MLB names Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. senior adviser to commissioner
Major League Baseball is bringing “The Kid” back in a new role this season, with a focus on youth development and diversity.
The league announced Friday that Hall of Famer and beloved former Mariners center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. has been named senior adviser to commissioner Rob Manfred.
“I am humbled to be asked to work with Major League Baseball in this role,” Griffey said in a statement. “It will be an honor to represent the best sport in the world and to promote our game among today’s youth.”
Griffey will be a consultant for the league on a number of topics, according to a release, with a “special emphasis on baseball operations and youth baseball development, particularly regarding improving diversity at amateur levels of the game.”
He has previously served a youth ambassador for the league and the Players Association since 2016.
“We are thrilled that Ken will represent Major League Baseball on some of our sport’s most important stages, alongside our current and future stars,” Manfred said in a statement. “We welcome the perspective and insights that Ken gained as a historic player, as a parent, and as someone who has spent his life in and around our great game.”
Griffey, now 51 years old, grew up around baseball, and watched his father win two World Series titles with Cincinnati in the 1970s.
It didn’t take long for the younger Griffey to make his own mark on the game.
He was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1987 draft out of Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High School in 1987, and spent two seasons rocketing through Seattle’s minor league system before debuting for the Mariners on Opening Day in 1989 at 19 years old.
He spent his first 11 seasons with Seattle, and captivated fans in the Pacific Northwest and beyond with his smooth swing, wall-climbing catches and signature backwards hat.
He guided the Mariners to the first two postseason berths in club history in 1995 and 1997, and was the unanimous American League MVP in 1997.
Griffey headed back home to Cincinnati in 2000, playing much of the next nine seasons with the Reds before a brief stint with the White Sox in 2008.
He played his final two seasons in 2009 and 2010 in Seattle, retiring as a Mariner.
During his 22-year career, Griffey collected 13 All-Star nods, 10 Gold Gloves, seven Silver Slugger awards and the MVP award in the first of back-to-back years hitting a season-high 56 home runs.
He finished his stunning career with a .284/.370/.538 slash line, 524 doubles, 38 triples, 630 home runs and 1,836 RBI across more than 2,600 games.
Griffey was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 with 99.3% of the vote. His No. 24 was also retired by the Mariners in 2016.
