‘Who is this guy?’ Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Randy Johnson reminisce and share laughs
April 20, 2022
They met secretly, deep into the night and hung out until the wee hours of the morning in a deserted, deprecated joint in Oakland, California.
The four men figured the last time they were together was a quarter-century ago, employed by the same boss, only to all go their separate ways.
One man, who went by a different name at the time, was tossed aside.
Another was sent away at his request back to his hometown.
One left and signed the richest contract in the history of the industry.
The other was sent out three months before he was going to walk out on his own.
If anyone had broken into the Oakland Coliseum a few weeks ago, they would have seen four men dressed in striped Ghostbuster jumpsuits, with inflatable proton backpacks, scaring everyone in sight with their ray guns.
It was a meeting of baseball eminence.
The names: Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Randy Johnson.
The credentials: 47 All-Star appearances, 24 Silver Slugger awards, five Cy Young awards, five World Series rings, and three Hall of Fame elections.
They were last all together as kids in 1996, before developing into four of the greatest players in baseball history. They gathered last month for a two-day national DIRECTV commercial shoot, and acted like middle-aged men getting together at their high-school reunion.