Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. have never exactly needed a lot of time to settle the father-son debate, but that didn’t stop Senior from tossing in one more classic dad line.
Appearing with Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins on the 6-1-1 Podcast, the Griffeys revisited one of baseball’s most unforgettable moments: their back-to-back home runs for the Mariners in 1990, still the only father-son duo to do it. Senior, after launching a ball to straightaway center and rounding the bases, delivered the line that made the moment even better: “That’s how you do it, son.”
Junior answered with an opposite-field homer, turning the whole thing into one of the sport’s rarest and most memorable highlights.
The conversation also drifted into the old family teasing that came before all of that. Senior, leaning into his role, said, “I’m an athlete. He’s a baseball player,” and added, “I lettered in all four sports.”
Junior didn’t let that one go unanswered: “I didn’t have time,” he said.
Junior also explained that the path to that kind of big-league spotlight wasn’t always smooth when his dad was around. He said he had trouble hitting in high school with Senior in the stands, including one game when Senior was with the Braves in Cincinnati and a group of scouts and MLB personnel were watching too.
Senior even joked to them, “He can’t hit.” Junior finished that game 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a popout.
Later that night, Senior was heading to his own game against the Reds when he got a pregame call from his son. Junior said he went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs after that. He also said the first time he got a hit in front of his father came only after he’d reached pro ball, in an Instructional League game.
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