Ken Griffey Jr. on learning lifelong lessons at the Masters and his new golf and travel series
Andrew Redington
Unless you were living under a rock, you probably saw and heard that Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ken Griffey Jr. is now a photographer. In his first ever trip to the Masters this past April, he captured one of the lasting images of the week, Rory McIlroy down on his knees with his head in his hands on the 18th green at Augusta National.
Augusta National
That's right, folks, that's a Ken Griffey Jr. joint. Not bad for your first foray into photography at the Masters. Not bad at all.
"It was the most unbelievable five days being out on a golf course without playing golf," Griffey Jr. told us on this week's episode of The Loop podcast. "That was the tough part, you know? You're on a golf course and you're like, I can't even play. But the experience was unbelievable. And the folks there at Masters.com really helped me out through the whole week. What I learned the week I was there were lifelong lessons on taking photos."
Fortunately for Griffey Jr., his newest endeavor will involve a lot of playing golf as opposed to documenting it from behind a camera. That said, it is being documented with a camera, but Griffey Jr. and his old pal, ESPN's Michael Collins, are the two stars in front of the camera. The series is titled "Caddie and the Kid" and it already debuted with its first episode on the LOL network and YouTube. The show features this dynamic duo taking bucket list golf trips and setting up matches with fellow athletes and celebrities. Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, Super Bowl champion Cooper Dejean and former MLBer Aaron Hicks and his wife Cheyenne Woods were guests on Episode 1.
During our interview Collins and Griffey Jr. gave us a behind-the-scenes preview at what's to come on "Caddie and The Kid" and told some A+ stories about their travel exploits (Griffey Jr. is an efficient packer). Plus, myself, Alex Myers and Stephen Hennessey preview the Memorial Tournament and get into a debate on Golf Digest's most debatable piece of content - the America's 100 Greatest ranking. Please, have a listen below, and like and subscribe to The Loop wherever you get your podcasts.