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Did Ken Griffey Jr. play with his father? A look back at the 1990-91 Mariners with MLB’s first father-son duo on the same team

Did Ken Griffey Jr. play with his father? A look back at the 1990-91 Mariners with MLB’s first father-son duo on the same team

LeBron James and Bronny James will make history on Tuesday night.

The father-son duo is expected to be on the court together in the Lakers’ season opener against the Timberwolves, clinching their first NBA berth four months after Los Angeles drafted the USC rookie late in the second round.

The moment might not last long. James was reportedly expected to spend most of the season in the G League shortly after the draft, and his path to playing time would likely be severely limited even if he remained on the Lakers’ roster. Still, it’s a moment the elder James has long dreamed of.

The James father-son duo will make NBA history, but a duo first accomplished that feat on the baseball diamond more than 30 years ago — and both will be in attendance Tuesday.

Here is the story of Ken Griffey Jr. and how he met his father in Seattle.

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Did Ken Griffey Jr. play with his father?

Ken Griffey Jr. played parts of two seasons with his father, Ken Griffey Sr., between 1990 and 1991.

Unlike Bronny James, who joined his father’s team, it was actually Griffey Sr. who joined his son. The elder Griffey was released by the eventual champion Reds during the 1990 season and signed with the Mariners so he could play the season alongside his son.

The Griffeys made history on August 31, 1990, hitting back-to-back home runs exactly two weeks later in one of the most remarkable moments in MLB history.

The father-son duo played 51 games together before Griffey Sr.’s 1991 season was cut short due to injury in May. He retired at the end of the year at the age of 41.

Griffey Jr. was in the midst of his second MLB season and his first All-Star season when his father was traded to the Mariners in 1990. He finished the year hitting .300 with 22 home runs and an OPS of .847, and he was even better at that in 1991, batting .327. It wasn’t until 1993 that he really hit his stride, launching a 630-home run career that would have been even more astonishing had it not been for injuries.

The Griffeys combined to hit 782 career home runs and Griffey Jr. was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

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The best father-son sports duos

Father-son sports duos that never overlap are not uncommon. However, the James duo will be less likely to join company once they step onto the pitch.

The Griffeys were later joined by Tim Raines and his son Tim Raines Jr., who played four games together with the Orioles in 2001. NHL legend Gordie Howe also had overlaps with two of his sons throughout his long career.

That’s all among the major American sports leagues, but many families have produced great father-son duos who never played together. In addition to Griffey, the names Bonds, Guerrero and Fielder are also well known in baseball.

In the NBA, both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are second-generation players whose fathers had long professional careers.

Elsewhere, Archie Manning has drafted two Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks into the NFL, and Hall of Famer Deion Sanders is poised to send his son Shedeur to the NFL in next year’s draft.

Bobby Hull and Brett Hull are perhaps the most successful father-son duo in American sports, having each recorded more than 1,000 NHL points and been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

However, most failed to do what LeBron and Bronny James set out to do. This is a testament to LeBron’s longevity and a testament to Bronny’s ability to cut through the noise and make a name for himself in his young basketball career.