Ken Griffey Jr. was the idol of an entire generation of kids who watched him every day and looked up to him; mimicking his peculiar batting stance and recreating his tape-measure home runs.
He was the best and most exciting player of those 1990s Seattle Mariners teams, and then went to Cincinnati to complete his career.
He hit 630 home runs while losing countless games with injuries, especially late in his career.
His swagger and unique style were a hit among kids and young fans back in the day.
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is also a role model for thousands of kids around the world: he is not as flashy or outspoken as Griffey, but he lets his bat do the talking and boy, it speaks loudly.
The league’s official Twitter account wrote about a cool exchange between the two megastars.
Griffey talked to The Pivot Podcast, and he told a story about a message he sent to Judge and a cool response by the slugger.
Game recognize game pic.twitter.com/mLfHME6774
— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2022
Game Recognize Game
“I actually sent him a note – ‘congratulations! Keep going’; and he texted back: ‘Thanks, I’m just trying to be like you’,” Griffey reportedly said about his talk with Judge.
As MLB states, game recognize game: Judge probably grew up watching Griffey star on a nightly basis, like hundreds of young fans.
Judge is looking like the favorite for the AL MVP award despite Shohei Ohtani‘s excellent campaign.
The Yankees star is slashing .311/.425/.686 with 62 home runs, 133 runs, 131 RBI, 16 stolen bases and 11.5 WAR.
Those are video-game numbers.
The chances we see a similar performance sometime soon are close to zero.
Judge is a special player having a special season.
NEXT: Aaron Judge Releases A Statement After His Historic Night