HAPPY 39TH BIRTDAY GEORGE KENNETH GRIFFEY JR!

It has been a joy to grow up with Junior and watch him play the greatest game on earth.

Since being selected as the first overall pick by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, Griffey has been one of my absolute favorite players of all-time (and I have a lot of favorites so that means something!).

Griffey Jr. has another job to keep him busy in the off-season which is a great honor. I am very proud to have him represent the game and our country.

"The Kid" has played major league baseball for twenty seasons. I sure hope that I get to see him play another season because it would not be the same without seeing that big smile, effortless swing and name on the scoreboard.



Special Highlights and Memories for Me:

09/14/1990 - First, and only, father and son to hit back-to-back homers

07/14/1992 - All-Star Game MVP (Hit single, double and home run in San Diego)

07/12/1993 - MLB All-Star Game Home Run Derby - Griffey was the first and only player to hit the warehouse at Camden Yards in Baltimore

1997 - Griffey Jr. was awarded the AL MVP (.304 BA/56 HR/147 RBI)

06/27/1999 - Jr. hit the final home run at the Kingdome, a three-run homer off of Rangers' Aaron Sele in the first inning

07/15/1999 - Safeco Opens - "House that Griffey Built"

09/26/1999 - Junior's last home game in a Mariners uniform (I was there!)

06/22/2007 - Junior's return to Seattle for the first time since trade to Reds


And my absolute favorite memory.....
10/08/1995 - Griffey Jr. buried underneath his teammates, having scored from first on Edgar Martinez's epic double off Jack McDowell in the 11th inning of Game 5 against the Yankees to win the A L Division Series!!! (I start tearing up every time I was this!). My Oh My - The Miracle Mariners!

This blog is dedicated to the Washington Nationals, however, in the absence of breaking news like Teixeira is now a Nat, I am posting something that has impact on baseball and Washington so seemed fitting. Besides, Dave is unavailable and said that I could post whatever I'd like and Griffey Jr. is one of my favorite baseball players of all time. Congrats Ken!

The following is the AP press release:

WASHINGTON -- Ken Griffey Jr. has joined a new team.

The star outfielder became the newest American Public Diplomacy Envoy, introduced Tuesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Griffey is set to make his first baseball-related trip for the State Department to Panama in January. In his role, he'll represent the "values of the United States, not the government of the United States," Rice said.

"When Ken Griffey travels overseas, one of his greatest objectives will be to talk to young people and to spark their interest in America and in our culture," she said.
Griffey said he was eager to get going.

"When Dr. Rice called and said that she would like me to do this, I didn't really have to think about it," he said.

"After a certain age, you pretty much set your ways. But if we can reach out to young children about our culture and also about our pastime, which is baseball -- not those other sports like football," he said, drawing laughs in a State Department ceremony.

Griffey, who turns 39 this week, is sixth on the career home run list with 611. He played for Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox last season, and later filed for free agency.

Griffey joined former baseball star Cal Ripken Jr., figure skater Michelle Kwan and actress Fran Drescher as envoys.

On the same day Griffey was introduced in the role, a baseball clinic Ripken was to give for kids in Nicaragua was canceled by its sponsors because protests surrounding local election results were causing travel problems.

Ripken became an envoy for the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in 2007.