Ken Griffey Jr. has put on many different hats since he retired from MLB in 2010. He returned to work for the Mariners in the front office. He joined the ownership group. He's been a sports photographer. And he's appeared in several commercials.
During the 2023 World Series, fans will likely see The Kid appearing in several commercials in particular. He has been featured in an ad from Booking.com that sees him playing catch with a girl. He has also made a cameo in a Geico commercial taking a concession order.
But Griffey and his wife, Melissa Griffey, are also at the center of their own ad with Geico. In it, they are happy homeowners, though they have an opinionated neighbor, who is shown to be an umpire.
Here's what you need to know about the commercial.
Ken Griffey Jr. Geico commercial
Griffey and his wife appear happy in the commercial to be in a house that "has it all." The only problem? The neighbor, an umpire, is shown to be a bit opinionated.
Throughout the ad, the umpire comes in and issues strikes to Griffey over various issues. The first is how he reaches for popcorn during a show. The next is for saying he might get a salad. Griffey is then shown raking the leaves over the line, and the ump comes out to sweep them back over into Griffey's lawn.
The commercial ends with Griffey striking out because of a Hawaiian shirt he wears. Melissa Griffey rushes to his defense, saying the shirt is cute and telling the umpire, "You need glasses." That leads to her ejection.
Griffey tells her, "He's done this to me before."
Who is the umpire in Ken Griffey Jr. Geico commercial?
Longtime baseball fans will recognize the umpire as Jim Joyce, who was a prominent umpire from 1987 through 2016. He retired on Jan. 16, 2017.
Joyce umpired three All-Star Games, 10 Division Series, four League Championship Series and three World Series.
Throughout his career, Joyce was largely revered across the league. However, his most famous moment came in 2010, when on the final out of a potential perfect game from Armando Galarraga, he ruled that Jason Donald was safe on an infield hit. Replay showed he was clearly out, but since this was prior to video review, there was no way to overturn the ruling on the field.
"I just cost the kid a perfect game," Joyce said after the game. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw until I saw the replay. It was the biggest call of my career."
He met with Galarraga at home plate before the next game, and was clearly emotional, wiping tears from his eyes before giving Galarraga a playful slap on the shoulder.
Ken Griffey Jr. career ejections
According to Retrosheet, Griffey was ejected only twice in his career. He was first ejected on June 6, 1989, arguing against a called third strike. The umpire? That would be Joyce, explaining his run-in with the umpire. He was ejected for the second time on July 9, 2000, by Justin Klemm, again for arguing balls and strikes.
Years later, Joyce recounted that Griffey was the first player he ever ejected from a game. He said he and Griffey were both rookies in 1989, though Joyce had spent some occasional stints umpiring MLB games starting in 1986.
"Junior came up to the plate, he took three fastballs right down the middle and I'm not talking about painting, on the corners or anything like that. I'm talking all white right down the middle. And on strike three, my natural strike three and he turned around and he dropped an F-bomb on me. And I went, 'Really? Get the F-bomb out of here.'" Joyce said. "Jim Lefebvre was the manager and he came out and he said, 'Oh Jim, you can't eject the Kid. You can't eject the Kid.' And I said, 'Let me ask you something. Can I say this to you?' And I told him what he said and he goes, 'No.' I said, 'Then we're done. We're even.' And he was my first ejection. He did not get ejected again for the next 12 years. That's impressive."
Joyce said when Griffey was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he reached out to the Mariners and managed to get in touch with Griffey's agent. He said he wanted to congratulate the near-unanimous, first-ballot selection on his entry and explained to Griffey's agent that he was the first player Joyce ejected in the majors.
"I have one voice message on it, it's from Junior, saying thank you very much Jimmy," Joyce said.
Who is Ken Griffey Jr.'s wife?
Griffey is married to Melissa Dorot Gay. The two married in October 1992, and have three kids together: Trey Griffey, Taryn Kennedy and Tevin Kendall. Tevin Kendall is adopted.
Where does Ken Griffey Jr. live?
According to Home Creatives, Griffey and his family lives in Orlando, Fla., in a seven-bedroom, 7.5-bathroom home that has 24,457 square feet. The house also features a home theater, a swimming pool and a boat dock.
