Griffin began his career as a member of the Cleveland Indians, who signed him as an amateur free agent in 1973. On December 5, 1978, before having played a full season in the majors, he was traded, along with Phil Lansford (minors), to the Toronto Blue Jays for Víctor Cruz. Alfredo made an immediate impact, sharing the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1979 with John Castino.\n', '

In 1980, Griffin led the majors in triples, tying Willie Wilson of the Royals with fifteen; both Griffin and Wilson set an AL record for most triples in a single season by a switch-hitter. Five years later, Wilson himself shattered the record that he shared with Griffin by tallying 21 triples in 1985.[citation needed]\n', '

In 1984, he was named to the All-Star team. This was explained by John Feinstein of the Washington Post as: "Making the All-Star team the hard way: Major league baseball pays the expenses for each player here and for one guest. In most cases, players bring wives or girlfriends. Damaso Garcia, the Toronto Blue Jays\' second baseman, brought his shortstop, Alfredo Griffin. When the Tigers\' Alan Trammell hurt his arm and could not play tonight, Manager Joe Altobelli named Griffin to the team, partly because he\'s a fine player, but mostly because he was here."\n', '

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