Johnny Grubb Marquee

b. August 4, 1948 · San Diego Padres 1972–1976, Cleveland Indians 1977–1978, Texas Rangers 1978–1982, Detroit Tigers 1983–1987

San Diego brought him up in 1972 and he hit .311 the next year, which got him an All-Star selection and one first-place vote for Rookie of the Year. He was traded to Cleveland, then to Texas, then to Detroit, and he was a regular for about six of his sixteen seasons.

Detroit is where he was worth the most: he hit .333 in 210 at bats in 1986 at thirty-seven, with 13 home runs, and he was on the 1984 club that won 104 games and the World Series. He drove in the winning runs in the deciding game of that year's League Championship Series with a two-run double in the eleventh inning.

Sixteen seasons gave him 1,153 hits, 207 doubles, 99 home runs, 566 walks and a .278 average. He was a left-handed hitter used against right-handers, which is why the average is that high and the at bats are that few. No Hall of Fame ballot has listed him.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	1	1974
Player of the Week	1	1986

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1972	SDP	7	21	4	7	1	1	0	1	1	3	0	.333
1973	SDP	113	389	52	121	22	3	8	37	37	50	9	.311
1974	SDP	140	444	53	127	20	4	8	42	46	47	4	.286
1975	SDP	144	553	72	149	36	2	4	38	59	59	2	.269
1976	SDP	109	384	54	109	22	1	5	27	65	53	1	.284
1977	CLE	34	93	8	28	3	3	2	14	19	18	0	.301
1978	CLE/TEX	134	411	62	113	19	6	15	67	70	65	6	.275
1979	TEX	102	289	42	79	14	0	10	37	34	44	2	.273
1980	TEX	110	274	40	76	12	1	9	32	42	35	2	.277
1981	TEX	67	199	26	46	9	1	3	26	23	25	0	.231
1982	TEX	103	308	35	86	13	3	3	26	39	37	0	.279
1983	DET	57	134	20	34	5	2	4	22	28	17	0	.254
1984	DET	86	176	25	47	5	0	8	17	36	36	1	.267
1985	DET	78	155	19	38	7	1	5	25	24	25	0	.245
1986	DET	81	210	32	70	13	1	13	51	28	28	0	.333
1987	DET	59	114	9	23	6	0	2	13	15	16	0	.202
Career	—	1424	4154	553	1153	207	29	99	475	566	558	27	.278

On this day & linked events

1948

Born August 4, 1948

Richmond, VA, USA

1972

Major-league debut: Johnny Grubb

Johnny Grubb made a major-league debut on September 10, 1972.

1987

Final major-league game: Johnny Grubb

Johnny Grubb played a final major-league game on September 28, 1987.

Image: Hostess, public domain