Ken Griffey Jr. documentary premiering Sunday on MLB Network
It seems fitting that MLB Network will debut its latest documentary focusing on Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. for Father’s Day on Sunday.
Griffey grew up around ballparks, watching his father, Ken Griffey Sr., win two World Series titles with Cincinnati in the 1970s. He later shared an outfield with his father in Seattle, and the pair once hit back-to-back home runs in a game in 1990 as the younger Griffey grew into the most prominent player in Mariners history. He hit his 500th career home run on Father’s Day in 2004, with Griffey Sr. in the crowd.
“Their joy of just being with each other, as dad and son was something that you’ve never seen and it was so special that you just had to appreciate it,” Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson says in the upcoming MLB Network film. “You just had to enjoy it and recognize the specialness of it between two people.”
And, Griffey is the proud father of three now-grown children of his own — Trey, Taryn and Tevin — and said during a Zoom call with local reporters Friday the best compliment he’s ever been given has nothing to do with baseball, but when a teammate once told him, “I wish we had more kids like yours in the locker room.”
“That means more to me than anything, because it shows that I raised my kids right and other people looked at it and appreciated it,” Griffey said.
There’s “nothing more valuable, more important” to him than being a father, he said.
It’s meaningful then, he said, that MLB Network will debut “Junior,” which chronicles Griffey’s remarkable MLB career, on Father’s Day.
The documentary airs at 5 p.m. PST as part of wall-to-wall coverage Sunday highlighting Griffey’s career.
“For me, playing baseball was what I wanted to do,” Griffey says in the film’s trailer. “I wanted to be able to leave a mark on the ball — somehow, someway.”
The documentary chronicles his early days growing up in Cincinnati watching Griffey Sr. play, the time the two spent together in the majors and how the younger Griffey became one of baseball’s most iconic players with jaw-dropping catches in center field and 630 career home runs.
“Every day was a human highlight reel,” former Mariners teammate Jay Buhner says in the trailer. “Every day he was doing something where you’re just like, ‘Really?’ ”
Griffey Sr., as well as Griffey’s brother Craig and his high school coach Mike Cameron talk about his days playing at Cincinnati’s Moeller High School leading up to his No. 1 overall selection in the 1987 MLB Draft.
Former Mariners manager Lou Piniella, and former Seattle teammates such as Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Joey Cora and Harold Reynolds are also featured.
Other iconic athletes like Reggie Jackson, Bo Jackson, LeBron James and former Sonics star Gary Payton, as well as Seattle-based rapper Macklemore, also appear.
The documentary is narrated by Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Sterling K. Brown.
Here is a list of Sunday’s full day of coverage focusing on Griffey’s career:
▪ 5 a.m. (PST): 1998 Home Run Derby (Griffey wins)
▪ 6:30 a.m.: 1999 Home Run Derby (Griffey wins)
▪ 8 a.m.: Mariners vs. Rangers, June 14, 1994 (Griffey finishes 4-for-7 with two homers)
▪ 10 a.m.: 1992 All-Star Game (Griffey finishes 3-for-3 with a single, double, homer and two RBI, wins MVP)
▪ Noon: 1995 ALDS Game 5 (Griffey scores winning run off Martinez’s double in 11th inning)
▪ 3 p.m.: Reds vs. Cardinals, June 20, 2004 (Griffey hits 500th homer on Father’s Day)
▪ 5 p.m.: Debut of “Junior” documentary
▪ 6:30 p.m.: Reds vs. Mariners, June 22, 2007 (Griffey returns to Seattle with Reds)
▪ 9 p.m.: Re-air of “Junior” documentary
▪ 10:30 p.m.: Re-air of 1995 ALDS Game 5
▪ 1:30 a.m. Monday: Re-air of “Junior” documentary
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 1:21 PM.
