Ken Griffey Jr. Trivia

Six degrees of Ken Griffey Jr.

Griffey appeared in the 2001 baseball movie "Summer Catch," with Fred Ward, who was in "Tremors" with Kevin Bacon in 1990. Done.

Here's a tougher one — Griffey to Babe Ruth:

• Griffey played with Jeffrey "Penitentiary Face" Leonard in 1989-90.

• Leonard played with Jesus Alou (Houston, 1978-79).

• Alou played with Don Larsen (San Francisco, 1963-64).

• Larsen played with Phil Rizzuto (Yankees, 1955-56).

• Rizzuto played with Bill Dickey (Yankees, 1941-43, 1946).

• Dickey played with Babe Ruth (Yankees (1928-34).

Ken Griffey Jr., TV star

In a 1992 episode of "The Simpsons," Griffey is one of nine all-stars hired by Mr. Burns as ringers for the company softball team.

Sadly, Griffey becomes hooked on Burns' special brain tonic, and misses the big game with a grotesquely swollen head.

Griffey has also appeared on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and two episodes of "Arli$$."

On David Letterman, Griffey read "Top 10 thoughts that went through Ken Griffey Jr.'s mind as he hit his 500th home run." No. 8: "This is the time to debut my pantsless home run trot." Check it out on YouTube.

Sometimes you feel like a nut ...

Once upon a time, kids, Ken Griffey Jr. was so popular they named a candy bar after him.

Not that he's the first.

The Baby Ruth was, by most accounts, named for Babe Ruth, despite claims to the contrary by the Curtiss Candy Company, which was probably just trying to avoid having to pay the Babe royalties.

(Doesn't it seem more plausible, in 1921, that the candy bar would have been named for Babe Ruth, the most famous person in America, rather than for the long-dead daughter of former president Grover Cleveland? But we digress).

Reggie Jackson had his Reggie bar, and Cecil Fielder, Tony Gwynn, Larry Walker, Frank Thomas and Travis Hafner all had their own ("I'm being dead serious," Hafner said after his first bite of a Pronk bar, "of all the candy bars I've ever had, this is probably the best one.")

The "Cal Bar" wrapper features a photo of 10-year-old Cal Ripken Jr. (who, at the time, had an amazing streak of 26 consecutive Little League games played).

Apparently, there are no morals clauses in the candy-bar business. Pete Rose (gambling), Wade Boggs (infidelity), Chipper Jones (infidelity with a Hooters waitress!), Jose Canseco (infidelity AND steroids) all have their own bars.

But here's the best: The Albert Belle bar.

That's right, the man who got into his car to chase down trick-or-treaters who threw eggs at his house on Halloween, has his own candy bar. And it tastes like irony.

All in the family

Craig Griffey is a better athlete than 99 percent of the people on earth, good enough to play cornerback at Ohio State, then seven seasons of minor-league baseball.

But he was just the third-best outfielder in his family.

Craig, a year-and-a-half younger than Ken Jr., was selected by the Mariners in the 42nd round of the 1991 draft. He hit .224 with 11 home runs in the minor leagues before giving up on baseball.

He's not the only brother who couldn't keep up with a more famous sibling:

• Hank and Tommie Aaron combined for a brothers record of 768 home runs — 13 by Tommie.

• Jay and Shawn Buhner were both Mariners, but Jay is the only one you'll see in TV commercials. Shawn, a first baseman, was taken by Seattle in the 29th round of the 1994 draft and played six minor-league seasons for the Mariners, reaching AAA in 1999.

• Honus Wagner was a member of the first class to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and might have been the greatest shortstop ever. His T206 baseball card is the Holy Grail of the card-collecting industry, and has been sold for more than $2 million.

Honus' older brother Butts played just one season, 1898, with the Washington Senators and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. (Bridegrooms?). He hit .226, with one home run. And his name was Butts.