Even though he's the greatest player to ever don a Seattle Mariners uniform, Ken Griffey Jr. doesn't like to be the center of attention.
Despite this, the slugger will have all eyes glued on him when the Mariners bestow the honor of inducting the center fielder into the team's Hall of Fame this weekend.
''I grew up in a household where it was a lot easier to talk about somebody else than talk about you,'' Griffey said, according to the Associated Press. ''My dad came home he'd always say 'How did the team do?' 'What did you do?' would always be the last question."
On Saturday night at Safeco Field, it will be all about what Griffey has done in his career.
Griffey will become just the seventh member inducted into the team's Hall of Fame, and despite his anxiousness, Griffey, 43, feels honored for the achievement.
"I understand the honor that it brings," Griffey told the Associated Press. "Am I nervous? Yes. It's a lot easier to be in center field and stand at home plate than to talk in front of thousands of people.''
Griffey was drafted by the Mariners in 1987 as the first overall pick, and played with the franchise from 1989 through the 1999 season before requesting to be traded to his home city of Cincinnati in 2000 to be closer to his family. Griffey closed out his career with the Mariners on rocky terms, getting accused of sleeping in the clubhouse during a game and departing the club by driving off into the night abruptly before announcing his retirement.
Despite the controversy, Griffey has been accepted back into Seattle with open arms and the two-day celebration of his induction at Safeco field started Friday with a 90-minute luncheon on the field. The celebration will be a nice distraction for Mariners fans, as they've watched their team fall to third place in the American League West with a 53-62 record, a whole 12.5 games out of first.
Griffey was the face of the Mariners for the 1990s, and played 13 of his 22 career major league seasons with the franchise.
Griffey is sixth on the all-time home runs list with 630 and also finished his career with a .284 batting average, 2,781 hits and 1,836 RBIs. Griffey was a 13-time All-Star and a 10-time Gold Glove winner. Griffey also won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1997.
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