Ken Griffey Jr. Hates Norm MacDonald

(Hat tip to Deadspin for the video)

The above video comes from comedian Norm MacDonald’s legendary set at the 1998 ESPYs, the last time the ESPYs have been worth watching.

If you haven’t watched that set, do so immediately. Its baseball relevance includes a classic Hideki Irabu joke as well the introduction of Michael Jordan’s baseball nickname, as seen in the picture below.

I wouldn’t want that on my hall of fame plaque either.

Outside of the comedy, the most remarkable part of this video, particularly for baseball fans, is Ken Griffey Jr.’s reaction to MacDonald’s set. First, after Norm makes a Hideki Irabu joke (around 1:05 on the video), the camera pans over to Griffey, who is not pleased at all.

We don’t see Griffey again until the end of the video, right after Norm finishes with a deadly O.J. Simpson joke. Although I’m a bit young to remember everything about the O.J. trial, I do know that it was a bit contentious, particularly along racial lines, so perhaps it’s not shocking to see this reaction out of Junior and those sitting around him after the joke.

In the interest of full disclosure, this post was mainly just an excuse to post the Norm video, with the added bonus of using the name “Señor Crappy” thrown in. But hey, isn’t it kind of crazy to know that Ken Griffey Jr. hates Norm MacDonald?