1930
Born November 4, 1930
Wilkinsburg, PA, USA
Dick Groat Marquee
b. November 4, 1930 · Pittsburgh Pirates 1952, 1955–1962, St. Louis Cardinals 1963–1965, Philadelphia Phillies 1966–1967, San Francisco Giants 1967
He was the college player of the year in basketball at Duke in 1952, played a season for the Fort Wayne Pistons, and gave it up for baseball at the Pirates' insistence. In 1960 he hit .325, the best average in the National League, and was the Most Valuable Player of the club that beat the Yankees in the World Series.
Fourteen seasons gave him 2,138 hits, 352 doubles and a .286 average, with five All-Star selections. He was traded to St. Louis at thirty-two and hit .319 with a league-leading 43 doubles in 1963, finishing second in the voting, and won another World Series there in 1964.
Two years of Army service took the middle of his twenties. He broadcast Pitt basketball for forty years and ran a golf course in Pennsylvania. Six writers' ballots gave him no more than seven votes. He died in 2023, at ninety-two.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 5 | 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 2 | 1963, 1964 |
| Lou Gehrig Memorial Award | 1 | 1960 |
| Most Valuable Player | 1 | 1960 |
| The Sporting News Player of the Year | 1 | 1960 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | PIT | 95 | 384 | 38 | 109 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 19 | 27 | 2 | .284 |
| 1955 | PIT | 151 | 521 | 45 | 139 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 51 | 38 | 26 | 0 | .267 |
| 1956 | PIT | 142 | 520 | 40 | 142 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 37 | 35 | 25 | 0 | .273 |
| 1957 | PIT | 125 | 501 | 58 | 158 | 30 | 5 | 7 | 54 | 27 | 28 | 0 | .315 |
| 1958 | PIT | 151 | 584 | 67 | 175 | 36 | 9 | 3 | 66 | 23 | 32 | 2 | .300 |
| 1959 | PIT | 147 | 593 | 74 | 163 | 22 | 7 | 5 | 51 | 32 | 35 | 0 | .275 |
| 1960 | PIT | 138 | 573 | 85 | 186 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 50 | 39 | 35 | 0 | .325 |
| 1961 | PIT | 148 | 596 | 71 | 164 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 55 | 40 | 44 | 0 | .275 |
| 1962 | PIT | 161 | 678 | 76 | 199 | 34 | 3 | 2 | 61 | 31 | 61 | 2 | .294 |
| 1963 | STL | 158 | 631 | 85 | 201 | 43 | 11 | 6 | 73 | 56 | 58 | 3 | .319 |
| 1964 | STL | 161 | 636 | 70 | 186 | 35 | 6 | 1 | 70 | 44 | 42 | 2 | .292 |
| 1965 | STL | 153 | 587 | 55 | 149 | 26 | 5 | 0 | 52 | 56 | 50 | 1 | .254 |
| 1966 | PHI | 155 | 584 | 58 | 152 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 53 | 40 | 38 | 2 | .260 |
| 1967 | PHI/SFG | 44 | 96 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 0 | .156 |
| Career | — | 1929 | 7484 | 829 | 2138 | 352 | 67 | 39 | 707 | 490 | 512 | 14 | .286 |
On this day & linked events
2023
Died April 27, 2023
1952
Major-league debut: Dick Groat
Dick Groat made a major-league debut on June 18, 1952.
1967
Final major-league game: Dick Groat
Dick Groat played a final major-league game on October 1, 1967.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain