Ken Griffey Jr. once opened up about the strained father-son relationship that drove him to the brink of suicide as a teen
MLB great Ken Griffey Jr. shocked the world in 1992 when he openly admitted during an interview that he tried to committ suicide when he was 17-years old.
Griffey said he swallowed 277 aspirin pills and wound up in intensive care because of his troubles at home. He detailed how strained his relationship was with his father, conceding that they fought almost every time they saw each other.
"It seemed like my father and I were always fighting," Griffey said. "I know a lot of kids go through that with their families, but it was hard for me. You see, I'm real stubborn."
Depression started to kick in during his teenage years because of all the stress he was facing, both on the baseball field and at home. He later acknowledged that he contemplated killing himself with his father's gun.
“It seemed like everyone was yelling at me in baseball, then I came home and everyone was yelling at me there,” he told the Seattle Times. “I got depressed. I got angry. I didn’t want to live.”
Griffey agreed to make his story public in an effort to dissuade others from seeing suicide as a solution to their problems.
“Don’t ever try to commit suicide,” Griffey said he wants to tell children. “I am living proof how stupid it is.’
Ken Griffey Jr. was a 13-time MLB All-Star
Ken Griffey Jr. was selected first overall by the Seattle Mariners in the 1987 MLB Draft and received a massive signing bonus.
The legendary outfielder played 22 seasons in the majors, mostly with Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. He also had a short stint with the Chicago White Sox.
Deemed one of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history, and an exceptional defender, Griffey won the Gold Glove Award ten times. He was also a 13-time MLB All-Star, won seven Silver Slugger Awards and the AL MVP award in 1997.
Ken Griffey Jr. was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 6, 2016 after being named on 99.32% of the ballots.