Ken Griffey Jr.'s First Cincinnati Reds Opening Day (April 3, 2000)

[@danejurus69]

Getting him was a dream come true for many of us Reds fans at the time.

[@theman6705]

The Nimble Ninja Too bad the dream was shattered after 2000

[@CSDonohue11]

The Nimble Ninja Being a nerd kid I used to wish for Jr. & make lil prayers for Griffey Jr. to come to the Reds. I still can’t believe the hometown discount didn’t resolve in a @ least a Ring for The Kid.

[@TallRingo]

As a Mariner fan, who loved the Reds as a little kid before M’s existed, if he had to go somewhere, glad it was Cincy.

[@dallascowboysnumberonefan4863]

The Nimble Ninja Yes it was, I wish ken griffey could've gotten a ring with the reds but it never worked. out that way.

[@kennethgriffin7921]

as a canadian growing up in ottawa that could only see griffey a handfull of times every year when the mariners would play the blue jays i can say that the reds getting junior killed baseball for me. i was his biggest fan. i owned every game for super nintendo, gameboy and n64. i had an authentic jersey i got in new york when visiting my cousins. caused a lot of troubled with my uncle and grandparents because they gave me money to buy something with new york on it. i changed my swing to match his and even learned how to switch hit just so i could bat lefty like griffey. i wore my hat backwards. i learned every word from the ice cube rap song and even made all my internet handles after him ( griffmoney, kennygriff, kenneth griffin )... and when he went to the reds i never saw another live game until 2008 and baseball died for me. i lost all passion for the game and stopped playing and i was a dominant pitcher throwing near 90 miles per hour. hitting homeruns. but without being able to follow griffey and that move killing my love for the mariners i hated baseball forever and never got the love back. now i'm an overweight bald loser that never lived out my dreams. but at least you guys got what you wanted

[@nickchadmon5696]

Its a shame what injuries did to Jr after he left Seattle

[@sominboy2757]

The old school astroturf messed up his legs. He was also in his early 30's when he signed in cincy and it was too late when they moved to gabp

[@moosemathias1388]

His HR numbers and numbers would’ve potentially put him in the 700 club

[@jmathieson15]

Moose Mathias easily 👍

[@jesuschristislord6790]

@Indiana Jones he literally never said that.

[@salamisumo2]

Harry Engel Yeah, he had a few good seasons and one great one but no playoff appearances.

[@tygray8343]

Those Reds jerseys were so dope

[@jacobrichardson1952]

Idk why the reds isn't rocking them vest jerseys

[@HueyPPLong]

Early 2000s was the vest jersey era lol

[@CSDonohue11]

Yea they were dude. So Dope.

[@jacobrichardson1952]

ThA MAN C MAcK always looking good with the vest uniforms

[@joseanthompson9069]

They just put them back on 2 weeks ago.

[@parableproductionsvideo]

Regardless of anything, it was awesome having Junior in Cincy. I got to see one of the greatest of all-time in person 8 or 9 times more than if he had never come here.

[@ChadQuick270W]

Good old Riverfront Stadium. Seems impossible this was 19 years ago. Sadly the Reds had 10 losing seasons from 2000-2009 and seem to be in a slump again. I sure wish we’d get winning baseball back to Cincinnati. Nice to hear the radio play by play later in the video. Marty B is a legend and I’ll miss him after this season.

[@lukasgarage956]

I remember Riverfront......my first game was in 74..... 5 years old

[@jeffrobdine]

@@lukasgarage956 I was at the 1970 All-Star game!

[@GH-uu1sg]

This year this year

[@cjones3710]

I agree The concrete donuts had personality bc ppl focused in the game. No stupid led crap boards, no goofy ads, no stupid nets blicking view and seperating us from players, that was so cool qbout mlb, they are right there, and u best pay attention or you will be sorry. No goofs qith cell phones, worse yet players on computers watching tape during a game of play.that happened 30 secs ago. If you watched the play life u would nt need be on the computer now. The owners and players both seem to abhor the fans. Screwed up the timelessness of baseball. Un matching shoes and belts....wear whatever u want, looks like little leauge in a poor area. No....acctually the opposite, like a rich area wherr kids are too.spolied to wear team issued belts or.stirrups . Show.up in soccer cleats and goofy socks with neo.designw. Manfred is the worst. Baseball.is about family, tradition, timelessness, and unwritten rules like life.

