Ken Griffey Jr. was nicknamed The Kid for good reason.
He literally grew up in the major-league spotlight, following his famous father into the clubhouse with the Big Red Machine dynasty of the 1970s.
By the time he went on to stardom at Cincinnati’s Moeller High School and then became the No. 1 pick in the 1987 MLB amateur draft at age 17, Griffey Jr. seemed destined for greatness.
So, the moniker fit perfectly when Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus started referring to the young phenom simply as The Kid in the late 1980s.
Few athletes have ever fulfilled that early potential like Junior, who was a first-ballot Hall of Famer after a 22-year career that featured 630 homers (seventh on the all-time list), 13 All-Star selections and 10 Gold Gloves.
Collectors were tracking Griffey Jr. memorabilia long before he made his MLB debut in 1989 at 19, so it’s no surprise a former youth teammate held on to a baseball The Kid signed when he truly was a kid, playing for a team sponsored by Denny’s Hair Dimensions in 1984.
That ball is up for auction at Lelands, with current bidding at $1,500 and the auction running until March 15.
Although the lot describes the ball as from a “Little League team,” Griffey was already 14 at the time and played his customary center field for a squad that went 14-2 and won the District 15 Knothole championship, according to the ball’s inscription.
The ball comes from the collection of Steve McDonough, who was a pitcher on the team, and includes a full team roster with parent names and contact information.
James Spence Authentication has verified Griffey Jr.’s signature, which is one of 19 on the baseball, and one of the earliest from the superstar to ever hit the auction block.
Past autographs from superstars in their Little League days have fared well in previous auctions.
Lelands sold a Derek Jeter-signed baseball from 1982 for $6,669.60, said to have been signed when Jeter was an 8-year-old player for an Oakmont, Mich., squad.
In July 2020, Goldin Auctions sold a collection of items from Michael Jordan’s Little League days in North Carolina, including a baseball autographed as “Mike Jordan” in 1976, when the basketball legend was just 13, for $36,000.
Kevin Jackson is the Chief Content Officer for cllct. He spent 25 years at ESPN Digital Media, where he was the founding editor of Page 2, and nearly four years as the Executive Director for Digital Content at FOX Sports.