1952
Born August 1, 1952
York, PA, USA
Greg Gross Marquee
b. August 1, 1952 · Houston Astros 1973–1976, 1989, Chicago Cubs 1977–1978, Philadelphia Phillies 1979–1988
Gross played 156 games for Houston in 1974 and hit .314 with 185 hits, 78 runs, 76 walks and 12 stolen bases. The Sporting News named him its rookie player of the year, while the official National League Rookie of the Year voting placed him second.
Seventeen seasons gave him 1,073 hits, 130 doubles, 46 triples, 523 walks and a .287 average across 1,809 games. He played 1,204 games in the outfield and 74 at first base. Despite all that time, he hit only seven career home runs.
Gross followed his rookie year with 142 hits in 1975 and 122 in 1976, then moved to the Cubs. Philadelphia employed him for ten seasons from 1979 through 1988, mostly in a bench role as his at bats declined. He returned to Houston for a final season in 1989. The 1995 Hall of Fame ballot gave him no votes.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year | 1 | 1974 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | HOU | 14 | 39 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | .231 |
| 1974 | HOU | 156 | 589 | 78 | 185 | 21 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 76 | 39 | 12 | .314 |
| 1975 | HOU | 132 | 483 | 67 | 142 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 41 | 63 | 37 | 2 | .294 |
| 1976 | HOU | 128 | 426 | 52 | 122 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 64 | 39 | 2 | .286 |
| 1977 | CHC | 115 | 239 | 43 | 77 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 32 | 33 | 19 | 0 | .322 |
| 1978 | CHC | 124 | 347 | 34 | 92 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 39 | 33 | 19 | 3 | .265 |
| 1979 | PHI | 111 | 174 | 21 | 58 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 29 | 5 | 5 | .333 |
| 1980 | PHI | 127 | 154 | 19 | 37 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 24 | 7 | 1 | .240 |
| 1981 | PHI | 83 | 102 | 14 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 5 | 2 | .225 |
| 1982 | PHI | 119 | 134 | 14 | 40 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 19 | 8 | 4 | .299 |
| 1983 | PHI | 136 | 245 | 25 | 74 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 34 | 16 | 3 | .302 |
| 1984 | PHI | 112 | 202 | 19 | 65 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 24 | 11 | 1 | .322 |
| 1985 | PHI | 93 | 169 | 21 | 44 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 32 | 9 | 1 | .260 |
| 1986 | PHI | 87 | 101 | 11 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 11 | 1 | .248 |
| 1987 | PHI | 114 | 133 | 14 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 25 | 12 | 0 | .286 |
| 1988 | PHI | 98 | 133 | 10 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 3 | 0 | .203 |
| 1989 | HOU | 60 | 75 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 0 | .200 |
| Career | — | 1809 | 3745 | 449 | 1073 | 130 | 46 | 7 | 308 | 523 | 250 | 39 | .287 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | PHI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 1989 | HOU | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 18.00 |
| Career | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10.80 |
On this day & linked events
1973
Major-league debut: Greg Gross
Greg Gross made a major-league debut on September 5, 1973.
1989
Final major-league game: Greg Gross
Greg Gross played a final major-league game on September 27, 1989.
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