He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1973 through 1991, most notably as a member of the Cincinnati Reds team that won three division titles and two World Series championships between 1973 and 1976.

A three-time All-Star, Griffey hit over .300 in five seasons for the powerful Cincinnati batting order that was known as the Big Red Machine for their dominance of the National League in the mid-1970s.

He was soon chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 29th round (682nd overall) of the 1969 Major League Baseball draft,[2] signed with the organization, and married his girlfriend.

Though Griffey left Donora in 1972 as his professional career advanced, he retained close ties to the town.

[3] Griffey made his MLB debut with the Reds on August 25, 1973, finishing 2-for-4 in a 6–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

[5] After the season, he finished eighth in NL Most Valuable Player voting,[7] and was named to the Sporting News National League All-Star team.

[5] In Griffey's final season of his first stint with the Reds, the strike-shortened 1981 campaign, he batted .311 with only two home runs and 34 RBI in 101 games.

[11] On June 30, 1986, Griffey was traded to the Atlanta Braves alongside Andre Robertson in exchange for Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella.

[20] In 2010, Griffey was hired as the batting coach for the Dayton Dragons, the Reds' Single-A minor league affiliate.

Ken's father, Joseph "Buddy" Griffey, was a local athlete who was a teammate of Stan Musial on the Donora High School baseball team.

[25] On September 14, 1990, father and son hit back-to-back home runs in a game against the California Angels; this is the only time in major league history that this has happened.

Craig Griffey retired from baseball after failing to make it past Triple-A, where he appeared in a handful of games with the Tacoma Rainiers.