Griffey Was a Reds King Without a Crown

Well, except for those first two

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1990 Kaybee Kings Ken Griffey (#13) - Card of the Day

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In the mid-1980s and coming off a few putrid seasons, the Cincinnati Reds went about reassembling members of the Big Red Machine…conveniently ignoring the fact that most of the guys were ten years or so past their prime.

Still, if Cincy wasn’t going to compete for anything, at least they could bring back some familiar and beloved faces, right?

It’s not clear when the plan was formulated, but it took an early hit when Johnny Bench retired at the end of the 1983 season. Undeterred by that setback, though,owner Marge Schott and general manager Bob Howsam bought Tony Perez’s contract from the Phillies in December 1983, reuniting him with Dave Concepcion.

Of course, the big, river-shaking move came in August 1984, when the Reds sent Tom Lawless to the Expos for Pete Rose to be their player-manager. Holy headfirst slide, Batman!

And, though the gray hair tour smacked of a gimmick, the truth was, the fanbase was ignited, particularly by Rose. But having Perez and Concepcion around to mentor young guys like Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Paul O’Neill, Kal Daniels, and others through the middle of the decade was a nice side effect, too.

Mix in a little Dave Parker and his winning know-how from his Pirates prime, and you had an exciting team that actually began to compete.

By August of 1988, though, just competing was starting to frustrate Reds fans, players, and execs alike. For the fourth straight season, Cincy was at least hanging around the fringes of the division race. But even securing a fourth straight second-place finish, as unsatisfying as that might be, looked like a tough bet.

If only there were another member of the Big Red Machine to bring back into the fold!

As luck would have it, the Atlanta Braves were doing some roster jostling of their own, and one casualty was veteran Ken Griffey. They released the three-time All-Star at the end of July.

Suddenly, any push to lure George Foster out of retirement stalled in its tracks, and the Reds pivoted to Griffey, signing him as a free agent on August 2. In 25 games down the stretch, Senior hit .280 with two homers and four RBI as the Reds finished second yet again.

Griffey was back for more in 1989, going .263/8/30 and even stealing four bases.

Then, after beginning the 1990 season with Griffey in the fold, the Reds released him on August 24…and he signed with the Mariners that same day. Ken Griffey Jr. and his daddy were poised to make some history and some memories, and boy did they!

In the meantime, though, Senior Griffey was still a Red as far as most of the year’s baseball cards were concerned. That included the flashy and very Red 1990 Kaybee Kings card you see at the top of this post. The Griffey card is one of 33 in the boxed set that focused on very, uh, “veteran” players. Here is the full checklist:

• 1 Doyle Alexander

• 2 Bert Blyleven

• 3 Wade Boggs

• 4 George Brett

• 5 John Candelaria

• 6 Gary Carter

• 7 Vince Coleman

• 8 Andre Dawson

• 9 Dennis Eckersley

• 10 Darrell Evans

• 11 Dwight Evans

• 12 Carlton Fisk

• 13 Ken Griffey Sr.

• 14 Tony Gwynn

• 15 Rickey Henderson

• 16 Keith Hernandez

• 17 Charlie Hough

• 18 Don Mattingly

• 19 Jack Morris

• 20 Dale Murphy

• 21 Eddie Murray

• 22 Dave Parker

• 23 Kirby Puckett

• 24 Tim Raines

• 25 Rick Reuschel

• 26 Jerry Reuss

• 27 Jim Rice

• 28 Nolan Ryan

• 29 Ozzie Smith

• 30 Frank Tanana

• 31 Willie Wilson

• 32 Dave Winfield

• 33 Robin Yount

Issued during the 1990 season, it may very well be that this was the very last card featuring Senior as a Red and produced during his time with Cincinnati.

It’s also sort of a gatekeeper card for the Reds overall. Indeed, with Griffey’s release, the team stamped a definite end date on the second coming of the Cincy old guard. As the team geared up for their World Series run that fall, none of Concepcion, Perez, Rose, or Griffey was still on the roster, and only Griffey was still playing at all.

—

Ken Griffey was born on April 10, 1950.

That’s a Wrap (and a Cap), Tony!

Perez hung up his spikes after the 1986 season, but only one company saw fit to issue a career capper card for him the next year. Read all about the 1987 Fleer Tony Perez card right here.

The Machine…Read All About It!

If you’re looking for a more in-depth read about the great Reds teams of the 1970s, and specifically their 1975 World Series monster, be sure to check out Joe Posnanski’s The Machine.

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