Cincinnati Reds: 20th anniversary of Ken Griffey Jr.’s first homer as a Red
By Manny Gómez
20 years ago today, Ken Griffey Jr. ended the Cincinnati Reds opening homestand with his first home run in red pinstripes.
Mostly, we’ll always remember Ken Griffey Jr. in a Seattle Mariners uniform, but for nine years out of his illustrious 22-year career, the “Kid” was a member of the Cincinnati Reds. It all started in February of 2000 when the M’s traded Griffey to the Cincy for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, and a couple of minor league players.
Immediately after acquiring Griffey, the Reds signed him to a 9-year, $112.5M deal with an option for a 10th season. All that was left was for Griffey to carry over his dominance as a Mariner to Cincinnati.
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Unfortunately, Griffey’s career in Cincy was riddled with injuries and disappointing seasons. In all, Griffey’s stats with the Reds (.270 BA and .876 OPS) were respectable, but pale in comparison to his numbers in Seattle (.292 BA and .927 OPS)
The “Kid’s” first season in Cincinnati did show some promise, however, delivering 40 HR, 118 RBI, and a stellar .942 OPS. In fact, the first of those home runs came 20 years ago today on April 9, 2000, in the final game of the Reds season-opening homestand against the Chicago Cubs.
With the Reds trailing the Cubs 0-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Ken Griffey Jr. came up to bat. Barry Larkin waited at first as Griffey watched the first two deliveries out of pitcher Scott Downs land for balls.
On the third pitch, however, the “Kid” delivered, taking a high fastball deep into the right-field stands, directly above a fan’s sign that read, “Junior’s Playpen.”
The home run was Griffey’s 399th career blast and it provided his Cincinnati Reds with the spark they needed to come back and eventually win the game in the 11th inning by the score of 8-7.
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Griffey would finish out his career back in Seattle and be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame on the first ballot, just one vote shy of being unanimous. His 630 career home runs place him 7th on the all-time list.