Ken Griffey Jr. will drive the pace car at Sunday’s Indy 500.
MLB legend Ken Griffey Jr. will drive the pace car for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, per an official release.
Per tradition, a notable figure will drive the pace car, this year a 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, during the pre-race festivities. The pace car leads all 33 of the contending professional drivers and their vehicles.
“Driving the Pace Car and leading the field to start the Indy 500 is one of the coolest experiences,” Griffey said in the release. “I came to the track a few years ago as a photographer and look forward to seeing the race from a different perspective.”
Recent pace car drivers include Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton, former professional driver Danica Patrick, former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and former Indy 500 driver Sarah Fisher.
Legendary MLB player Ken Griffey Jr. has a fantastic side gig, and he put it to good use on Wednesday night for an MLS match between Inter Miami and Nashville SC.
The Hall of Famer brought his best photography gear and snapped pictures in the media photography zone of the game, which featured soccer legend Lionel Messi playing for Miami.
The game had one all-time talent photographing another, as it was really cool to see Griffey using his photography skills to get a close-up of another icon.
We hope Griffey continues to break out his camera and snap some more pictures of sporting legends because this is just too cool.
Griffey probably had the photo pit pretty starstruck to be joined by such a monumental figure in baseball, but he was just there working like everyone else during Wednesday night’s MLS match.
We hope Griffey and Messi got to say hello to each other after the game ended, if only because that’d be a sports meeting for the ages.
Football is around the corner, but the Mariners are making the case for fans to stay invested in baseball season.
Football may be around the corner, but the Seahawks’ neighbors directly to the south – the Mariners – are making quite the case for fans to stay invested in baseball season.
The Mariners have been on an absolute tear lately, and were returning home after a successful 8-2 road trip to a raucous crowd at T-Mobile Park. There to greet them was former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, but he was not the only Seattle legend during the pregame festivities.
Super Bowl Champion Richard Sherman threw out the first pitch at the @Mariners game and got surprised by Ken Griffey Jr. 👀 pic.twitter.com/S6qrN2b0h5
After being behind 10 games, the Mariners now own a share of first place in the AL West. It is the latest in the season the Mariners have been in this position since August of 2003. They have won 18 of their last 21, including Friday night’s game 7-5 against the Kansas City Royals.
The Kid left his teammates in awe after this at-bat.
There’s little about Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame career that isn’t awe-inspiring. From the spectacular catches to his prowess at the plate, The Kid was must-see TV every game he played.
But the best part is that more than a decade after he played his last game, we’re still hearing amazing stories about how talented Griffey was from the guys who played alongside him.
Chicago Cubs manager David Ross became the latest to share an epic Griffey story while discussing the best pure hitters he played with on Chicago’s 670 AM The Score. And this one is a doozy.
Ross and Griffey were teammates on the 2006 Reds when, late in the season, Griffey was coming off the injured list ahead of a game with the Chicago Cubs. Because he wasn’t in the lineup on September 25, 2006, The Kid apparently tried to get some side-work done, chatting with sponsors on the phone from the clubhouse. In the middle of a call, the Reds decided to bring Griffey into pinch-hit.
Let’s not overlook Griffey taking batting practice in flip flops after suffering a toe injury. Honestly, this entire story wholly believable in the most unbelievable way. The Kid was just that good.
Best of all, his sponsorship price tag likely went up before he even finished the phone call.
Let’s relive some Ken Griffey Jr. Home Run Derby moments.
One of the great joys of watching Major League Baseball a few decades ago was seeing Ken Griffey Jr. connect with a ball with one of the most beautiful swings of all time and hit it over the fence.
That was more than on display the three times the Seattle Mariners legend won the Home Run Derby — in 1993, 1998 and again in 1999. So with the derby coming to Seattle at T-Mobile Park — here’s the full lineup and who’s pitching to them — it’s a great time to remember Griffey obliterating baseballs in those derbies.
So, here you go: Have fun watching the all-time great in the Home Run Derby title-winning years:
“The Natural” is still winning years after his career ended.
Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the greatest pure hitters in history and a Baseball Hall of Famer. And these days, after more than a decade away from the MLB, he’s just basking in deserved retirement, occasionally stealing the show in batting practices.
But thanks to deferred money on a contract signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2000, “The Kid” is probably winning a lot more than we expected. Almost as much as Bobby Bonilla on his celebrated day every July.
As MLB Opening Day nears, with a $3.59 million deferred payment, Griffey Jr. will officially be the Reds’ fourth-highest-paid player in 2023. That’s right. The 53-year-old Griffey Jr. will be near the top of Cincinnati’s payroll roughly 15 years after he last played for the franchise.
We joyfully appreciate Bobby Bonilla Day every summer for the deferred payments he gets from the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles. Maybe we should start doing the same for Griffey Jr. — at least in this instance.
If there was ever any question who your favorite baseball player’s favorite baseball player is, Friday’s Team USA practice gave you a resounding answer.
As the Americans wrapped up on the field ahead of a World Baseball Classic quarterfinal against Venezuela on Saturday, Team USA hitting coach Ken Griffey Jr. was coaxed into an impromptu home run derby against assistant coach Brian McCann. Naturally, the entire roster crowded around the plate to get a glimpse of the most perfect swing the sport has ever seen.
Team USA has 12 minutes left of BP. It has convinced Ken Griffey Jr. to take some hacks. Mike Trout lent him his batting gloves, Mookie Betts brought him a bat.
All tournament the players for USA have reportedly begged Griffey to step up to the plate. He finally gave in.
The last time The Kid made MLB’s All-Star Game was 2007.
Kyle Schwarber was 13. Pete Alonso was 12. Kyle Tucker was 10. Bobby Witt Jr. was seven years old. Tim Anderson probably hadn’t even watched a baseball game yet. You get the point. Griffey retired three years later as his role on the bench became more about mentoring players than showing them how it’s done at the plate.
Sure, these guys knew all the highlights and stats and stories, but it’s completely different when you get to hear the ball crack off the bat up close. The absolute look of joy and giddiness as the 53-year-old knocked the ball around loanDepot Park in Miami on Friday proves it.
“Guys were putting a lot of pressure on him,’’ Trout told reporters. “We wanted to see it so bad. He said, ‘Give me 10 swings, and I know I can hit one out.'”
What a special moment between Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. at the Field of Dreams Game.
The 2022 Field of Dreams Game began with quite the emotional scene for baseball fans.
As Thursday’s game got underway in Dyersville, Iowa, emotions were already peaking as fans settled into their seats for a bout between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Joey Votto himself already talked at length about what the movie and the game means to him after losing his father more than 14 years ago.
And who were the first people to emerge from the cornfields on Thursday? None other than Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr., one of the most iconic father-son baseball duos in history. Not only that, the two played a wonderful game of catch much like the iconic Field of Dreams scene that inspired this entire event before the rest of the players took the field.
The drop from Griffey Sr. notwithstanding, what an opening! Baseball fans were, as expected, were quite emotional after this heartwarming father and son moment.
Julio Rodriguez had one very notable fan and Seattle Mariners legend following his incredible performance in the 2022 Home Run Derby Monday night: Ken Griffey Jr.
Griffey — known for his own Derby prowess — had a huge, professional-looking camera he was using to snap shots, and of course that became an instant meme, with a lot of people comparing him to a proud dad watching his kid play.
It didn’t matter that Rodriguez lost in the finals to Juan Soto. The 21-year-old is in the midst of an incredible season and his performance Monday night was worth snapping.
