A Couple Of Plaques

On Following Griffey’s induction in to the Hall of Fame the Mariners did a number of stadium giveaways related to Griffey including bobble heads and replica jerseys but the one that caught my eye at the beginning of the season when the SGAs were announced was the replica Hall of Fame plaque given away at the August 6^th game against the Angels.

 

I finally found one in the price range I was willing to spend right before Christmas and I just received it. The plaque is solid and is a little larger than a graded card and is an exact replica of his Hall of Fame plaque. The box has his stats and records on it and the stand was included.

When the plaque first showed up there were pre-sell from some sellers where they were asking up to $100 so I figured I would never get one so instead I turned my attention to finding one of the Griffey’s First Hit plaques that the Everett Aquasox, Mariners Class A short season team, gave away on June 25^th.

 

It is a replica of the plaque that is locate on the sidewalk outside of the Everett Memorial Stadium on 38^th Street where the ball landed. I worked in Everett for years, roughly 2 miles away from the stadium, but never saw the plaque in person but now I have the replica plaque which makes a nice addition to my collection. The plaque has a bronzed look and is weathered, which can be seen in the close up image, to look like the original plaque.

 

It was 1987 and at the time Griffey was a 17-year old playing for the Bellingham Mariners and they were visiting the Everett Giants when he got his first professional hit, a 367-ft homer, in his second game.

Prior to the 1995 season the Mariners and Giants switched Class A teams with the Mariners taking over Everett and renaming them the Everett Aqua Sox. The Giants took over the Bellingham team and renamed them the Bellingham Giants but they remained in Bellingham for just two seasons before being moved to Salem where they are still a Giants Class A team but have been renamed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes