Saturday was an emotional day at Safeco Field, as the Seattle Mariners honored Ken Griffey Jr. with a spot in the team’s Hall of Fame.
Griffey then returned the love to the Mariners and his fans with a tearful speech before Seattle took on the Brewers. He was joined by other Mariners Hall of Famers including former teammates Randy Johnson and Edgar Martinez on the field during his speech.
But it was a former teammate who wasn’t even at the ballpark who ended up stealing the show with his heartfelt tribute.
Former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki didn’t play with Griffey as long as Johnson and Martinez did, but “The Kid” still clearly means a lot to him. In a video tribute, Ichiro talked about how much he admired Griffey and what it meant to play with him. Ichiro then showed the ultimate sign of respect toward Griffey by flipping his hat backwards and calling him his hero.
Check out the complete tribute Ichiro put together in the video below.
[mlbvideo id=”29604477″ width=”640″ height=”360″ /]