[@YungRalph365]

Prime Larkin and Griffey in the Same clubhouse!! That’s Legendary

[@neal6473]

And a Deion Prime Time Sanders 😉👍.

[@drby0788]

@@neal6473 and Reggie Sanders

[@adambrickell6425]

Yeah, too bad the reds always sucked!

[@scottqualls7690]

Ahh to hear crowds like that again in Cincy. Gone are the days.

[@lukasgarage956]

It's been awhile......and the Bengals God they suck

[@ltldoc2011]

In fairness, it was Opening Day of Griffey's debut, so I would expect them to be pretty loud.

[@adamwesley2985]

Man we might Lose baseball in Cincinnati in the next 10 to 20 years...kids dont care a d that's not a good sign

[@slxyer145]

@@adamwesley2985 at least we made the playoffs last season and just beat the Angels. We don’t talk about the Athletics game though.

[@switcheroo1759]

@@adamwesley2985 the reds would never leave cincy. Ever

[@BXBejita]

seems like such a long time ago, but it wasn't, just another era. It was pretty sweet to see him in an M's uniform again at the end of his career.

[@sbollmeyer]

I watched Ken Griffey Jr. play in the California League, "The San Bernardino Spirit team" at Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino, CA, back in 1988. The Actor Mark Harmon was part owner of the team. He was 18 at the time. We knew he wouldn't be there that long. He was killing it.

[@marvinlynch1305]

I ain't know Deion was still on the Reds' roster in 2000...my favorite football player and my favorite baseball player on the same squad

[@Phillygoat1983]

Wow that was a stacked team

[@thefrase7884]

Ebonics 101

[@tenorjosh]

I was here at this game. Pretty special to watch Griffey walk out onto the field and hear the sound of the stadium. Unreal

[@chrisj197438]

I honestly feel like he should have stayed in the American League and became a DH. He would have had many more years to play and probably injury free.

[@anthonyhutchins2300]

He would never do that... He played defense hard

[@chrisj197438]

Anthony Hutchins Possibly true

[@Chief_B707]

Life comes at your fast man 😫😢

[@davidhager5402]

We need more players like Griffey!! He was the man

[@hectorlopez1069]

Definitely, the man to not used steroids to hit homers.

[@darkknightsds]

His first year with the Reds was really good - 40 HR and 5.5 WAR

[@paysonfox88]

The Closest thing I ever saw to Ken Griffey at his best was 3 modern day players from the next era. 1. Albert Pujols -- first 10 years 2. Mike Trout 3. Josh Hamilton from 2008-2012 Think about it! Griffey had almost 400 HR in his first 10 full seasons!!!! He also hit for high batting averages that Mcgwire and Sosa did not. He also played Gold Glove outfield which the steroiders did not. This guy was the flat out best of his era bar none.

[@justone9181]

Bonds

[@elcoriyodelo3ojo]

Arod ?

[@kilgoretrout321]

Beltre's one season was amazing. I stayed up late and he always seemed to hit a game winner. But he was done with Dodgers long term after they gave him crap over his botched appendix surgery

[@johnbach2380]

@@elcoriyodelo3ojo roider

[@johnbach2380]

@@justone9181 roider

[@nickdehart5702]

The sights and sounds of my childhood. Fantastic video!

[@bbjfam8248]

This was a very sad day for me as a Mariners fan. Griffey was my hero growing up and still is my favorite all-time athlete. GOAT in my book

[@charlitoguzman6414]

This 2000 Reds team had a bunch of good talent on the team. With Deon Sanders,Ken Griffey Jr,Barry Larkin,Aaron Boone,Dante Bichette,Sean Casey,Dimitri Young,Norm Charlton. This 2000 Reds team definitely was built for postseason baseball but they fell short.

