Thunderbird Theme of the Week - Ken Griffey Jr.

"I can't play being mad. I go out there and have fun. It's a game, and that's how I am going to treat it." - Ken Griffey Jr.

George Kenneth Griffey Jr., nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", played 22 years in Major League Baseball (1989-2010). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. The first overall pick in the 1987 draft and a 13-time All-Star, Griffey is one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the seventh-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. 

His popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute.  Griffey is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in major league games in four different calendar decades.  He was inducted into both the Mariners Hall of Fame and the Reds Hall of Fame. In 2016, Griffey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.  

He is the son of Ken Griffey Sr. who played 19 years in the MLB (1973-91).   Griffey Sr. signed with the Seattle Mariners to conclude the 1990 season, joining his son, Ken Jr.. By becoming teammates with his son, they became the first father and son to be teammates in Major League Baseball.  In his father's first game as a Mariner, on August 31, 1990, the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored.  OnSeptember 14, the pair hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first, becoming the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs.

In 2008, Griffey released a series of charity wines to support The Ken Griffey Jr. Family Foundation, a fund that supports several causes, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and several children's hospitals across the United States.[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.