 His impressive range allowed frequent spectacular diving plays, and he often dazzled fans with over-the-shoulder basket catches and robbed opposing hitters of home runs by leaping up and pulling them back into the field of play.He was featured on the Wheaties cereal box and had his own signature sneaker line from Nike, Inc..
On April 3, 1989, in his very first MLB plate appearance, Griffey hit a line drive double off Oakland Athletics pitcher Dave Stewart at the Oakland Coliseum.One week later in his first at-bat at the Kingdome, Griffey hit his first major league home run.