Ken Griffey Jr. draws praise as US hitting coach
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Ken Griffey Jr. stands behind the batting cage Tuesday afternoon at Salt River Fields, studying Team USA catcher Kyle Higashioka’s swing and giving him feedback between rounds of batting practice.
Suddenly, Higashioka is locked in, crushing the ball on every pitch.
“That’s a Michael Jackson right there!” Griffey yells.
Higashioka stops and looks back. “Michael Jackson?” he asks.
Griffey: “Yeah, Off the Wall. (Jackson’s 1979 album). Get it?”
Higashioka laughs, shakes his head, swings at the next pitch and drives it over the left-field fence.
“That’s got a chance to make 65,000 happy,” Griffey says, “or 65,000 pissed off.”
And so it goes like this every day during batting practice since Team USA’S arrival into town, with the players listening to Griffey’s advice, laughing at his jokes and mesmerized by his stories.
Griffey, 53, who hasn’t put on a uniform for this length of time since he retired from the Seattle Mariners in 2010, and inducted five years later into the Hall of Fame, is Team USA’S hitting coach. It’s the first time he has coached a soul since his kids grew up, and now that his competitive juices are going, well, it’s got a man thinking.
“I may be coming out of retirement in three years,” Griffey tells USA TODAY Sports. “I may have to play in the 2026 WBC. I’ve got to defend my batting title.” Batting title?
“Yep, look it up,” he says, “I hit .524 in that first WBC.”
Sure, enough, he did, while also hitting two doubles and three homers and posting 10 RBI in 21 at-bats.
Yep, just another reason why he’s idolized by every single player on the United States team, with players and coaches from opposing teams in the tournament nearly hyperventilating just seeing him across the field.
When USA played an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium last week, Griffey drew so much attention from the fans he nearly had to leave the ballpark. Even wearing a sweatshirt without his name at the WBC games at Chase Field in Phoenix, he tries to stay out of sight, hoping not to draw attention.
“People from all walks of life come up saying they watched you grow up, thanking you, and whether they take a picture or want me to sign something, it’s a highlight for them,” Griffey says. “Well, it’s cool for me, too.”
Hey, there are plenty of hitting coaches in the game, but as Griffey, wearing a pair of Nike Men’s Air Griffey shoes, points out: “You got to be a bad man to be a hitting coach with your own shoes.”
That’s Griffey. He was the face of baseball when he played, a 13-time Allstar, 10-time Gold Glove winner, seventime Silver Slugger, an MVP and a 630 home run hitter. Now he’s a hitting coach, mentor, an icon and a comedian.
“When these guys got here,” Griffey says, “I told them you got to check their egos at the door. I told them there was a
time when I was batting seventh in the lineup in the big leagues.”
Griffey broke into a slow, expansive grin and said, “Now, I didn’t tell I was just 19 years old at the time.”
Why, when Griffey burst into the big leagues in 1989 with the Mariners, players on Team USA like center fielder Cedric Mullins, 28, and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., 22, weren’t born yet.
“I didn’t really see him play, but he’s a role model to damn near every player in this game,” Mullins said. “To be able to be under his wing here, for as long as that may be, is so cool.”
Says Witt: “I know I’ve got his baseball card for sure. A few of them really.”
Says Higashioka: “I had his Nintendo video game. I wore it out as a 6-year-old.
Says shortstop Trea Turner: “I actually caught one of his foul balls as a kid. He was playing for Cincinnati, and I was at a Marlins game in Miami. It’s the only foul ball I ever caught in my life. I need to find it, because I need him to sign it.”
Griffey made an indelible impact on the baseball world as a player, and now he’s hoping to leave his legacy as a coach with Team USA. They’d advance to the quarterfinals with a victory Wednesday night against Colombia at Chase Field.
Griffey knows there is plenty of pressure but is making sure the players are prepared, spending time studying video of all them before they arrived to camp. Now he spends hours talking with them.
“To be honest,” Higashioka says, “that’s one of the things I was most excited about coming here. Just the opportunity to work with him. He’s already given me so much, as far as tips and tricks. I feel like he’s almost taken me under his wing, hanging on the bench together, and just picking his brain. He definitely knows how to hit.”
Mullins and reliever Devin Williams actually tried to persuade him into the cage Tuesday, showing off the swing that had every left-handed hitter emulating while growing up.
“I was trying to egg him on as much as I could,” Mullins said, “but he didn’t take the bait. Maybe one day.”
Williams reminded Griffey that if he makes the All-star team this year, Griffey has to come to Milwaukee, spend time with his Brewers teammates, and take him out for a nice steak dinner.
“Hey, all of my spots in that town,” he says, “have been closed for 20 years.”
No problem, Williams says, he’s got a few restaurants lined up. In the meantime, he did have one question while fidgeting with Griffey’s glove on the bench.
“When did they start making them like this,” he said, rubbing his fingers on the stitching of Griffey’s glove. “They don’t make them like that any more.”
Griffey looked at him, turned around, and blurted out: “There it is! He just called me old without calling me old!”
Williams: “No, they just look different. I’ve never seen them stitched like this.”
Griffey: “Well, you got to win a Gold Glove, and then they make them look like that for you. And when you get 10 Gold Gloves, they’ll change it up again for you. They’re all in my house. If you Zoom call me, you can see all of them.”
This is the type of banter it has been since Team USA arrived, trying to quickly come together for another WBC title run. It’s a 30-man collection of Allstars, MVPS and future Hall of Famers, but none of them are as famous or as accomplished as their hitting coach.