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Last weekend, the Seattle Mariners inducted Ken Griffey Jr. into their Hall of Fame, becoming the seventh person to receive the honor. You can watch the entire induction ceremony here:
You can find Trey Griffey's tribute to his dad at the 26:58 mark.
"It was a great honor for him" Trey said after a practice in Tucson this week. "I was happy for him in every way possible."
"It was an emotional day for him. Just being his son growing up, seeing how much he struggled as far as going day by day. I got to see that, most people didn't see that."
"Growing up, (Jay Buhner) was like an uncle to me. I was always at his house, they lived right down the street when we lived right down the street so he was like an uncle to me."
On the video tribute: "I just spoke how I felt. My mom said it surprised him, and he doesn't really likes surprises. My mom didn't tell him so I'm happy she didn't tell him the way he went across crying, just an emotional day for him."
The Wildcats were at Fort Huachuca on Saturday, which kept Trey from being able to go up to Seattle.
"I actually talked to him after the scrimmage on Saturday. The first question he asked me was 'How did you do?' I was like I did alright, he said 'What'd you mess up on, what'd you do?' like a normal parent would. He was more concerned about what I did. I facetimed him right when I got back to the barracks so I was like he's going to get me back for making him cry, but it was just how I felt honestly."
Griffey also said that once the Arizona staff realized a week ago that he wasn't going to be able to make it up there, they come up with the idea of doing a video.
"At first I had it planned, but once I got in there, I was just like....what should I do? So (Molly O'Mara, Arizona SID) just told me to speak from the heart, and I was like alright. That's what my dad did during his speech so I guess I get it from him."
"I watched it (Sunday) with my mom, my mom flew in to see me. I looked it up on YouTube and couldn't find it so I went on to the Mariners official website and it was on there. I had to click on a couple things but I found it, and about 56 minutes later I saw my speech."
Trey also talked about what it was like growing up in an MLB clubhouse.
"Growing up, I looked forward to getting in the locker room and eating all the candy. That was when I was a younger kid. As I got older, just seeing how everyone got through the day as far as what struggles they go through." He also talked about how that experience of seeing major leaguers struggling with the daily aspects is helping him with his game in Tucson and dealing with the adversity as a wide receiver at the Division 1 level.
"You have to be in the weight room, get the treatment. My dad went to treatment, never late to everything. Really helped out his career. 22 years. That's why he played so long. Stayed healthy, ate healthy, that's what really helped him out."
As far as Trey himself goes, he redshirted last year, so he enters his freshman year hoping to secure playing time as a wide out.
"One of the good things in camp is getting familiar with plays. The redshirt freshman year was a tough year for me. Now that I'm starting to get into the action, really just work on everything: hands, digs, getting in and out the routes, just everything. You can never be too good at anything."
"I walked into (WR coach Tony Dews)' office and he just threw a sharpie to me and just said get on the board. Just fired it at me, and I'd write down everything in there. When you're on the field, that's how it is, it's fired right at you, especially with the offense."
A lot of WRs from last year aren't around this year, giving Griffey more of a chance to prove himself.
"I don't really look at it like that. I just go out there and give it my best every day and at the end the coaches will make the decision."
"Trey is an athletic guy" said head coach Rich Rodriguez. "It's important to him, and some times he shows inexperience but he really competes. He's got a big frame, runs really well and he makes some unbelievable catches. He's just gotta be more consistent just like any young guy."
"If he does that he's going to play a lot."