[1] Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo; his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute.

When Griffey was a young child, Ken Sr. instilled in him the pride of a team accomplishment rather than the individual performance: "My dad would have bopped me on the head when I was a kid if I came home bragging about what I did on the field.

[26] On September 21, Ken Griffey Jr. famously stole a fly ball off the bat of Sammy Sosa from his father, who was playing left field, for the third out of the inning.

Then-twenty year old Griffey Jr. was subsequently grounded by his father in the dugout after the play for going inside the former's previously established "three square feet territory" in left field for fly balls and had his car keys confiscated.

At the MLB Home Run Derby in 1993, which was held at Oriole Park in Baltimore, Griffey hit the warehouse beyond the right-field wall on the fly and he is still the only player ever to do so.

As with every home run that hits Eutaw Street, each feat is honored with a circular plaque, embedded horizontally onto the concourse's walkway, in the exact spot where the ball landed.

That season, which ended prematurely on August 12 due to the labor dispute, saw Griffey hit 30 home runs in the Mariners' first 65 games.

Griffey, however, fell out of the spotlight due to some nagging injuries and was surpassed by Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, who finished with 66 home runs, himself falling short of McGwire's then record 70.

After Stewart's death in a plane crash on October 25, 1999, Griffey started expressing a desire to live closer to his relatives in his hometown of Cincinnati.

On February 10, 2000, Griffey was traded to the Reds for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron, and minor leaguers Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer.

[38] Earlier that offseason, Griffey vetoed a trade to the New York Mets for Roger Cedeño, Octavio Dotel, and a relief pitcher variously reported as Dennis Cook or Armando Benítez.

Shortly after this injury, the Reds' team physician, Timothy Kremchek, devised an experimental surgery dubbed "The Junior Operation"[46] that would use three titanium screws to reattach Griffey's hamstring.

Early in September, he strained a tendon in his left foot (an injury unrelated to his past hamstring and calf problems), and was listed as day-to-day for several weeks.

[50] He returned on May 11 from a knee injury suffered April 12, and hit a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Washington Nationals.

[51] On June 5, Griffey tied Fred McGriff's record by hitting a home run in his 43rd different ballpark, at the St. Louis Cardinals' Busch Stadium.

[76] On June 9, Griffey hit his 600th home run on a 3–1 pitch from Mark Hendrickson of the Florida Marlins in the first inning at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.

Those Reds were Ken Griffey and Adam Dunn lounging on the clubhouse's leather couches, hitting home runs, misplaying balls in the outfield, and thinking they had it all figured out, when all they knew how to do was lose.

[86] The White Sox went on to beat the Twins, 1–0, to advance to the 2008 American League Division Series,[86] where they fell to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Griffey indicated he was motivated by sentimental reasons toward Seattle, where he received an overwhelmingly positive reception when he last played there as a Cincinnati Red in June 2007, but was inclined towards the Braves for its proximity to his home in Orlando, Florida, and his desire to be with his family during the season.

[93] AP stated, "Griffey returned to the Mariners in 2009 and almost single-handedly transformed what had been a fractured, bickering clubhouse with his leadership, energy and constant pranks.

"[34] On June 23, 2009, at Safeco Field, Griffey hit the 5,000th home run in franchise history, off San Diego Padres pitcher Chad Gaudin.

[95] On August 12, 2009, against his former team, the Chicago White Sox, he hit a run-scoring single in the bottom of the 14th inning to win the game, 1–0, for the Mariners.

[96] Griffey returned to the Mariners for the 2010 campaign with a similar one-year contract to that of 2009,[97] but struggled offensively over the first two months while posting a .184 batting average.

In May 2010, Mariners' manager Don Wakamatsu made the decision to significantly limit Griffey's play due to his ongoing poor performance.

[104][111] On June 2, 2010, with the clubhouse still in turmoil, Griffey left the Mariners after the second game of a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins, leaving in the middle of the night for a cross-country drive to his home in Florida.

[6] Griffey joined Alvin Davis (1997), Dave Niehaus (2000), Jay Buhner (2004), Edgar Martínez (2007), Randy Johnson (2012) and Dan Wilson (2012).

A campaign had been formed to rename a section of First Avenue South, which runs adjacent to T-Mobile Park, to Ken Griffey Jr. Drive just after his announcement to retire from baseball.

[115] Writer Bill Simmons pointed out the prevalent belief that Griffey was the best home run hitter of the 1990s who everyone was convinced never used performance enhancing drugs.

[126] He is also an honorary co-chairman of the AOPA Foundation's Hat in the Ring Society, a charitable organization that promotes aviation safety and education.

[140] In January 1988, Griffey attempted suicide by swallowing 277 aspirin pills but wound up in intensive care at Providence Hospital in Mount Airy, Ohio.