[@steve-onlinemathtutorcasha4724]

I was fortunate to get to see Ken Griffey Jr play for the Reds in person! He is an amazing player!

[@zayaveli]

my favorite giffey swingmans! classics!

[@MrDuneedon]

Ah. I was there on this day. So much promise. So much hope. The 2000 season turned out to be a good -- not great -- one, but it was a regression from the really good 1999 season. And then, well...consecutive losing seasons (including FOUR last place finishes) all the way until 2010, after Junior was long gone.

[@domjones_who3849]

HANDS DOWN MY FAVORITE PLAYER ALL TIME

[@hectorlopez1069]

Everybody respects him for his accomplishments and not wanting steroids like everybody else does.

[@pabloabogadosnavarra2198]

I love that sleevless jerseys and football stadiums

[@skyguy5587]

Crew chief: RANDY MARSH I’m sorry I thought this was America

[@BeefPapa]

From the hard astro turf of the Kingdome to the hard astro turf of Riverfront. The end was imminent.

[@DAL201107]

Did Larkin not have the greatest bat throw ever? His release after hitting was the smoothest shit ever.

[@CSDonohue11]

Andrew Lester Clean

[@notmyrealname2592]

Michael Tucker's swing is so much like Griffey's.

[@RoundingThird]

I know right. It's like the consolation prize for everyone who came here thinking Griffey hit one out that day.

[@johnvollat]

I have a theory he copied bonds swing too when he played with him

[@kerunt_uptime]

He was one of the lucky ones that played on his favorite team and the teams his dad played for

[@Vikingstwinsgophers]

Best swing of all time

[@carloseduardomedinanarvaez]

My idol the best player in all time in the mayor league baseball

[@_ThatOneServant]

Cincy was so lit around this time

[@la3465]

King GRIFFY JR

[@odibaracatibaro1255]

Jr the sweetest swing in baseball

[@hectorlopez1069]

Absolutely

[@ernesterikm]

What a squad. Pokey, Barry, Griffey, Deion, Aaron Boone, Sean Casey, Bichette, the forgotten Scott Williamson (rookie of the year). Good ole days

[@treygray2817]

Deion didn't play in the MLB that year. Only a few games in the minors

[@SirJoelsuf1]

And so began a whole decade of half seasons due to injuries. So unfortunate that Griffey couldn't stay healthy. Would have had 800 home runs to his name easily. Also, didn't know that Barry Larkin was still on the Reds in 00. Pretty cool to see him smack a double into center before Griffey came up here.

[@kellyballaro7846]

I was sitting in the left field bleachers for this game

[@abelincoln5698]

i wish the Reds still had a Barry Larkin . That guy was the boss

[@UC_Podcast]

Griffey had so much promise in Cincinnati. Too bad the injury bug bit him when he was over there. Otherwise we would be looking at the Cincinnati Reds in a different light!

[@itstheman0nthem00n]

I don’t know why but it just feels weird not seeing Griffey in a Seattle uniform. It’s awesome he followed in his fathers footsteps, though.

[@lebronjameslol3521]

Everyone gets injured except Ripken, Id still take Griffeys stats over Ripkens

[@abelincoln5698]

Rose didn't get injured.

[@beeideal8017]

The Reds haven't had a bonafide superstar since

[@cmqguy]

As a diehard Giants fan I so wish The Kid would have gotten the all time home run record and not Bonds.

[@DR-hy6zw]

1:26 crew chief Randy Marsh...”I thought this was America !?”

[@giantchamp415]

I have yet to meet a fan that has something bad to say about or hates "The Kid". There will never be another Ken Griffey Jr. Not in this me first era in basebal

[@jesuschristislord6790]

I hate how bad reds fan treated Griffey. He had three great seasons in 2000,05,07 and a couple decent seasons in 01 and 08. And the others he got hurt giving his all to the team. He had a good career in Cincy, not amazing like Seattle, but he played like a 30+ year old athlete with a lot of miles on his body.

