Ken Griffey Jr, hitting his 500th home run on Father's Day was a real gift for me as well as for KG Sr.
In 1995 my two sons then ages 9 and 4 were given invitations to visit the New York Yankee dugout before the game. The nine year old at that time was a baseball fanatic and by chance his favorite player was the Yankee's second baseman Pat Kelly who was to be their host that evening. The visiting team was the Seattle Mariners then led by Lou Piniella. We had to remain in the stands and the boys were given over to their host. It was a hot beautiful early September evening but I don't recall if the game itself was of any significance in the pennant race.
I could see the older boy drop his jaw as he surveyed the dugout, Buck Showalter, Mike Stanley, David Cone, Don Mattingly, Darryl Strawberry, Paul O'Neill, Wade Boggs (full team link HERE).
The younger boy was quite ill at the time and had spent virtually the entire summer in the hospital- (after a long stretch he completely recovered) but at the time he was fearful and tentative and in a great deal of pain). He would only attend wearing a batman suit, which he felt would protect him.
The boys were supposed to spend about 30 minutes, talking to the players, getting autographs, taking pictures etc. and the Yankees could not have been nicer. However the best part was when Pat Kelly went over to the visitors' dugout and asked Ken Griiffey Jr. to come say hello. At the time Jr. was probably the biggest draw in the game. His pedigree, innocence and that graceful long looping swing which one would think was too beautiful to be so effective were still recent enough to be fresh and mature enough to be savored. He was generous with his time, spending a half hour himself with them and sweet and patient. The pictures are marvelous and someday I will scan them and display them here. He was a big star but not a big ego.
When he came on hard times I was quietly rooting for him to make a complete recovery and hoping he would be the one to hold Hank Aaron's record for a long time-Not Bonds, not Sosa and not Arod. I expect all 4 will break it and I guess in the big scheme of things it doesn't really matter. I pray he stays healthy and we get to enjoy 600,700 and even more.
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