Mariners announce plans for Ken Griffey Jr. statue

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The Seattle Mariners held a ceremony on Saturday night to honor Ken Griffey Jr. as they retired the former center fielder’s No. 24 jersey. The team also announced another cool surprise: They will be making a statue of “The Kid” that will be placed outside Safeco Field next year.

It"s official. #Mariners President Kevin Mather announces there will be a Ken Griffey Jr. statue outside Safeco Field next year.

— #24EVER (@Mariners) August 7, 2016

The Mariners may have slipped to just two games over .500, but that didn’t impact the crowd for the game. Safeco Field was packed:

Griffey jersey and number retirement ceremony. pic.twitter.com/Un1DRQxCHH

— Chris Cwik (@Chris_Cwik) August 7, 2016

Griffey was drafted first overall by the Mariners in the 1987 draft, made the bigs in 1989 at age 19, then proceeded to make 10 straight All-Star Games and win 10 straight Gold Gloves, all with the Mariners. He led the league in home runs four times, RBIs, runs and slugging percentage once, and won an MVP — all with Seattle. Those were by far the best days of his career, so the statue honor is well deserved.

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Mariners retire Ken Griffey Jr’s uniform No. 24 (Video)

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Last month, Ken Griffey Jr. took his place among the game’s greats when he was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. On Saturday, the Mariners honored the man who is sixth on Major League Baseball’s all-time home run list.

Prior to the game between the Mariners and Angels was a ceremony at Safeco Field, at which time Griffey became the first player in Mariners history to have his uniform number retired.

During warmups, members of the Mariners all wore No. 24 and even had their hats on backwards, like Griffey used to famously do.

Batting practice today is the very last time any #Mariners player, at any level, will wear this number. #24EVER pic.twitter.com/2rq6PmWHrn

— #24EVER (@Mariners) August 6, 2016

In addition to having his number retired, Mariners president Kevin Mather announced a statue of Griffey will be be built outside of the stadium next year, another certainly deserved honor.

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