June 2 is Anniversary of Arguably Biggest Day in Seattle Mariners Team History
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June 2 is a very special day in Seattle Mariners team history, because it's the anniversary of the probable biggest day in team history.
It was on June 2, 1987 that the M's selected Ken Griffey Jr. with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Ken Griffey Jr. was as doubtless as a No. 1 overall pick could be, and his arrival in Seattle would change the destiny of a franchise.
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) June 2, 2025
The @Mariners drafted the future Hall of Famer #OTD in 1987. https://t.co/zCTzrMqYL0 (📸 Doug McWilliams) pic.twitter.com/g1IUZehMID
Nicknamed 'The Kid,' Griffey instantly helped revolutionize the M's franchise. He burst onto the scene in 1989, producing a 3.3 WAR season and hitting 16 homers in 127 games. From then on, he became one of the best players in baseball, making the All-Star team every year from 1990-1999 with Seattle. With the M's, he also won 10 Gold Glove Awards and seven Silver Slugger Awards.
He captured the American League MVP Award in 1997 when he hit 56 homers and drove in 147 runs. He led the American League in home runs four times with the Mariners and had the highest slugging percentage (.646) in 1997. The Mariners traded him to the Cincinnati Reds after the 1999 season but returned to Seattle in 2009 and played that season and part of 2010 before retiring. He hit 19 homers in those two seasons.
All in all, Griffey is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He helped the Mariners make the playoffs in the 1995 and 1997 seasons, and Seattle advanced to the American League Championship Series in 1995.
His number 24 has been retired by the organization.
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