If you played baseball growing up in the ’90s to mid 2000s, chances are you probably wanted to be Ken Griffey Jr. while playing wiffle ball in the backyard with your friends.
The man was an absolute beast on the baseball diamond, as he was a 13 time all-star, batting a career .284 with 2,781 hits and 630 home runs over his over his 21-year career in the MLB, besting a number of career statistics of his father, Ken Sr.
He was an absolute cheat code, particularly during his tenure with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, which ultimately led him to the MLB Hall of Fame in 2016.
However, he was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame first back in 2013.
As a bigtime baseball fan, I found myself watching his Mariners HOF acceptance speech here recently, and needless to say, he told a story about unity that I feel we could all learn from today.
In his speech, Griffey Jr. gave a shoutout to his former Mariners teammate Jay Buhner, who was also being accepted that night.
He said:
“Of all people that I would consider my brother, from another mother, a guy who listens to country music, wears cowboy boots, big belt buckles. I got 17 speakers in the car, sweat suits, rap music.
Two people that are so far apart on every level became really close. And I don’t know if that’s the position changes that we had. I went over to right field, he came over.
But, there was no other person in this world, other than my parents, that if something ever happened to me, my wife, that I would want to raise my kids.”
In the background, you can see Buhner begin to tear up as Griffey Jr. shares the kind words, and it’s a truly moving moment between two former teammates, and current bestfriends.
You gotta love it. Two people from completely different backgrounds… brothers.
And now, with this country more divided than ever… it just might be the message we need right now.
You can watch the whole speech below:
