Griffey Jr joins 600-homers club

Ken Griffey Jr has become only the sixth Major League Baseball player to hit 600 career home runs.

The Cincinnati Reds star's landmark homer came in the first inning of a game against the Florida Marlins.

Griffey slammed a 3-1 pitch from Mark Hendrickson into the right-field seats to join some of the sport's greats.

The other players to hit 600-plus home runs are Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660) and Sammy Sosa (609).

Griffey, 38, said: "I don't think I touched any of the bases. I sort of floated around."

One of baseball's most feared sluggers until injuries hampered his career, Griffey reached 599 on 31 May.

He needed 216 at-bats this season to finally hit his 600th in the last contest of an eight-game road trip for Cincinnati.

His 400th and 500th career home runs also came on the road.

Griffey is in the final season of his contract in Cincinnati, where he has struggled at times since being traded to his hometown team before the 2000 season.

"My father hit 152 home runs, and that's who I wanted to be like," Griffey said of his father, who also played for the Reds, and with his son briefly in Seattle.

The younger Griffey hit 40 homers in his first season as a Red, becoming the youngest player to hit 400 home runs and putting him ahead of Aaron's pace to be the all-time leader.

However, a succession of major injuries hobbled him and it took him another four years to reach 500.

His health has improved enough in recent years for him to hit 35 homers in 2005, 27 in 2006 and 30 more last season.