Friday, March 10, 2000
Readers remember Junior when
Young Griffey Jr. 'was something special'
BY MIKE PULFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A White Oak woman wants him to sign the ball that came out of nowhere and dented her house.
A Mason man wants free Reds game tickets for the blood he lost as his football blocking dummy in high school.
But most of the mail we got about the early years of Ken Griffey Jr. came from people who want nothing more than a chance to share fond memories.
In response to a Tempo call for stories about the Reds' new outfielder as a youth, we heard from dozens of people — neighbors, classmates, teammates and coaches, his driving instructor, his guidance counselor, and the manager of the Skyline where he ate.
Some of them said they saw the gifted athleticism in Junior, whose 11-year career with the Seattle Mariners has led some to say, at 30, he may be the best player in baseball. They told us about his strong arm, his powerful swing, and, in the words of a coach, his “million-dollar smile.”
“It was rare to find him in a bad mood,” said Dan Henson, a Moeller High School classmate who now lives in Walnut Hills. He was always smiling, and it was a bit contagious.”
“Smiley would have been a good nickname,” Thomas J. Hagen, of Amelia, wrote. “Ken came across as the happiest kid in the world.”
A 9-year-old Mr. Hagen met Mr. Griffey, then 7, at Riverfront Stadium. The two became friends and spent time at each other's house.
“He was a motor-mouth,” Mr. Hagen said.
“I remember him being the class comedian,” said Robert Barker, of Mason, who played football and studied geometry with Mr. Griffey at Moeller. “He was almost never serious and enjoyed talking to his classmates more than doing his school work.”
Piano teacher Corinne “Corky” Tarr, of Green Township, recalled student Birdie Griffey (Junior's mother) and their first meeting.
“When this beautiful lady came in for her first lesson followed by two cute little boys, I thought to myself, "Oh, no. This could be bad.' But little Ken Griffey Jr. and his brother (Craig) sat like little gentlemen on an organ bench ... while we had our lesson.”
Julie Krueger remembered the baseball that soared out of the Knights of Columbus field near LaSalle High School and over a neighbor's house to smack into her aluminum siding as she prepared dinner.
“A teen-aged boy from LaSalle came to our door and asked for the baseball ... which I still have to this day,” she said. “He said a member of the Moeller baseball team, named Griffey,” had hit it.
George Graff, of Anderson Township, who coached Mr. Griffey as a youth, said, “He was a very mature 16-year-old, a very competitive player who hated to lose. He was a team player and always ready to do whatever it took to win a game.”
Apparently, according to several readers, he was equally determined to become a professional baseball player.
Driving instructor Julie Moeckel Dunn called him “a very nice young man” (with “very nice” underlined) and said, “he told me then that he was going to be a pro.”
“He knew he was going to walk into the dream that most little boys abandon in the ninth grade,” said the Rev. Joseph Tedesco, of Dayton, who served as Mr. Griffey's high-school guidance counselor. “He always told me he was going to play pro ball.
“He was one of the more interesting kids I have ever worked with.”
Mike Smith, former manager of the Beckett Ridge Skyline Chili, said Mr. Griffey used to frequent the drive-through as often as three times a day, always ordering the same thing: chili cheese sandwiches.
“I think he liked them plain,” he said. “Maybe those chili sandwiches are the real reason he wanted to come back so bad.”
“I remember him hitting one (ball) out of Gower Park in Sharonville and (it) landing in the pool across the street,” said Brion Roman, of Pittsburgh. “People knew then what would happen when he grew up.”
Mary Simons, his librarian at Schwab Junior High School, said, “He had a super personality, and all of the students liked him very much.”
Even dogs liked him.
Don Kortekamp, of Mack, who used to live around the corner from the Griffey family in Mount Airy, had a semi-friendly little dog named Charlie.
Mr. Griffey, he said, was “the only little kid (9 or 10) Charlie would not growl or snap at.
“I guess he (Charlie) knew a class act when he was petted by one.”
In addition to character traits, readers remembered highlights from his baseball, basketball and football games.
Mr. Barker, who served as Mr. Griffey's blocking dummy, said, “I remember he hit very hard and even drew blood a couple of times (I think that deserves Reds game tickets).”
Scott Ficorilli, of West Chester, remembered a 12-year-old Mr. Griffey hitting a ball from from a lower-level field in Mount Airy to an upper-level parking lot, finally landing on a distant parked car.
“Everyone knew back then that he was something special,” he said.
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