Aug. 31, 1990 – Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. play on the same team at the same time

In their first game together Ken Griffey, Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and would later come around to score.

Ken Jr. was selected with the first overall pick in the 1987 amateur draft and it did not take him long to make it to the Majors. Less than two years later, at the tender age of 19, Griffey found himself as the starting center fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Meanwhile, his father was in the twilight of his career and had been released by the Cincinnati Reds, leading to his signing with the Mariners. The Griffey’s would end up playing a total of 51 games together before Ken Sr. retired in May of 1991 at the age of 41.

On October 4th 2001 Tim Raines and Tim Raines Jr joined the Griffey’s as the only father and son to play on the same team at the same time. The Raines’ shared the outfield together as Sr. played left field and his son played center field for the Baltimore Orioles

June 4, 1974 – The NFL grants franchise to Seattle Seahawks

On June 15, 1972, Seattle Professional Football Inc., a group of Seattle business and community leaders, announced its intention to acquire an NFL franchise for the city of Seattle, WA. Two years later on June 4, 1974, the NFL gave the city an expansion franchise.

The Seattle Seahawks are the only NFL team to switch conferences twice in the post-merger era. The franchise began play in 1976 in the NFC West division but switched conferences with the Buccaneers after one season and joined the AFC West. This realignment was dictated by the league as part of the 1976 expansion plan, so that both expansion teams could play each other twice and every other NFL franchise once during their first two seasons. In 2002, the Seahawks were returned to the NFC West as part of an NFL realignment plan that gave each conference four balanced divisions of four teams each. This realignment restored the AFC West to its initial post-merger roster of original AFL teams Denver, San Diego, Kansas City and Oakland.

Seattle has won seven division titles in their franchise history: the 1988 and 1999 AFC West titles, and the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2010 NFC West titles. They have won the NFC Championship Game once in 2005, and lost the AFC Championship Game once in 1983. Prior to 2005 Seattle had the longest drought of playoff victories of any NFL team, dating back to the 1984 season. That drought was ended with a 20-10 win over the Washington Redskins in the 2005 playoffs. The all-time Seahawks playoff record is 8-10.

#ThrowbackThursdays

Gary Payton aKa The Glove catches his breath during a 1990 game against Oregon.

photo via SI vault

Podcast #3: Interview with Elaquent on “Parallel”, Seattle sports, and more

Welcome to the Athletic Poetics show on CFRU 93.3FM. Each show focuses on a topic connected to the world of sports (athletics) or arts (poetics) as we are joined by an industry professional to help us explore the content of our focus.

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Elaquent – Parallel (EP), Seattle sports, and more
Interview Recorded: February 18

Guest: Elaquent (@Elaquent) – Born in Ottawa, Canada. Older brother, Es, put him onto Jay Dee & Pete Rock. Age 12, tried rapping. Got discouraged after Mom told him he had a “geek’s voice”. Hung up the mic for good. Accidentally stumbled upon beat-making exactly one year later… Ended up paying for books in college by flipping tracks to rappers and such. Started getting frustrated with buster ass rappers f#cking him over and the focus then moved to instrumentals for good. Things changed after he started dropping these mixtapes and opened for Talib Kweli.

Timeline:

music throughout provided by Elaquent

– INTRO, SEATTLE SPORTS, BECOMING A PRODUCER –

00:30 – listen to Parallel – single from Parallel – EP
04:40 – bio to Parallel – EP, written by Elaquent
06:00 – who is Elaquent? Who does he represent?
06:45 – admiration for the Seattle SuperSonics and Seahawks
08:20 – Super Bowl XLVII
09:00 – internet Memes
10:00 – Russell Wilson and Rookie of the Year
11:35 – Seattle connection with Rajeev (aKa GQ Stylez)
12:30 – mentorship role GQ Stylez has had on Elaquent as a producer
14:25 – when Elaquent started to consider himself a producer
18:00 – transitioning from producing for rappers to producing for self
21:30 – beat tapes as a full cohesive instrumental albums
22:40 – process of selecting / collaborating with rappers
26:00 – collaborating with Evil Needle on track “In This Style 10-6”
28:50 – feedback for Parallel – EP
30:15 – common criticisms and stepping outside of your comfort zone

– FOCUS ON PARALLEL – EP –

32:15 – EP vs. full length albums and why Parallel was an EP
34:20 – unreleased “mystery” record via German label
37:20 – importance of spacing out album releases
38:20 – origin and meaning of EP title “Parallel”
39:30 – pressure of doing an experimental / electronic type record
40:20 – covering various categories of producers
42:40 – order of tracks produced / in the making of Parallel – EP
43:40 – sampling and remixing music from Slakah the Beatchild
46:00 – inspiration behind the track “Rainy Days”
47:40 – producing on the road, story of track “Wish You Were Here”
49:45 – relationship with urbnet label, creative freedom and trust
52:30 – hearing the record 500-1000 times before it’s release
54:00 – customizing live-sets for different markets
55:15 – playing a Chicago show wearing a Seattle Seahawks jersey
57:30 – favorite sport to play, and watch

Feb. 27, 1996 – Chicago Bulls set an NBA record with 50 wins in 56 games

That season, the Chicago Bulls set an NBA record by becoming the first team to win 70 regular season games, easily finishing first overall in their division, conference, and the entire NBA. They finished the season with a record of 72–10 and would go on to defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals, winning their fourth NBA title in six seasons.

