Up Close with the Pittsburgh Sports Report
Ken Griffey, Sr.

Ken Griffey Sr., a native of Donora, Pa., won two World Series as a starting outfielder for Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" in the 1970s. Griffey was a three-time All-Star-he earned MVP honors in the 1980 Midsummer Classic-and finished his 18-year big-league career with 152 homers and a sterling .296 batting average.

But Griffey is perhaps best known as the father of another sweet-swinging lefty outfielder - Ken Griffey Jr., one of the greatest power hitters and all-around players ever.

In 1990, the Griffey's became the first father-son duo to play on the same major league team. They homered back-to-back on Sept. 14, 1990, in one of the most dynamic moments in Seattle Mariners history.

PSR's Walter Villa recently caught up with Griffey Sr., 59, who in April was named the commissioner of the newly-formed Florida Winter Baseball League.

PSR: What was your motivation for becoming involved with the Florida winter league?

Griffey: I want to be a part of something to give kids a chance I never had. I lived in Donora until I was 23, when I made the major leagues. Before that, I spent the offseasons working in the steel mills in Donora. I was an electronic meter-reader for the Grief Brothers company. I had to do what I could to survive.

PSR: When you working in the steel mills in the offseason, how did you stay in shape for baseball?

KG: The only thing I could do was run. There were no indoor facilities near me where I could go and practice baseball. And nobody was going to want to throw with me outside in the winter.

Plus, we weren't allowed to lift weights in those days. If the team thought we lifted weights, we'd get fined. To lift weights, we had to be rehabbing an injury, and a doctor had to be there to supervise our workouts. Teams were afraid we would get too tight, and it would hurt our swings. That was the myth back then.

PSR: What do you hope the Florida Winter Baseball League, which runs until late January, can accomplish?

KG: Maybe we'll get a kid who nobody thinks is that good, but he gets an extra 150 at-bats and becomes a legit prospect. That is the type of success story we are looking for. As for the league itself, we have four teams now and plan to expand (to eight by 2011 and 12 by 2013). There is a possibility we could partner with Major League Baseball. And there is talk that our league champion could one day play in the Caribbean World Series against teams from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

PSR: What will the league do for you personally?

KG: I am still active with the Reds as an instructor, but I always wanted to be a general manager or to get into the player-development side of baseball. Hopefully, this experience will help me better understand the inner workings of baseball.

PSR: Your son is fifth in major-league history in career home runs. Did you ever dream he would rank that high?

KG: No, because I saw him more as a line-drive hitter. But his first year in the minors, that's when I started to see the power. He had some pop in his bat, but it didn't come out until he was older. He didn't hit over 30 homers until he was 24. Junior won the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game three times, (including once at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium). Probably the most amazing to watch was the one he won in Boston. He would hit one to left, then center, then right, then back again. He could do what he wanted with the ball, and he was cocky.

PSR: Junior is one of the few power hitters from the modern era who has not been soiled by steroids rumors. How do you view the guys who did use performance enhancers?

KG: Well, they still had to make contact, so you can't take it away from what they did. But those guys will always have an asterisk by their names, in my opinion. I'm just proud of what Junior has done and the way he's done it.

PSR: When you were in your prime in the 1970s, the Pirates and Reds were great rivals. Both teams have been down lately, especially the Pirates. Who is to blame in Pittsburgh?

KG: I'd say the owners for not going out and spending the money needed to get the players to win. But the management and the scouts should have drafted better also. It's just a shame because they have one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball with the Pittsburgh skyline. .... I still remember when they had Willie Stargell, and they beat us (the Reds) in the playoffs in 1979.

PSR: What other memories do you have of Stargell?

KG: The day Junior got drafted, we went to Atlanta, where I was playing. Junior spent three hours with Pops" who was the Braves' hitting coach at the time. Pops taught him things I didn't even know, and I'd been playing 14 years.