[@englandbengal]

Hidden Secrets I remember seeing lots of jerseys with Griffey’s name in the back. Cincinnati loves him. He just couldn’t stay on the field.

[@johnbabcock5123]

Wow! Larkin then Griffey, what a line-up.

[@bamafan9283]

If he had an injury free career, he would’ve hit 750-800 career homeruns

[@njcdlarson]

They loved Griffey but Larkin still owns the keys to the city.

[@darthbuilds3671]

Jersey were insane and I got Johnny bench ahtograph

[@beauford731]

Nothing was harder being a 10 year old kid and seeing junior leave Seattle.

[@BirbarianHomeGuard]

Dang this is 2000? Looks like it could have been the early 90s.

[@abelaldrich967]

if Griffey didn't get hurt he would've set HR record or at least challenged it

[@steve-onlinemathtutorcasha4724]

Lets go Reds!

[@shane6860]

If griffey was a Red all throughout his career.. I feel like he would've won a championship.. Perhaps in 95.

[@hectorlopez1069]

I respect him more than ever for not using any type of roids. We need players like him to not use any performance enhancing substance.

[@elbob17]

Wanted to see the rest of the game.

[@RoundingThird]

It was rained out after 6 innings. All I had were these clips to add to the highlight reel I never made.

[@drby0788]

Prettiest swing ever man.

[@lukejohnson5399]

My dad played with him in high school

[@Firestorm2814Sector]

Was that Deion???

[@showme8061]

Yep Primetime!!!

[@_warren6659]

Barry Larkin could play the shit out of this game…

[@timd8912]

The kid....

[@x8..231]

Would you happen to have the game where Griffey hit 500th home run on Father's day? Thanks.

[@RoundingThird]

Sorry I don't have that one.

[@tightywhitey9779]

That was a horrible call at third 😂😂😂

[@Tmacademia]

He was so safe

[@hunterjenkins11]

Old Riverfront Stadium. Good times. Although... I was never a fan of the Griffey trade. We gave the Mariners Mike Cameron who was coming up well. McGuire, Sammy, Bonds and Jr all in the National League that year.

[@englandbengal]

Hunter Jenkins seriously? Would you not give those same guys up for Mike Trout? Because that’s how good Griffey was at the time. No one could foresee Griffey’s decline at the time.

[@barrybonds9558]

20 years Ago.

[@charlesh946]

Deion sightin!

[@yeisonfeliz2944]

Su primera temporada en cinccinatti año 2000

[@michaell874]

It’s a shame that the Cincinnati Reds went from being the Big Red Machine to the Nasty Boys to what is no more than a farm team for the wealthiest teams from the biggest cities, with Cincinnati ownership making no effort to ever try to win again.

[@oldmillrd8153]

Griffy, A-rod and the Big Unit should have stayed in Seattle. I don't think Seattle fans really new what they had. Management sure didn't.

[@anthonyhutchins2300]

Absolute shame his body fell apart after this

[@bluegrassbass-turd7912]

Wow. It awesome going to games back then. Like being young again at games during the Big red machine years Look at the talent on that time Even had Prime Time Deion Sanders.

[@macharper8214]

Cut off uniform jerseys? Who comes up with these crazy ideas?

[@leonritchie3413]

That was back when the reds had an owner that actually gave a shit about winning!!

[@tomb20061]

I used to love baseball and the Reds back then. Now I don’t watch baseball at all…

[@DerekLFoster]

He tore a hamstring warming up

[@phillipsilvers1331]

Back when the reds were halfway decent team

[@englandbengal]

Phillip Silvers no they were good the year before. They ducked the whole time Griffey was here.

[@johntempleton5030]

Of course I am a Mariner fan from Seattle but The Kid always looked odd, or just off, playing in a Cincy uniform. Plus all the injuries (obviously) never did him any good.