Offseason:

Prior the 1995–96 NBA season, Dennis Rodman and Jack Haley were traded from the Spurs to the Bulls for Will Perdue and cash considerations to fill a large void at power forward left by Horace Grant, who left the Bulls prior to the 1994–95 NBA season.

Rodman stated that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had to approve the trade before it took place. Rodman chose the number 91 (9+1=10 according to Rodman for why he chose that number) for his jersey since #10 was retired by the Bulls in 1995 in honor of Bob Love.

Regular season:

The Bulls finished 72–10 in the regular season to break the 1971–72 Lakers’ record of 69 wins in a season. In his first full season since returning to the NBA, Jordan won his eighth scoring title to break Wilt Chamberlain’s record of seven and also came away with a triple crown of awards: the MVP awards for the regular season, All-Star Game and NBA Finals.

The Bulls improved 25 games from the previous year’s 47–35 record to their all-time record 72 regular season wins. In addition, they would go on to set another regular season landmark by becoming the fastest team to 41 wins; by going 41–3 before losing their 4th game that year, which was also a record once held by the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers, who got off to a 39–3 start.

The Bulls would win 33 road games, setting yet another NBA record. They also had a 39–2 home record, which was one win shy of tying the Boston Celtics for best home record in history.

Rodman, Jordan, and Scottie Pippen all made the All-Defensive First Team, the first time three players from the same team made it on the first team. Rodman led the league in rebounding for the fifth straight year, and Jordan won the scoring title, the second time that teammates had led the league in scoring and rebounding.

Slam Dunk Saturdays.

Seattle forward Shawn Kemp attempts a dunk during the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest in Charlotte, NC. Kemp would finish second to Celtics guard Dee Brown. (Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images)

Feb. 10, 2000 – The Mariners traded Ken Griffey Jr. to the Reds

Ken Griffey Jr. spent the first 11 years of his career with the Seattle Mariners. In 2000 the Mariners traded Griffey to the Cincinnati Reds due to Griffey’s impending free agency. The Mariners received four players in return, Mike Cameron, Jake Meyer, Antonio Perez and Brett Tomko. Griffey would spend nine years in Cincinnati, but only two of those were not marred by injury. Six times Griffey had topped 40 home runs in Seattle, but he did so only once in Cincy.

Griffey played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for three teams (1989–2010). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. A 13-time All-Star, Griffey was one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history; his 630 home runs rank as the sixth-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (8 games, tied with Don Mattingly and Dale Long).

Although popular with fans and a fan favorite around the league, Griffey was unable to shake reports of petulant demeanor throughout his major league baseball career. Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo (owners of the Mariners); his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute. He currently works in the Mariners’ front office as a special consultant. Griffey is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League games in four different calendar decades. On January 22, 2013, the Mariners announced Griffey would be the seventh person inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. He is the son of former MLB player Ken Griffey, Sr.

Jan. 20, 1983 – Western Hockey League player Tom Martin traded for used bus

One of the more bizarre trades in sports history took place. Tom “Bussey” Martin on the Western Hockey League was traded for a used bus.

Martin is a Canadian former ice hockey player. He was a fourth round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, 74th overall, at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He played 92 NHL games for the Jets, Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars in a career predominantly spent in the AHL. He won the Calder Cup in 1985 and was a First Team AHL All-Star in 1988. Martin is most famous for having his junior playing rights traded in 1983 by the Seattle Breakers to the Victoria Cougars in exchange for the Cougars’ team bus.

“Well, it was used, but it was a fairly recently used. It was a fairly new bus,” said Martin. “I know it had bunks on it and it was definitely a team oriented bus. In the Western Hockey League they travel a lot and they need a good bus. Maybe it had better wheels than I did.”

Jan. 5, 2010 – Randy Johnson aKa “The Big Unit” announces his retirement

The 6-foot-10-inch (2.08 m) Johnson was celebrated for having one of the most dominant fastballs in the game. He regularly approached, and occasionally exceeded, 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) during his prime. He also threw a hard, biting slider. Johnson won the Cy Young Award five times, second only to Roger Clemens’ seven.

Johnson finished his career (22 seasons) first in strikeouts per nine innings pitched among starting pitchers (10.67), second all-time in total strikeouts (4,875; first among left-handed pitchers), third in hit batsmen (188), tenth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings pitched (7.24), 22nd in wins (303), and 57th in shutouts (37). He pitched two no-hitters, the second of which was the 17th perfect game in baseball history.

Jan. 1, 1974 – Ernie DiGregorio sets NBA rookie record with 25 assists

Two players are tied for the most assists handed out in one game for a first-year player.

DiGregorio (also known as “Ernie D.”) was the first rookie to reach that mark and won the 1973-74 NBA Rookie of the Year. Due to a severe knee injury suffered early in his professional career, DiGregorio played only five NBA seasons. Thirteen years later another rookie, Nate McMillan, matched DiGregorio by recording 25 assists of his own in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers in 1987.