‘Junior’ – MLB Network to air Ken Griffey Jr. documentary on Father’s Day

SEATTLE — Mariners fans who are missing the sweet sounds of summer are in for a treat this Sunday.

The MLB Network will debut “Junior,” a 90-minute documentary on the life and career of Hall Of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. at 5 p.m. PDT.

According to Greg Johns of MLB.com, the documentary will be narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Sterling K. Brown and will include interviews with Lou Piniella and former teammates. including Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner.

Other athletes like LeBron James, Reggie Jackson, Bo Jackson, and Gary Payton are also expected to discuss what made Griffey such an iconic figure in the sports world.

Griffey Jr. became the first Mariners player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 after receiving a then-record 99.32% of the vote. His record was broken in 2019 when Mariano Rivera became the first player to be inducted unanimously.

The Mariners drafted Griffey with the first overall pick in the 1987 draft after starring at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati.

“The best decision this organization ever made was in the June draft of 1987. The ballclub was struggling in the Pacific Northwest to put together a winning team, but they really needed someone to rally around. They really needed a superstar,” Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs says in a promo for the documentary.

Griffey made his major league debut with the Mariners as a 19-year-old on April 3, 1989 against the Oakland A’s and was named the Rookie of the Year before being named to 10 straight All Star games to go along with his 10 straight Gold Glove Awards.

In 1990, Griffey and his father, Ken Griffey Sr., made history when they became the first father and son to play on the same at the same time. They became the first father and son duo to hit back-to-back home runs and played a total of 51 games before the elder Griffey retired in June 1991.

Griffey was traded to the Cincinnati Reds before the 2000 season. After 8 1/2 seasons with the Reds, he was dealt to the Chicago White Sox and went back to the Mariners for his last season-plus.

With perhaps the sweetest swing in MLB history, Griffey hit 417 of his 630 home runs with the Mariners during his 22-year professional career.

His 630 career home runs puts him in seventh place in MLB history trailing only Barry Bond, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez, Willie Mays and Albert Pujols.

Click here for more information on the documentary.

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