My dad turns 47 today, so I’ve been pondering for the last month or so, what would be the perfect gift? Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. can attest, baseball is the best way for a father and son to connect. I don’t play anymore, and I live in New England (I thought we’d have a couple inches of snow on the ground by now), so I decided that I should use my talent to buy him a gift I could afford: words; cheap, free however, meaningful words. Happy birthday, Padre:
It was 1990 when they heard the news: Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. would be playing on the same team. The Seattle Mariners had brought Junior to the Majors just the year before, and now the father Griffey would join him on the same ballfield. On September 14, 1990, the two would share a great moment when the dad hit a bomb to left center to put the Mariners above the California Angels 2-0. The incredible moment came in the next at-bat when Junior fired a shot just a few feet over into the left field stands. Back to back home runs in Junior’s second year and his dad’s second to last. The Griffeys will go down as one of the greatest father son pairs in history. Cecil Fielder and his son, Prince, are another historic pair. In the same year as the Griffeys’ back to back bombs, Cecil hit 51 home runs, and 17 years later, in 2007 Prince knocked his 50th out of the park. They’re the only father son pair to each have a 50 homer season. My dad grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and almost every night during the summer, he and his brother would fall asleep to the magical words of the longtime (and still on the air) Reds sportscaster Marty Brennaman. To this day, the Hall of Famer and his son will often take us out with Marty’s signature catchphrase: “And this one belongs to the Reds.” They’ve been doing the games for years just like I have been doing with my dad for our hometown sports teams. “Like father, like son”, has great meaning in the world of sports, and I’m thankful that I can share that with my dad. There are some great father son duos, and I like to think that my dad and I fall into that category. Happy birthday, Padre, and many more. Jesse A. Cook “On The Field, Over The Fence, And In The Booth: Like Father Like Son” January 2, 2017
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