C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

WINDERMERE, Fla. — The longest day of Ken Griffey Jr.'s life started with him taking out the trash at 9 a.m. in his Orlando-area home.

"630 home runs doesn't get you anything around here," Griffey joked in the 24 (yes, 24 — the same number he wore as a Mariner) minutes as he waited in his kitchen for the phone call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

There was never any doubt for anyone but Griffey that the call was coming. But still, scheduled to call at 5:05 p.m., it wasn't until 5:29 p.m. that Jack O'Connell, the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, called to tell Griffey that not only had he been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but that his vote total of 99.3 percent (437 votes on 440 ballots) was the highest in history.

That, Griffey said, genuinely surprised him. And it was made better that it was the record held by Tom Seaver, a former teammate of his father, that he broke.

"You always have doubt, because it's out of your hands, out of your control," Griffey said of the voting. "You look at the numbers, and I know they're worthy, but it's still a very humbling feeling."

Griffey will join Mike Piazza in the 2016 induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 24.

On Wednesday, he was joined by his wife, Melissa, daughter Taryn, sons Trey and Tevin, as well as his mother, Birdie, and various other friends, as well as reporters and TV crews from ESPN and MLB Network.

Rosecrans: A different kind of Ken Griffey Jr. story

"As a kid you want to make a buzzer-beater in basketball, you want to hit the walk-off in baseball, you want to score the game-winning touchdown in football, you never dream of the Hall of Fame," Griffey said.

But it's not as if he wasn't aware of it. Despite growing up in the same clubhouse as Hall of Famers like Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, Griffey himself has never even been to the Hall of Fame. Because of his superstitions, Griffey played in the Hall of Fame Game at Cooperstown's Doubleday Field three different times, and he never went to the museum.

"I can't tell you what the front of the building looks like," Griffey joked afterward.

He will soon. Griffey will go to New York City on Thursday for a press conference and Seattle on Friday. The Hall of Fame will announce which cap Griffey will wear on Thursday, but it seems a near-certainty that it will be a Mariners cap. Griffey spent his best years in Seattle and also finished there. He currently works for the Mariners, as well.

The statistics and accolades — 630 home runs, a .284 lifetime average, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 All-Star selections and a unanimous MVP selection in 1997 — don't even begin to tell the story of Griffey's popularity and importance to the game.

Doc: Why Ken Griffey Jr. got and deserved my HOF vote

Griffey, the first son of the Big Red Machine outfielder, first started at Moeller High School and was taken with the first pick in the 1987 draft by the Mariners.

He made the big leagues in 1989, less than two years after finishing his playing career at Moeller. He doubled off of Oakland's Dave Stewart in his first-ever plate appearance and homered in his first at-bat in Seattle's Kingdome a year later.

That same year, Griffey's was the No. 1 card from a new baseball card company called Upper Deck, which would dominate the industry into the early '90s. He also got a candy bar in Seattle and became the most popular player in the country.

He appeared on The Simpsons, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, had his own Nike shoe, logo and ad campaigns. He was perhaps the last great baseball pitch man, earning his own video games and even a Presidential campaign (that was an ad campaign for Nike).

In February of 2000, Griffey was granted a trade home to Cincinnati, where he joined a Reds team that had lost a heartbreaking play-in game to the Mets the year before.

Griffey hit 40 home runs in his first season with the Reds, but the team finished second to the Cardinals.

A series of injuries from 2001 to 2006 limited Griffey's effectiveness and soured the homecoming story. In those six seasons, he averaged fewer than 100 games a season before he was traded during the 2008 season.

Still, there were plenty of highlights during his nine years in Cincinnati, including his 500th home run, hit on Father's Day in St. Louis in 2004. In 2008, he hit his 600th home run before being traded to the White Sox at the trade deadline that season.

While many predicted this even before he was taken with first overall pick out of Moeller High School in 1987, the Hall of Fame is baseball's highest individual honor and one that is never taken for granted.

In fact, Griffey is the first player selected with the first pick of the draft to make the Hall of Fame. The draft goes back to 1965 with several great players, but no Hall of Famers. And to show just what an inexact science the draft can be, Griffey will be the highest drafted player ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he will enter alongside Piazza, who as a 62nd round pick, is the lowest drafted player to ever earn a Hall nod.

Rosecrans: Griffey an easy vote, rest of the Hall ballot is tough

Griffey also joins another Moeller graduate, Barry Larkin, in the Hall of Fame. Moeller is just the seventh high school in the country — and first outside of California — to produce multiple Hall of Famers. (Former Reds Frank Robinson and Ernie Lombardi both attended McClymonds High School in Oakland.)

Not only that, Griffey is the second Hall of Fame player to be born on Nov. 21 in Donora, Pennsylvania, joining Cardinals legend Stan Musial, who was born in the western Pennsylvania town in 1920, with Griffey born there 49 years later.

Although Griffey was born in Donora, raised in Cincinnati, came to national prominence in Seattle and now lives in Florida, to most baseball fans, he's now headed to where he belongs — Cooperstown.

REACTIONS

From Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Robert H. Castellini: "The Cincinnati Reds organization and our entire city congratulate Ken on his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Over a wonderful career that began right here at Moeller High School, Junior built his legacy while playing for the Mariners and continued that remarkable career in Cincinnati and then with the Chicago White Sox. He represented himself, his family and those cities with the class and professionalism consistent with the ideals of Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and he continues to serve all over the world as one of our game's greatest ambassadors. We are very proud that Ken's accomplishments have been validated at the highest level by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Reds fans are thrilled to see our hometown son earn a permanent place in Cooperstown alongside the other 43 players, managers and executives who spent all or parts of their careers in Cincinnati."

From Robert D. Manfred Jr., Commissioner, Major League Baseball: "Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing, smile and immense talent in all facets of the game made him one of the most popular and respected players of all-time, a stature clearly evident in the results released today. His election to Cooperstown surely marks a great occasion not only in the Pacific Northwest and his hometown of Cincinnati, but also for an entire generation of fans. Major League Baseball is proud to congratulate Ken and his family on this well-deserved honor."

From Johnny Bench, National Baseball and Reds Hall of Famer: "It is such a well-deserved honor, for a young boy who hung around the locker room to become one of the most exciting players I ever saw. His grace and power were unmatched. He loved and respected the game. I don't think he ever wanted to be noticed. He just played the game, and maybe the Big Red Machine gave him a great education in how to play the game. He was blessed with a father who each day gave everything he had on the field. You learn and you learn. His mom, Birdie, was always smiling and supporting. We are proud to have Ken Griffey Jr. join us in the Hall of Fame."