Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., among the most famous father-son duos to ever grace the game of baseball, didn’t debate much when asked which one of them was the better baseball player.
Speaking with Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins on the 6-1-1 Podcast, Senior, though, still got his stereotypical dad jab in. “I’m an athlete. He’s a baseball player,” Griffey said. “I lettered in all four sports.”
“I didn’t have time,” Junior pushed back.
The Griffeys had fun on the podcast Thursday. Among the other topics they discussed, they recapped the time when they were the only father-son pairing to hit back-to-back home runs. Both with the Mariners in 1990, Senior hit a ball to straightaway center and, after crossing home plate, said, “That’s how you do it, son.”
Junior, clearly, already knew how to do it. He followed with an opposite-field homer in one of the coolest and most unique moments we’ve seen in baseball history.
Ironically enough, Griffey Jr. might not have been able to pull off such a feat earlier in his career. He explained on the show that he struggled in high school to hit with his dad at the game, pointing to one specific time while Senior was in Cincinnati and playing with the Braves.
A gaggle of scouts and MLB personnel were in attendance as well, as Junior was soon on his way to getting drafted. Senior joked to them, “He can’t hit.” Junior said he went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a popout.
Senior left for his game against the Reds that night. He got a call pregame from his son, and Junior said he finished the day 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs. Junior took it a step further, saying it wasn’t until he’d started his pro career that he got a hit in front of his dad, during an Instructional League game.
All’s well that ends well, of course. Their back-to-back homers and Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame career would say as much.