Famous professional athletes have all kinds of post-playing careers. Some stay involved as coaches, others become TV analysts for the sports they love, and a few strike it rich in business as entrepreneurs. For at least two former baseball stars, their interests have led them down a different path: professional photography.
Ken Griffey Jr., who was one of the most prolific home run batters in the history of Major League Baseball, has been seen recently on the sidelines of football games with serious photography gear in tow. And this isn’t just a case of someone with deep pockets dabbling in a new hobby — Griffey has been shooting for big publications.
He recently attended the college football Fiesta Bowl and covered the game at ground level his son, Arizona wide receiver Trey Griffey, was playing in the game, and Griffey was shooting the event for ESPN.
ICYMI: Ken Griffey, Jr. was just out here taking photos at the #FiestaBowl. http://t.co/GIRJ1DufNX pic.twitter.com/5737Ev3lqg
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) January 1, 2015
Here’s one of the photographs he captured:
A photo posted by Ken Griffey Jr (@therealkengriffeyjr) on Jan 1, 2015 at 12:21pm PST
Sports Illustrated reports that Griffey has gotten pretty serious about photography since leaving the big leagues. Early last month, he was seen covering a Green Bay Packers NFL game during Monday Night Football.
Griffey isn’t the only big baseball star to have picked up a camera after hanging up his glove. Pitching legend Randy Johnson is a professional photographer now too. He actually majored in photojournalism while pitching in college at USC, and he began photographing again for major media outlets after his retirement.
Here’s an interview in which he talks about his involvement in photography:
…and here are a few more videos that offer a glimpse into things Johnson has gotten involved in as a photographer:
You can find a selection of Johnson’s photographs over on his impressive online portfolio. It doesn’t seem like Griffey has a photography website, but you can find some of his shots through his Instagram page.
Image credits: Header image based on photo by Keith Allison
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.