September 14, 1990: The California Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-5 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim) in Anaheim, California. But nobody remembers the result. This is one of the few games where what someone on the losing team did. In this case, two someones, together.
George Kenneth Griffey was born on April 10, 1950 in Donora, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh. The greatest baseball player ever to come from that town was Stan Musial. Ken's father, Joseph, known as Buddy Griffey, had played on a racially integrated team with Stan the Man.
Ken had a pretty good career, lasting from 1973 to 1991. He batted .296, made 3 All-Star Games, and was the starting right fielder on the Cincinnati Reds' "Big Red Machine" team that won the 1975 and 1976 World Series.
George Kenneth Griffey Jr. was born on November 21, 1969, also in Donora -- on Musial's 49th birthday. While his father played for the Reds, the family lived in suburban Beckett Ridge, Ohio. From 1982 to 1986, Ken Sr. played for the New York Yankees. During that time, there was an incident where Ken Sr. and Jr. were sitting together in the dugout, when Ken Jr. was told to leave the dugout, while a white player's son was allowed to practice on the field. From that time onward, Ken Jr. swore he would never play for the Yankees.
Like several other Reds players' sons, Ken Jr. went to Archbishop Moeller High School, a Catholic school in a northern, suburban part of Cincinnati. Among the other baseball players produced by the school are Buddy Bell (son of Reds star Gus Bell) and his sons David and Mike; and future Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin and his brother Stephen, who also played for the Reds. Another brother, Byron Larkin, is the all-time leading basketball scorer at Cincinnati's Xavier University. John Boehner, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is also a Moeller graduate.
Ken Jr. was drafted by the Mariners in 1987, and he had no problem playing for them. He made his major league debut on April 3, 1989. On August 29, 1990, the Mariners signed Ken Sr., making the Ken Griffeys the 1st father and son to be MLB teammates. On August 31, they played together for the 1st time, and the Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-2 at the Kingdome. Both went 1-for-4.
That would have been an entry for this blog -- if what happened 2 weeks later had not happened. Yes, the Mariners lost this game in Anaheim. But here's how that game began. Angels starter Kirk McCaskill walked Harold Reynolds, then gave up a home run to 40-year-old Ken Griffey Sr. In the very next at-bat, he gave up a home run to 21-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. Father and son, back-to-back home runs.
Ken Sr. played his last major league game on May 31, 1991. Ken Jr. would go on to become the Mariners' greatest player ever, then signed with his hometown Reds, playing for them from 2000 to 2008. For his career, he batted .284, collected 2,781 hits, including 630 home runs, and was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
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September 14, 1990 was a Friday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:
* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tim Leary, in a rare good start for the Yankees, was the winning pitcher, advancing to 9-18 on the season, falling to 9-19. Don Mattingly doubled as a pinch-hitter.
* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Shea Stadium. Pat Combs went the distance, outpitching Sid Fernandez. Dale Murphy hit a home run for the Phils, and Howard Johnson hit one for the Mets.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Barry Bonds hit 2 home runs. He was not yet using steroids.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-7 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken Jr. went 1-for-5.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, in one of that old ballpark's last games. Jack McDowell pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout. Sammy Sosa, not yet a star -- and, presumably, not yet using steroids -- hit a home run.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-4.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Nolan Ryan pitched 8 innings, striking out 11, but was not involved in the decision. Robin Yount went 2-for-4, and drove in the Brewers' only run with a solo home run. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4. Juan González won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It is not known whether he had begun using steroids.
* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5.
And the high school football season began in New Jersey. My Alma Mater, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, lost to Cherokee of Burlington County, 23-6 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.
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