[@zacharyboone1647]

Biggest sports disappointment in my life was Jr. As a red..the day he signed ended up being the best day

[@Supersonicspyro]

What? How was he a dissapointment? He's in the hall of fame ffs

[@treygray2817]

Yea, due to his time with the Mariners...

[@englandbengal]

Supersonicspyro 24 he never lives up to expectations in Cincinnati. Hurt all the time as well.

[@darreleddings5901]

Never should have left home.

[@englandbengal]

Darrel Eddings which one? He was born and raised in Cincinnati but all his success was in Seattle.

[@12thman75]

Should of stayed in Seattle

[@RoundingThird]

He should have been drafted by the Reds and hit 945 HR over 24 years. :)

[@chrisj197438]

Rounding Third That wouldn’t have happened playing on riverfronts astroturf. He would have put up those numbers staying in the American League and becoming a DH later in his career.

[@RoundingThird]

No doubt you're right. We can all what if all day. Had he just played somewhere on grass there's no telling what he would have done. I hate to say it but if the NL had a DH things might have been different in Cincinnati.

[@oeao2841]

Yup...if it aint broke dont fix it

[@rocknrallsoul94rockero4]

Reds should retire his number

[@christianschwalbach7561]

On another note.....semi not fat Dmitri Young. Lol

[@englandbengal]

Christian Schwalbach the Round Mound of Pound!

[@CSDonohue11]

Look how thin Jr still is here.

[@darthbuilds3671]

Autograph

[@johnbasedow8973]

Shoulda never left....

[@johnbach2380]

Four straight changeups hahha that sly bastard…..

[@Shinobi33]

He got really lean for his first season with the Reds. Cause he was a little pudgy in his last year in Seattle. Then pudgy again with his last years with the Reds

[@abelincoln5698]

Jr didn't keep his legs in shape after he turned 30 and he paid for it. Even a natural has to step up his conditioning once he reaches a certain age

[@CubicConch]

This happened a day before I was born!

[@MetalKillsRap2]

I hated it. Griffey should’ve stayed in Seattle

[@kilgoretrout321]

So why, besides injury, did Jr go to crap? His average went way down

[@abelincoln5698]

Because he's lazy and didn't take care of his body . Even a natural has to step up his conditioning after he turns 30 . If he had his fathers work ethic he might have been able to play more

[@RoundingThird]

I just have to throw this out there. From 2000-2007 his per 162 game average was .273 - 38 HR - 106 RBI - 80 BB - .846 OPS. Averaging 105 games made it feel worse than it was. www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griffke02.shtml#2000-2007-sum:batting_standard

[@abelincoln5698]

@@RoundingThird He performed while he was healthy , no question about it. He just didn't perform at a level that people had seen from him from 1990 -99. I admit he seemed to hit a home run every time I went to the ballpark to watch a game in Cincinnati. Junior at 3/4 strength was still much better than an average ballplayer

[@CSDonohue11]

Griffey Jr.’s Opening Day Game in CinCinnati got rained out after the 3rd inning. It Was an omen. Larkin got thrown out going for 2 in front of Jr. too in the 1st inning of that game. Which made no sense because then 1st base is open anyways to pitch around Griff. I remember the announcers saying Larkin will have to get used to playing in front of someone like Jr. My 2 All Time Favorite players were on the same team and I still can’t believe we didn’t get a ring with those teams. Too bad we didn’t have someone much more legit than Adam Dud hitting behind Griffey.

[@RoundingThird]

Larkin didn't get thrown out in the 1st inning. 1:40, 4:47 and 5:29.

[@CSDonohue11]

Yea he did. This isn’t the game. I know he says later about it stopping In the 6th but this is the game that actually was played Official. The actual 1st game on the 1st was rained out and I remember thinking it was a bad omen and it was. Griffey was hurt all the time. The 1st game didn’t go Official because they didn’t play enough innings. This game they played enough innings to make it Official.

[@CSDonohue11]

Rounding Third It was Espn. This game wasn’t.

