Ken Griffey Jr. was a major presence with his bat and glove during a Hall of Fame career that also generated plenty of pop culture allure away from the field.
Now, "The Kid" is taking that presence and allure to the race track for one of the biggest races in the world.
Griffey will be the honorary pace car driver at the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Griffey will drive a 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray and lead the field of 33 drivers.
"Driving the pace car and leading the field to start the Indy 500 is one of the coolest experiences,” Griffey said. "I came to the track a few years ago as a photographer and look forward to seeing the race from a different perspective."
Griffey, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1987 Draft, was a 13-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and the 1997 AL MVP. He clubbed 630 home runs during his 22 seasons in the big leagues with the Mariners, Reds and White Sox, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016 with 99.3 percent of the vote – the third-highest percentage in history.
"Every baseball fan knows Ken Griffey Jr.," Indianapolis Motor Speedway president J. Douglas Boles said. "Two legends will come together as Griffey hops into the Corvette E-Ray to lead the field at the Racing Capital of the World."