Ken Griffey Jr. Gave Off the Charisma of a Hostage Victim During Live Interview on SportsCenter

Ken Griffey Jr. appeared on ESPN today on behalf of Upper Deck to talk about the company’s 25th anniversary. As you’ll recall, Griffey’s Upper Deck rookie card helped change the entire card industry. Maybe he’s tired about talking about it since the last place in the world Griffey looked like he wanted to be was interviewed by Linda Cohn on SportsCenter about his rookie card, Robinson Cano signing with the Mariners and Derek Jeter’s retirement.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen hostage videos that were more chipper than this. Kudos to Cohn, a pro’s pro, for powering through it and keeping a smile on her face. And credit to Griffey, too, for finally smiling during the final question of the segment.