Ken Griffey Jr. is now a Sounders part-owner

Forget the Space Needle, the cream cheese hot dogs and the mystery vending machine -- Ken Griffey Jr. is the Seattle icon. The Mariners legend, who has his very own statue outside T-Mobile Park, has now made himself an even greater part of the city by becoming a part-owner of MLS' Seattle Sounders.

Griffey is joining a supergroup of Seattle's most famous, teaming up with Russell Wilson, Ciara and Macklemore as some of the celebs who have signed on with the soccer club in recent years. Sadly, it doesn't look like the team has any interest in bringing Griffey onto the pitch as the club's new attacking midfielder, though.

While Griffey is new to the ownership game, he's already played an important part in team history. Griffey was the team's "Scarves Up" representative before the Sounders' second MLS Cup victory in 2019.

He'll be hoping that his presence will bring the team the same kind of luck this year. Seattle finished second in the Western Conference and is set to play LAFC in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs next Tuesday night.

“I don’t play games to be competitive, I play to win,” Griffey said in the news release. “I want the Sounders to be compared to the Yankees. Twenty-seven, 28 championships. That’s what I root for, that’s what I want.”