George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. was born on November 21, 1969 in Donora, PA - the same date and place as hall of famer Stan Musial. Ken grew up around major leaguers when his father, Ken Sr., played for the Reds, Braves, and Yankees. On August 31, 1990, they became the first father-son combination to play in the same lineup. In their first at-bats, they both singled. Later that year on September 14, they hit back-to-back home runs off of Kirk McCaskill in Anaheim. Ken is considered by many the greastest player in the game today and one of the greatest ever skill-wise because he hasn't played long enough yet to hold all-time records. He does hold some records though, like most consecutive years winning a Gold Glove by an AL outfielder (10) or most consecutive games with a home run (8). He is also the youngest player to reach 350 home runs. If he continues on his pace, he will shatter Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. Junior has always cared about one thing. Not stats, not money, but winning. The Mariners have only been to the post-season twice in Junior's career (1995, 1997). In 1995, Ken broke his wrist and missed 73 games. The Mariners stayed around .500 when he was out and when he came back, they made a record-setting comeback to win the AL West. Then, after being down 0-2 to the Yankees in the best of five ALDS, the Mariners won three straight games at home capped by the greatest moment of Junior's career. A double down the left-field line by Edgar Martinez scored Joey Cora to tie up the game. Junior tried to score from first and he made it, sending Seattle to the Championship Series. In 1997, the Mariners were beaten by the Orioles in the first round of the playoffs. Griffey has a unique relationship with kids unlike most major leaguers. Junior has often been criticized for wearing his hat backwards and his shirt untucked during batting practice. The truth why he wears his hat backwards - he used to wear his dad's hat backwards as a kid and he couldn't see if he wore it forewords, so he has always worn it backwards. Ken sponsors a Christmas dinner for about 350 kids in the Seattle area every year. He also meets and spends about 2 hours with Make-A-Wish foundation kids about 10 times a year.