Ken Griffey Sr., who played right field for two World Series champion teams with the Cincinnati Reds and made major league history by hitting back-to-back home runs with his son, has announced his retirement.
Griffey, 41, said he reached the decision Saturday night, a day after his doctor told him he would not be able to play for at least 10 more months.Griffey began the 1991 season on the disabled list after injuring his neck in an auto accident during spring training. He came back to play in 30 games, hitting .282 with one home run and nine RBIs, before a bulging disk in his neck forced him out for good. The disk was removed Sept. 11.
Griffey's doctor, William Tobler, cleared him to do light running on grass but said Griffey would be in no shape to play by spring training.
"I was hoping to be able to come back for one more year, but I realized about a week after the operation that it probably wasn't going to happen," Griffey said Sunday night from his home in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati.
He finished his 19-year career with a .296 average. He had 2,143 hits, 152 homers, 859 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.
Griffey broke in with Cincinnati in 1973 and hit .384 in 25 games.
He settled in Seattle in 1990, after moves to New York, Atlanta and back to Cincinnati, where he joined his oldest son, Ken Jr.