Ken Griffey Jr. Signed Mariners 16x20 "The Slide" Photo BAS Witness Authenticated

Add the signature of The Kid on the most kinetic image of his Seattle career to your collection with this Ken Griffey Jr. Autographed Seattle Mariners 16x20 Photo "The Slide" — BAS Witnessed. Two photographs exist from the same play. One captures the celebration — Griffey grinning from the bottom of the dogpile, the joy of the moment after. The other captures the moment itself: Griffey in full sprint, body extended toward home plate, dirt rising, the throw arriving, the umpire watching, the outcome still undecided. "The Slide" is the action image — the fraction of a second between Edgar Martinez's double reaching the left field corner and the umpire's safe call that sent every person in the Kingdome into a noise the building had never heard before and would never hear again. It is a photograph of a decision being executed at full speed in the most consequential baserunning moment in Seattle Mariners history, signed by the player who made the run.

This Seattle Mariners 16x20 Photo "The Slide" has been hand-signed by Ken Griffey Jr. with a bold, clean autograph. Authentication is provided by Beckett Authentication Services (BAS) at their elevated Witness tier — a Beckett representative was physically present at the signing to verify the autograph's authenticity in real time.

Product Highlights

• Hand-signed by Ken Griffey Jr. — "The Kid," Hall of Fame Class of 2016, most important athlete in Seattle sports history per The Seattle Times (2018)
• 16x20 photo — "The Slide": the action image of Griffey scoring the series-winning run in Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS — the decisive play in the most consequential game in Mariners history
• BAS Witnessed — Beckett representative physically present at signing, verifying autograph in real time
• The sprint home captured in action: Griffey running from first base on Edgar Martinez's double, waved home by third-base coach Sam Perlozzo in the call Perlozzo later described as the most memorable of his coaching career
• Dave Niehaus's call — "Griffey is coming around! He's going to try to score! Here's the division championship! Mariners win it!" — the Ford C. Frick Award–winning broadcaster's most celebrated radio moment, accompanying the action this photograph captures
• Career: 630 home runs (6th all-time), 10 Gold Gloves, 13 All-Star selections, 1997 AL MVP; Hall of Fame 2016 with 99.32% of the vote
• Backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee

The Action Image — What The Slide Captures That No Other Photo Does

Sports photography produces two categories of iconic image: the action photograph, which captures a moment in the instant of its execution before the outcome is resolved, and the reaction photograph, which captures the response after the outcome is known. The Dogpile is a reaction photograph — the joy of the result. The Slide is an action photograph — the athletic execution of the moment while its outcome is still being determined. In the fraction of a second the camera captures, Griffey is extended toward the plate, the throw from the outfield is arriving, the catcher is positioned, and the umpire is watching. The safe call has not yet been made. The Kingdome crowd has not yet erupted. The Mariners have not yet won. The only thing in the photograph is Ken Griffey Jr. executing the most consequential sprint of his career — body low, moving at full speed, committing completely to the slide that will determine whether Seattle advances or goes home. That is the image. That is why it endures differently than the celebration photograph that followed it by approximately four seconds: one shows what it felt like, the other shows what it took.

Sam Perlozzo's Wave — The Most Consequential Third-Base Call in Mariners History

Griffey was on first base when Edgar Martinez hit his double down the left field line. Joey Cora, on third, scored easily. Griffey, running from first, reached second and rounded third at full speed. Third-base coach Sam Perlozzo had to make his decision in the fraction of a second available to a coach watching a ball reach the left field corner with a runner rounding third: wave him home or hold him. Perlozzo waved. Griffey ran. The throw from left field arrived at home as Griffey slid — and the umpire called him safe. "Within my coaching career, other than winning a World Series, the single call that I've made that I'll never, ever forget is that call to send Griffey home," Perlozzo said later. The wave depended on two things simultaneously: the read on where the ball was in the outfield and the specific confidence that the runner coming around third — this runner, at this speed, with this athleticism — could cover the distance to home before the throw arrived. Perlozzo knew his runner. The Slide photograph captures the result of that knowledge: Griffey in full extension toward the plate, the wave validated, the call about to be made. The 16x20 photo signed by Griffey is the image of that specific athletic trust made visible at full speed.

Dave Niehaus — The Voice That Immortalized the Moment

The Slide has a sound. It is the voice of Dave Niehaus, the Seattle Mariners radio broadcaster who had been the franchise's voice since its first game in 1977 and who was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award — the Baseball Hall of Fame's highest honor for broadcasters — in 2008. Niehaus called thousands of Mariners games across thirty-three seasons. He called The Double and The Slide in October 1995 in the manner that every Seattle fan who heard it has memorized since: "Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie... Line drive, we are tied! Griffey is coming around! In the corner is Bernie. He's going to try to score! Here's the division championship! Mariners win it! Mariners win it!" Niehaus's voice broke as Griffey scored. The call is inseparable from the image — the photograph that sports photographers captured in that moment and the radio voice that transmitted it simultaneously to every Mariners fan listening across the Pacific Northwest. The 16x20 Slide photo signed by Griffey is the visual half of a moment that its audio half made permanent. Niehaus died in November 2010. The call endures.

The Kid vs. The Yankees — The Most Personal Series of His Career

When Ken Griffey Jr. was a child, he visited his father Ken Griffey Sr. in major league clubhouses throughout Sr.'s career. At Yankee Stadium, manager Billy Martin would kick young Junior out of the clubhouse — believing that children did not belong there. Griffey never forgot. As an adult professional, he was explicit about it: he would never play for the New York Yankees. The 1995 ALDS was therefore not simply a playoff series — it was the specific playoff series between Ken Griffey Jr. and the franchise that had dismissed him as a child in a clubhouse. He responded by hitting five home runs in five games, becoming only the second player in postseason history (after Reggie Jackson in the 1977 World Series) to hit five home runs in a single series, batting .391, scoring nine times, and finally scoring the series-winning run on the slide the photograph captures. If the Mariners' 1995 ALDS victory was one of the great upset stories in playoff baseball — and it was — the most personal available dimension of it belonged to the player who grinned from the bottom of the dogpile and slid home in the photograph that preceded it. The 16x20 Slide photo signed by Griffey is the image of a player who had every personal reason to win this specific series and did exactly that.

BAS Witness — The Elevated Authentication Tier

This photo carries BAS Witness authentication — the most complete verification level available from Beckett Authentication Services. At the BAS Witness tier, a Beckett Authentication representative is physically present at the signing — watching the autograph being applied in real time and verifying its authenticity at the moment of creation. The BAS Witness hologram on this 16x20 Slide photo represents the highest available confidence in the autograph's authenticity, providing collectors with the most complete chain of verification in the signed memorabilia market.

Authenticity

This photo is certified by Beckett Authentication Services (BAS) at the Witness tier. A Beckett representative was physically present at the signing to verify the autograph in real time. The tamper-proof BAS Witness hologram is affixed directly to the photo and verifiable at Beckett's official website.

Specifications

Authenticity Guarantee

Every signed piece at GameDay Sports Memorabilia is backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee. If your item is ever determined to be inauthentic, we will replace or refund it — no questions asked.