Griffey’s 400th homer sets new standard
On his father’s 50th birthday, Ken Griffey Jr. made a little history of his own.
On April 10, 2000, Griffey Jr. hit the 400th home run of his big league career, becoming – at 30 years, 141 days – the youngest MLB player to reach that milestone. Griffey Jr., playing for the Cincinnati Reds, hit a 2-0, fourth-inning pitch from the Rockies’ Rolando Arrojo into the left field seats at Coors Field for his second homer of the season in Cincinnati’s eighth game of the year.
Griffey Jr. received a hug from the birthday boy, Reds coach Ken Griffey Sr., as he entered the dugout.
Previously, the youngest player to reach the 400-home run mark was Jimmie Foxx at 30 years, 248 days.
“The biggest thing is, I tell my dad it’s a cheap way of not buying him a gift on his birthday,” Griffey Jr. told the Associated Press that day. “So he’ll get this ball. My mom got 399, and he’s got 400.
“It’s a special moment for both of us, especially that I can do it in front of him.”
Playing in his first season with the Reds following a Feb. 10, 2000 trade from the Mariners, Griffey Jr. would total 40 home runs and 118 RBI that year in his first campaign with his hometown team. He debuted with Seattle in 1989, and played portions of the 1990 and 1991 seasons with his father, who was winding down his 19-year big league career with the M’s.
“I started when I was 19, which is not normal in this time and age,” Griffey Jr. said. “But I don’t really think about the numbers. I just think about helping the ball club.
“If I hit a home run, I hit a home run. The only numbers I really want to see are the ones in the win column.”
Griffey Jr. retired following the 2010 season with 630 home runs, 1,836 RBI and 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field.
He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2016.
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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