Dick Groat, a five-time All-Star shortstop and 1960 Most Valuable Player and batting champion for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died Thursday at age 92.
Groat was a two-time World Series winner, first with the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates and then with the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals, to which he was traded following the 1962 season. During a 14-season MLB career, he also played briefly with the Phillies and Giants.
The Pirates announced last week that Groat would be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame this summer.
A two-sport star at Duke University, Groat made his major league debut with the Pirates in mid-season 1952 following the Blue Devils’ elimination from the NCAA baseball tournament. He missed the 1953 and 1954 seasons due to a military commitment, and hoped to play professional basketball as well as baseball when he returned. The move would not have been unprecedented. Gene Conley, a pitcher for the Braves at the time, also played for the Boston Celtics.
But Branch Rickey, the Pirates general manager and the man who had signed and nurtured Groat’s professional development, quashed that idea, pointing out that the Pirates were paying Groat more than he could hope to earn at basketball.
As for Conley, Rickey was quoted as telling his shortstop, “(Conley) is only a pitcher and a backup in basketball. You are regular. You won’t justify your salary in either sport.”
Groat quickly became a Pirates leader. He batted .315 in 1957, the first of four times he would top .300. When Pittsburgh claimed the 1960 pennant, Groat led the National League with a.325 average, picking up the MVP award in the process.
Sensing that his skills were beginning to diminish with age, the Pirates traded Groat to the Cardinals two years later. He hit .319 for St. Louis in 1963 and .292 as they won the 1964 National League pennant.
Groat was a contact hitter. He produced only 39 home runs with a modest .366 slugging average. But he was almost impossible to strike out, fanning in only six percent of his plate appearances. Only once did Groat strike out as many as 60 times in a season.
With the Cardinals in 1964, he struck out only 42 times in 696 trips to the plate. For contrast, Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson entered play Thursday having already fanned 41 times this year.
As pivotal a figure as he was, and as successful as his teams were, Groat never enjoyed personal postseason success. When the Pirates beat the Yankees in seven games in 1960, Groat hit just .214 with two RBI. In the Cardinals’ seven game victory over the Yankees in 1964, Groat hit just .192 with one RBI.
Here’s a brief look at Dick Groat’s 10 most impactful games of his MLB career
Note: Our standard of measurement is Win Probability Added.
10. Aug. 6, 1960, Pirates 8, Giants 7. With his team in search of its first pennant in 33 seasons, Groat’s single off Stu Miller scored Don Hoak with the winning run to cap a three-run ninth inning comeback. Win Probability Added: 0.403.
9. Aug. 27, 1966, Reds 8, Phillies 7. In the second game of a doubleheader at Crosley Field, Groat’s Phillies trailed 7-6 when he was called on to pinch hit for Bill White with runners at first and second and one out. Groat delivered a game-tying hit off Billy McCool, although the Reds went on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Win Probability Added: 0.404.
8. July 3, 1956, Pirates 6, Phillies 5. Groat’s third hit of the day was a double leading off the ninth against Jack Meyer in a game the Pirates trailed 5-4. One out later, Bob Skinner homered, giving Pittsburgh the victory. Win Probability Added: 0.430.
7. Sept. 30, 1962, Pirates 4, Braves 3. In the last of 1,258 games he would play as a Pirate, Groat delivered three hits. The last, an eighth inning bags-loaded double off Claude Raymond, cleared the bases and rallied the Pirates from a three-run deficit. Win Probability Added: 0.481.
6. Aug. 9, 1959, Pirates 5, Cubs 3. Groat’s third hit, a 10th inning single off Don Elston, scored Ramon Mejias with the go-ahead run. Win Probability Added: 0.497.
5. September 3, 1966, Phillies 8. Mets 4. The Phillies trailed 1-0 until Groat drove in Bill White with a sixth-inning single. He scored the go-ahead run on Tony Taylor’s base hit. One inning later, Groat’s third hit of the game drove two insurance runs across. Win Probability Added: 0.508.
4. May 14, 1965, Cardinals 8, Pirates 7. Groat’s first inning single scored Curt Flood, and he came around to score on an infield out. In the fifth, Groat’s fly ball was deep enough to score Lou Brock with a run that put the Cardinals ahead 5-3. But the Cardinals trailed 6-5 when Groat came up one final time in the ninth with Ken Boyer representing the tying run at first. Groat’s triple scored Boyer and he carried the eventual winning run across on Bill White’s base hit. Win Probability Added: 0.559.
3. July 18, 1957, Pirates 6, Cubs 5. Groat’s fifth-inning single drove in a run that put Pittsburgh ahead 2-1. The Pirates trailed 5-3 when he came up again with one out and runners at first and second. This time Groat tripled off Turk Lown, driving both runners home and tying the game. Moments later, he would score the winning run on Bill Mazeroski’s base hit. Win Probability Added: 0.632.
2. May 6, 1966, Phillies 8, Pirates 7. Facing his old team and old teammate Roy Face at Connie Mack Stadium, Groat’s Phillies had rallied from a 7-3 deficit to pull within a run when he came up with two outs in the bottom of the 11th. With runners at second and third, Groat lined a base hit into left field that scored both Bob Uecker and Jackie Brandt, completing the comeback. Win Probability Added: 0.660.
1 Aug. 3, 1956, Pirates 4, Braves 3. The most impactful game of Groat’s career was played at Forbes Field. The Braves had scored twice in the top of the ninth to present Warren Spahn with a 3-2 lead only to see Pittsburgh load the bases with two out for Groat. Facing reliever Dave Jolley, his base hit to center scored Bill Virdon and Eddie O’Brien to give Pittsburgh the victory. Win Probability Added: 0.840.