Mariners Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. Joins Sounders Ownership

SEATTLE — As the Seattle Sounders ownership group has grown to more than a dozen families over the past year, the franchise has continued to add more meaningful names to the list of those who have a stake in the city’s soccer team.

On Tuesday, that list not only got longer but added another name synonymous with Seattle’s sporting past. Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, Jr. – who spent 13 of his 22 Major League seasons with the Mariners – was announced as the latest addition to the Sounders’ ownership along with his wife, Melissa.

The Sounders announced that like the recent addition of Tod and Tara Leiweke to the ownership group, the Griffey family’s stake was finalized earlier this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the team said in a news release.

“As a lifelong resident of this great city, bringing someone like Ken into Sounders FC holds a special significance to me, as he is truly a part of Seattle sports’ heart and soul,” Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer said in the release. “We value the contributions that he will add as a partner in our club and welcome him and his family with open arms.”

Griffey Jr., along with his wife, Melissa, said in the release that he and his family are happy to be joining what he called a “first-class organization”, which he said provides him an opportunity to give back to a city that played such a major role in his baseball success.

“To the Seattle Sounders community: we are inspired to become part of what you have created,” Griffey said in a statement issued by the team. “Like you, we are excited to get behind our incredible team as the players prepare for this year’s playoff run.”

In his first 11 seasons with the Mariners, Griffey won 10 Gold Glove awards for his stellar play in center field. He led the American League in home runs four times while in Seattle, where he registered 1,752 hits, 398 home runs, 1,152 RBI and 167 stolen bases. Griffey, who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016, was the American League’s Most Valuable Player in 1997.

Griffey received 99.32 percent of the ballots among Hall of Fame voters and appeared on 437 of 440 ballots. A statue of Griffey was erected outside of the Mariners’ ballpark in 2017 following a career in which he hit 630 career home runs, which ranks seventh all-time. Griffey finished his career with the Mariners in 2010 after spending time with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

The Sounders won the MLS Cup in 2016 and 2019.

“This is a meaningful day for our entire family,” Griffey said of joining the Sounders ownership group. “My wife Melissa and I said that we wanted to be a part of something special, not only for ourselves, but for our kids to be proud of, and this is it. We know how much this club means to Sounders fans, and for us, this comes back to the city where it all started for our family.”