[@CSDonohue11]

Rounding Third It was on early west coast time too. Was a 1:05 game so it started @ 10:05 PCT but they didn’t play the whole game.

[@RoundingThird]

@@CSDonohue11 I'm afraid you're mistaken. This game stared around 1 PM on a Monday just like every other opening day did back then. It was a 3-3 tie and was official. The only time the Reds started on a Sunday was in 1994 and until a year or two ago NO opening day had been rained out in Cincinnati since the 60s. This was the first time Griffey was presented to Cincinnati as a Red in a regular season game at Riverfront. This game may have been on ESPN but was also on Fox Sports which would have been my preference behind radio as the audio but then there's that pesky delay. I clearly remember trying to switch to the radio for the last 3 innings when the rain came because Griffey was totally going to homer in the bottom of the 9th. www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/2000-schedule-scores.shtml www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN200004030.shtml

[@blobulous3500]

Why did he want to go to cincinatti and not a real contender like the yankees or braves

[@notsauer]

Blobulous he said he’d rather retire than play for the Skankees!

[@oeao2841]

Worst move in MLB history...Cincinnati ruined his career...if it aint broke don't fix it...whats confusing is that he's from Pennsylvania and the annohncer said that he wanted to play for/with his father but he already did that in Seattle

[@RoundingThird]

He was born in PA but raised in Cincinnati. His dad played for the Reds and was a coach for the Reds in 2000 and there was a possibility he could have been manager. His family is mostly in Cincinnati or Florida so a little easier to travel to. Some people in Seattle, probably the same kind of cool kids that like to bully me for sharing videos, sent him death threats in his last year or 2 there. It was a great move for Seattle and was something Reds fans always wanted. When I was young, if I had his talent, I would have left any team in the world to play for the Reds the first chance I had, for cheap. I have to politely disagree with 'the worst trade' since there was a guy named Babe Ruth and the Reds did trade Frank Robinson who went on to win a triple crown and was still hitting 20+ bombs in 8 of the 10 years after he left. And astroturf likely did most of the damage. It just didn't surface until a year after he left. Those hamstrings were not likely to hold up any better in the giant outfield that Seattle has now. If you're a Seattle fan you got 116 wins and a really good center fielder in his prime to replace Griffey who'd already hit 2/3 of his HRs for Seattle.

[@nathanhale5455]

Based strictly on potential, ken griffey was thee biggest failure in the history of the Cincinnati Reds! Because of GM jim bowden, the team with already a great outfield of Jeffrey Hammonds, Greg Vaughn & Mike Cameron, was destroyed so the reds could agree to Griffey's trade demand. This team was on its way to greatness if they hadn't acquiesced to the loser Griffey's trade demand & the rest is history! The reason injuries affected Griffey was due to him reporting to spring training every year OUT OF SHAPE! Each year the running gag was how great Griffey looked coming into spring training & within six weeks, the loser Griffey would go on the disabled list! He will go down in history as THEE worst player in Reds history due to his production vs salary. He singlehandedly set the Reds back decades (the Reds are STILL trying to overcome the terrible trade for Griffey)! Griffey was a privileged loser. Btw, he padded his homerun stats in Seattle at THE HOMER DOME! Who couldn't hit homers in that place & when he got to Cincinnati, his true low level talent was exposed so he was always making excuses why he didn't do well there, usually it was because of his "injuries"! 😂😂😂 Until Griffey got to Cincinnati I had never heard in baseball the term "soreness" as an excuse to miss games. Thanks Kenny, we're still trying to overcome that terrible trade.

[@kyaaron39]

Horrible turf

[@blacjackdaniels200]

I’m not a Mariner fan but this was a bad career choice. He should have stayed in Seattle or gone to another team’. The Reds are terrible.

[@abelincoln5698]

Every baseball player from Cincinnati wants to play for the Reds and will do so if they get a chance. And if you don't step up your conditioning after you turn 30 you will get hurt no matter who you play for. Jr was lazy

[@mikem591]

He should have stayed with the Mariners.