AUGUSTA, Ga. — Ken Griffey Jr.’s wife, Melissa, asked if he could do some chores around the house this weekend.
“No,” he told her, “I have to work the Masters.”
They haven’t spoken in a few days, he said kiddingly.
But hey, it’s the Masters, and the National Baseball Hall of Famer simply couldn’t pass up the rare opportunity to work as a photographer for Masters.com, taking pictures of golf’s biggest stars — from past champions such as Phil Mickelson to current contender Rory McIlroy — on perhaps the sport’s most picturesque stage.
A star shooting stars, if you will.
“I’m not here to take anybody’s job, but I am here to learn about as much as I can about sports photography as well as the history of the Masters,” Griffey said. “To be able to sit here and really soak it in for four or five days has really been absolutely unbelievable.”
The 55-year-old Griffey, a 13-time MLB All-Star who retired 15 years ago, said he’s a late bloomer when it comes to sports photography. He started when his children got into sports.
“People would think if I’m sitting in the stands smiling, they can come up and talk to me,” Griffey said with a laugh. “So if I got a camera, they didn’t really know what I was doing. It was a way for me to really focus in and watch the kids, and not critique what they were doing, but just be in the moment with them.”
Since then, he has taken it to a different level.
Griffey has shot the World Series, the MLB All-Star game, NFL games and soccer. (Bonus: He got to drive the pace car during his trip to the Indianapolis 500 last year.)
This is his first time shooting golf, though he has played once before at Augusta National, the home of the Masters. He’ll modestly tell you his handicap is 13, but some close to him say it’s much closer to scratch.
He finished his MLB career with 2,781 hits, a .284 batting average and 630 home runs, and he also won 10 Gold Gloves as an outfielder.
“I think I’m probably best at shooting baseball because I understand it so well. Football, too,” said Griffey, whose 22 seasons in the big leagues were spent with three teams: the Seattle Mariners (1989-99 and 2009-10), Cincinnati Reds (2000-08) and Chicago White Sox (2008).
Griffey has all of his own photography equipment, including the long telephoto lenses.
When he first became immersed in the hobby, Griffey phoned former Mariners teammate and fellow Hall of Fame member Randy Johnson for some advice. He knew “The Big Unit” had taken photojournalism classes and worked some sporting events after retiring from baseball.
The 6-foot-10 former pitcher rattled off several tips, and Griffey gathered what he could from him.
With typical modesty, Griffey said he’s still very much a work in progress.
“You know, I’m getting better at it because I’m starting to understand and know what they expect from me,” Griffey said of his time working for Masters.com. “I mean, I can go out there and rattle off 30,000 pictures — anybody can — but it’s about so much more than that. The lighting is a big thing, the background, so many things.
“You can have a good picture of someone, but if the background isn’t right, it can turn out terrible.”
Griffey said he wants to shoot motocross racing next, but for now he’s excited to finish out the weekend and see how the Masters turns out — and be there to document a little bit of golf history.
“I like it all, because every sport has its challenges,” Griffey said. “But this has been a really fantastic week, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”