The Mariners' second Turn Ahead the Clock Night featured plenty of Ken Griffey Jr. tributes
For Saturday night's 6-4 victory over the Royals, the Mariners decided it was time to fast forward into the future … again.
In 1998, the trend around MLB was to host promotional nights that took you back in time, but Mariners senior vice president of marketing and communications, Kevin Martinez, wanted to change it up. And on Saturday at Safeco Field, the team paid tribute to that promo with the "Turn Ahead the Clock Night" to relive its celebration of 2027.
And the Royals and Mariners had a lot of fun with it:
The future is here. #TurnAheadTheClock pic.twitter.com/IqUa0Lkro6
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 30, 2018
Even the broadcast got into the spirit:
Step into the future with @heygoldy and Dan Wilson tonight on @ROOTSPORTS_NW #TurnAheadTheClock pic.twitter.com/DC47Zsm6zM
— ROOT SPORTS™ | NW (@ROOTSPORTS_NW) July 1, 2018
The present Mariners made sure they honored Griffey's fashion inspiration, complete with silver cleats like the ones Griffey spray-painted:
Tonight's standard-issue dress is ready. #TurnAheadTheClock pic.twitter.com/rCtHgoUBrc
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) June 30, 2018
Mariners are embracing Turn Ahead The Clock Night. Many are spray-painting their cleats to color coordinate. Here are Dee Gordon’s: pic.twitter.com/4rLHgWDOyX
— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) June 30, 2018
And if you didn't think
And then there was
Even King Felix stuck with the untucked jersey trend -- and pulled it off of course:
And
The team even had its own spin on futuristic facts:
Got some facts for y’all: pic.twitter.com/gLdjyCzFXZ
— Daniel Carroll (@tworsandtwols) July 1, 2018
The Royals participated as well with their own flashbacks, err -- I mean, flash-forwards:
Today’s unis in Seattle as we Turn Ahead the Clock. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ijfMKDhFR6
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 30, 2018
The original idea for the night in '98 came from Martinez and other members of the staff while sitting around watching the game from the press box. "We said, 'What if we went to the future?'" Martinez recalled in a recent interview. "We shared the idea with Ken Griffey Jr. and that's where it really gained momentum."
The idea was simple: Imagine what baseball would look like in the year 2027. There were all kinds of twists, from a DeLorean driving onto the field to Lou Piniella and Junior in futuristic makeovers:
And one of the best parts? The Mariners paid tribute to their own Griffey Jr. by sporting untucked uniforms without sleeves and his signature backward cap:
Many were worried the umpires wouldn't go for the untucked rule, but it was Griffey and, well, he gets to do what he wants.
"Junior said, 'Kev, we have precedence,'" explained Martinez.
It quickly became one of the most iconic promotions in baseball history.
Welcome to the future.
