SEATTLECal Raleigh immediately created a long list of players he would take into consideration for a Seattle Mariners Mount Rushmore after their
Felix Hernandez and Randy Johnson, two excellent beginning pitchers, were among the first names off the board after Ichiro. However, Raleigh quickly chose Ken Griffey Jr. as the face of the Mariners after he tied the team record for home runs before the All-Star break with 35 with two spectacular hits.
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“I’m just fortunate to be mentioned with that name, someone who’s just iconic, a legend, and a first ballot Hall of Famer,” Raleigh added. attempting to maintain the momentum while doing the correct thing. That person is a good role model for me if I can try to be like him.
According to Raleigh, if it weren’t for injuries, Griffey would have broken the big league home run record instead of falling 132 runs short of Barry Bonds. Fortunately for Raleigh, the public hasn’t been the only one to express this love.
Raleigh has loved his conversations with The Kid whenever Griffey is back in Seattle, which was the case during the FIFA Club World Cup games at Lumen Field.
Raleigh remarked that it’s always enjoyable to have him around the clubhouse to simply chat with him and learn how he conducted himself. So, I’ve also spoken to him on the phone a few of times. He’s an excellent one, then. He is among the all-time greats. Talking to someone like that is difficult to top.
Additionally, there aren’t many runs that are equivalent to what Griffey accomplished prior to the 1998 All-Star break and what Raleigh is currently going through. Griffey’s 1998 teammate, manager Dan Wilson, is one of the few people that can really put Raleigh’s rapid start to 2025 in perspective.
It’s amazing. According to Wilson, it seems as though he hits a home run each and every game. As a player, I recall thinking that Griffey seemed to hit a home run every single day. That’s what (Raleigh) has consistently demonstrated. He hasn’t had a run of hitting a lot of home runs in a short period of time. It has been about ten times a month.
Raleigh has been surprisingly consistent, to Wilson’s point. In April, May, and June, he hit nine home runs, twelve in May, and eleven in June. Griffey’s numbers were slightly more erratic, although only by a small margin (10 in April, 8 in May, and 14 in June).
Overall, the 28-year-old Raleigh has more than fulfilled the initial expectations of the contract he signed prior to the 2025 campaign. Raleigh is on pace to break new records for hitting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in addition to setting a career best for home runs.
A little more than halfway through his fourth complete major league season, Raleigh attributed the changes to his maturing.
“I can drive the ball out of the ballpark,” Raleigh remarked. I mean, I’m a powerful guy, and it’s part of my game. It is developing the ability to focus and take hits when you might not be hitting those pitches in the middle of the plate.
This strategy is fine and dandy, but the outcomes have been very different. Raleigh has only hit 36 singles, which is one more than the number of home runs he has hit. It’s safe to say that Raleigh’s offensive production has more than earned every dollar the Mariners have given him thus far.
Raleigh stated, I want to make sure I’m doing everything I can each and every day to deserve that income and what they gave me. However, it goes much beyond that. It involves taking charge, performing tasks at the clubhouse, and making sure you’re prepared to go each and every day.
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