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Griffey Joins The 600 Club

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By CHARLIE McCARTHY

The Associated Press

Published: June 10, 2008

MIAMI - Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run on Monday night, completing his long ascent and becoming the sixth player in history to reach that milestone.

The Cincinnati outfielder homered off Florida lefty Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Reds' 9-4 victory against the Marlins. Griffey joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.

The 38-year-old homered with Jerry Hairston on third and one out. The left-handed swinger launched a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats.

Griffey received a standing ovation from the crowd of 16,003 and responded by coming out of the Reds dugout and waving his helmet to the fans.

"I don't think I touched any of the bases. I sort of floated around," Griffey said.

Manager Dusty Baker has managed the past three players to achieve the milestone: Bonds in San Francisco, Sosa in Chicago and now Griffey. He was there for Bonds' 600th, on Aug. 9, 2002.

"It's awesome every time you see a milestone like that," Baker said. "It doesn't take away from the others. It adds to it."

Controversy ensued in the stands following the home run. Justin Kimball, a 25-year-old from Miami, said he caught the home run ball, put it in a wool cap and then had the cap ripped from his hands. Kimball said someone ran off with the ball.

Police said they had found the fan with the baseball and would look at video tape to see if Kimball's claims could be supported.

However, the Florida Marlins announced Major League Baseball had authenticated the home run ball for a middle-aged male fan who would only give his first name as Joe.

Still, the game will be remembered for Griffey's historic homer.

The slugger hasn't enjoyed many golden moments since the Reds got him from Seattle in 2000. This will rank as one of his best with Cincinnati and, possibly, one of his last, given that he's in the final year of his contract.

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