Growing up as a kid in Washington, DC the only sports I found interest in were basketball, football, and soccer. My favorite was basketball but me and my cousin were very good soccer players in elementary school so we pretty much were known around the city for that. I think I was like five years old and my entire family saw my interest in sports and how I could remember tons of stats while my cousins would only want to watch cartoons.
In the 3rd grade my mom would always say to me if you ever want to make it in sports reporting you need to learn about other sports, especially baseball. I brushed her off and continued watching basketball and ignoring baseball. Later in the year Ken Griffey's Nike Air Griffey Max 2 released and my mom bought me a pair. I didn't know who Griffey was but i loved that shoe. They were teal had the bubbles on the bottom and just were amazing. I wore those shoes every single day. I put those shoes to rest, it was crazy.
After I got the shoe I started following Ken Griffey Jr. I made sure I found about everything he did in his games. Hits, home runs, catches, walks, stolen bases. In 98 when everyone was cheering for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sossa I was only going for Ken Griffey. Although he fell out of the race when they starting hitting into the 60's I thought Griffey was going to bounce back and catch up to those guys. But he didn't. He came out the next season and got 48 but his game wasn't the same, everyone could see that. But I didn't care he was my favorite player so I was always paying attention to what he did.
I owe my enthusiasm for baseball now to Ken Griffey and his shoes. The more I watched him the more I learned about the sport and its history and I just kept on watching. Now I can go to a Rays game and not be lost. I also kept collecting his shoes and I would only let my mom buy me Griffeys.
I got her to to get me the Nike Ken Griffey Max I two years after their release.
She bought me the Nike Air Max Griffey GD II
This past year Nike re-released his Nike Air Max I shoe and I got them for a second time.
Thank you Ken Griffey Jr. for giving me the sport of baseball through your sweet swing, cool shoes, and crazy catches.
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