The MLB Network documentary Junior took a closer look at the career of Ken Griffey Jr., the electrifying Hall of Famer who was an icon thanks to his athleticism, swing and style during his amazing career.
It was Griffey himself who revealed in the doc why he hated the New York Yankees so much, and it’s a really awful story. He said that he had come up to New York to visit his father, who was playing for the Yankees in the 1980s when a security guard told the senior Griffey that then-Yankees owner George Steinbrenner “(didn’t) want anybody in the dugout.” So Griffey’s father sent him to sit in his locker, but he pointed out that taking ground balls at third base at that very moment was the son of Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles.
You can then see Griffey tell Yankees fans years later that he would rather retire than sign with the franchise if they were the last team to offer him a contract:
Wow, Ken Griffey Jr. had a really damn good reason to never play for the Yankees.
"Look at third base." pic.twitter.com/2v7DoBYyYC
— Roger Cormier (@yayroger) June 22, 2020
Back in 2010, Newsday reported that in 1983, Griffey Jr. and his brother were tossed from the Yankees clubhouse because of then-manager Billy Martin:
Martin never fessed up and the Griffeys thought owner George Steinbrenner was behind the “no kids in the clubhouse’’ edict and Ken. Jr., carried that notion throughout his career. Later day reports also incorrectly cite Steinbrenner as the culprit.
Steinbrenner, in fact, liked the Yankees’ kids, often patting them on the head in the years when he made frequent visits to the clubhouse.
But this seems to be the first time that the presence of Nettles’ son was brought up. And that sounds like a good reason for Griffey to despise the franchise.
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