Ken Griffey Jr. became the first player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a Seattle Mariner on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon before a near-record crowd of around 50,000 fans in Cooperstown, New York.
After being welcomed to the Hall of Fame by Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and having his plaque inscription read by Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball, it was official. With such legends of the game as Sandy Koufax, Brooks Robinson, Johnny Bench and others looking on, Junior joined baseball immortality.