Mariners announce plans for Ken Griffey Jr. statue
The Seattle Mariners held a ceremony on Saturday night to honor Ken Griffey Jr. as they retired the former center fielder’s No. 24 jersey. The team also announced another cool surprise: They will be making a statue of “The Kid” that will be placed outside Safeco Field next year.
It's official. #Mariners President Kevin Mather announces there will be a Ken Griffey Jr. statue outside Safeco Field next year.
— #24EVER (@Mariners) August 7, 2016
The Mariners may have slipped to just two games over .500, but that didn’t impact the crowd for the game. Safeco Field was packed:
Griffey jersey and number retirement ceremony. pic.twitter.com/Un1DRQxCHH
— Chris Cwik (@Chris_Cwik) August 7, 2016
Griffey was drafted first overall by the Mariners in the 1987 draft, made the bigs in 1989 at age 19, then proceeded to make 10 straight All-Star Games and win 10 straight Gold Gloves, all with the Mariners. He led the league in home runs four times, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage once, and won an MVP — all with Seattle. Those were by far the best days of his career, so the statue honor is well deserved.
