different.”
The White Sox acquired Griffey for pitcher Nick Masset and minor league infielder Danny Richar in a July 31 trade with the Reds.
Griffey, 38, is batting .249 with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs in 122 games between the two clubs. It’s been a big season for Griffey, who has surpassed a handful of milestones.
He hit career home run No. 609 Aug. 20 to tie Sammy Sosa for fifth place on the all-time home run list.
He’s still in search of his first World Series championship.
Griffey’s greatest career moments came as a member of the Seattle Mariners, where he played from 1989-99. He won ten gold gloves as a Mariner, gaining a reputation for being a tenacious defender. It was his aggressiveness on May 26, 1995 that led to a broken right wrist when he collided with the outfield fence in Seattle’s Kingdome, as he caught a fly ball off the bat of Orioles outfielder Kevin Bass.
Baltimore fans may remember him best from the 1993 All-Star Game, when, with his cap on backwards, the sweet-swinging lefty parked a home run derby pitch on the face of the B&O Warehouse down the right field line. It remains the only ball to have struck the building on the fly.
But Griffey is confident someone else will join him eventually.
“Somebody’s going to hit it in a game,” Griffey said. “I was just fortunate enough to get a ball up in the air and the wind took it.”
Griffey was in Baltimore through Wednesday night with the White Sox — his first trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards since Sept. 1999.
Just as Baltimoreans have fond memories of “The Kid,” the native of Sonora, Pa. has warm feelings in return.
“Playing against Cal,” Griffey said of his favorite memory in Baltimore. “Much has changed since then. It’s a great city.”
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