WINONA LAKE - Ken Griffey Sr. knows how to be cool.
Whether it be batting in front of fans at packed stadiums during the World Series, speaking to a gymnasium of Little Leaguers or just watching his son play baseball, Griffey can keep his cool."I think the crowd here wants to hear about my family - about me and Junior," Griffey said Tuesday at the Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College.
Griffey was in Winona Lake to kick off this year's Baseball Player's Association World Series, which will take place at Warsaw's City-County Athletic Complex beginning today and running until Sunday.
The CCAC will host the BPA's 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16-year old divisions, which has brought 66 teams from Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky to town.
"I didn't have a complex like that when I grew up," Griffey said about the CCAC. "We had to pick up rocks where I played."
No matter what kind of field he used to fine tune his skills on, it must have worked.
Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 29th round of the 1969 amateur draft, Griffey went on to spend 24 years as a professional - 19 in the major leagues and five in the minors.
"Those five years in the minors is where my dedication came in," he said. "In high school, baseball was easy - you hit, run and catch. I didn't really know about the dedication it took. In the minors, it's 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday. That's dedication. I had to learn all there was to know about baseball."
And it's not only dedication Griffey credits to his long stay in the major leagues, which only consisted of 24 teams and about 600 players during his career, but also enjoyment.
"It's very important to understand the difference between a job and a game," Griffey said. "When you play baseball, it's gotta be fun."
That excitement wasn't only something he wanted as a player, but also something he wanted for his sons, including current Major League Baseball player Ken Griffey, Jr.
"As a parent, I'd go watch Junior play," Griffey said. "Everybody at the park he would be intimidated because, I was Ken Griffey, Sr. and a Major League Baseball player. But when I was there, I was a father. I just wanted to watch to see if he was enjoying himself. I could have cared less if he played well or not."
Obviously, Junior not only enjoyed himself, but excelled.
Taken as the overall No. 1 pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 1987 amateur draft, Junior was only in the minor leagues for about 400 at-bats before making it to the big leagues.
"To make it in 400 at-bats is unbelieveable," Griffey said. "It took me 2,000, which is the average. But that's dedication. Junior knew from a young age that he wanted to play in the major leagues."
But even with dedication, baseball is also a mental game.
Between the ages of 12 and 18, each time Griffey would show up to watch his son play, he'd go hitless.
Finally, after Junior's first season in the majors, in which he batted .264, hit 16 home runs and drove in 61 runs, he got a hit in front of his father while playing in an instructional league.
"I told him, 'That was easy, why did it take you six years to do it?'," the elder Griffey said.
According to Griffey, he had talked to his son about not having any pressure on himself while playing, and that correlated onto the field.
"There's no pressure on you having fun," he said.
And it's not only self-imposed pressure Griffey talked about, but also pressure inflicted by the crowds at Little League games.
"I used to be a part of a camp in Orlando, Fla., and my job was to work with parents and educate them on how to watch without interferring," he said. "Some of these parents can get a little crazy. I was a parent myself, and all the other ones would always look at me to see how I'd respond. All I cared about was seeing Junior have fun."
During his speech, Griffey did mention one time his son had a little too much fun at his old man's expense.
While the two were both playing for the Mariners, during the tailend of Senior's career, Junior was playing centerfield and ran over to catch a flyball right in front of his dad.
As Junior ran into the dugout, he was covering his face with his mitt, laughing at what he had just done.
"When I got to the dugout, I gave him the universal gesture to come over and see me," Griffey said, motioning his index finger in the 'come over here' gesture. "I told him, 'Don't you ever embarass me again.'"
During his career, Griffey made three all-star games, being named the MVP of the 1980 game. He also finised second in batting average in 1976 hitting .336 and won back-to-back World Series titles as a part of the Big Red Machine in 1975 and 1976.
The World Series titles are something he still has on his future hall-of-fame son.
"He's got all the home runs, but I got all the rings," Griffey said, referring to his son's 621 home runs, which ranks him fifth all-time.
Of course, the father was never in competition with his son, as one of his most treasured memories is hitting back-to-back home runs with his son on Sept. 14, 1990.
"It's probably the highlight of my career," Griffey said of the home runs off California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill. "Another thing - mine went further."
Currently, Griffey resides in Orlando, Fla., and works as an instructor with the Cincinnati Reds, is the commissioner of the newly formed Florida Winter Baseball League and is also raising awareness about prostate cancer.
"I'm a two-year survivor," he said about overcoming cancer. "Things have been going pretty well. I just got my (prostate-specific antigen) test back, and it's 0.0 percent. So, I'm happy with that. I've been trying to get the word out for men to get tested. If it's found early enough, it's treatable."
Despite retiring from the game in 1991, Griffey still finds himself playing from time to time, as he recently played in an "Old Timers" game at Yankee Stadium.
"I just wanted to make contact," he said.
When questioned on whether or not he achieved that goal, he had a confident response.
"Are you crazy? Of course I did," he joked. "I hit into a double play, but I hit it."
