Dee Gordon's follow through on his first Mariners homer was eerily similar to Ken Griffey Jr.'s
Gordon is not much of a power hitter -- he only had 11 homers in over 3,000 career plate appearances entering Sunday. A long ball was probably not on most fans' minds. Nonetheless, Gordon got the pitch he wanted and destroyed it for his first dinger as a Mariner. They went on to win, 5-4.
The best part about the homer? Gordon knew it was gone right off the bat and added a bit of flair:
That kind of follow-through is awfully familiar, especially for those in the Seattle area. It wasn't so long ago that another Mariners center fielder was known for his graceful bat drops after long balls:
In preparation for his position change to center field, Gordon worked with Ken Griffey Jr. in the offseason. Even though the focus was on defense, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that some of Griffey's habits rubbed off on Gordon.
MLB.com's Greg Johns talked to Gordon after the game about the bat drop:
"It was a 2-2 game in the bottom of the seventh inning and it put us ahead. So, I was excited. A 2-2 game playing against the Cleveland Indians and we're trying to win ballgames. If you're not excited to win a ballgame, you probably shouldn't be playing."
And on the Griffey comparison.
"Man, I don't hit enough homers to be trying to do stuff when I hit 'em; Whatever happened, happened."
