Why Ken Griffey Jr. wore his hat backward might surprise you
Ken Griffey Jr. was the favorite baseball player of thousands and maybe even millions of young fans in the 1990s not only because he was one of the best players in the game at the time but also because he started a fashion trend by often wearing his baseball cap backward.
The list of kids who idolized Griffey during the 1990s includes plenty of current major league players.
Griffey will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday along with Mike Piazza. Some fans have wondered and even suggested that Griffey’s plaque in Cooperstown depict him wearing his cap backward because that is how so many of his fans remember him.
Earlier this year, Griffey appeared on the Mike and Mike Show on ESPN and the subject came up. He explained that he wasn’t trying to start a fashion trend of set himself apart, breaking with tradition by wearing his cap backward. He did so out of habit and that habit started innocently enough.
“My dad had a ‘fro, and I didn’t,” he said on the show. “So I wore his hat and it always hit me in the face, so I just turned it around and it just stuck. It wasn’t like I was trying to be a tough guy or change the way that baseball is played. It was just that my dad wore a size 7 1/2, and I had a 6 1/4. It was just too big.”
Ken Griffey Sr. was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 but is now cancer free and will be on hand on Sunday to see his son inducted into the hall of fame.
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo