WHY I THINK DICK GROAT SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Dick Groat was one of the finest all around shortstops ever to play the grand old game of baseball. For four National League clubs, he led the league’s shortstops in double plays a record five times - not even Ozzie Smith could do that (edit: this statement is incorrect; he shares the record with Smith). He was also a two time World Series champion and the MVP and Batting Champion in 1960. Dick Groat started his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952 with a .284 average in 95 games, finishing third in the Rookie of the Year Award voting. That season he also played basketball in the NBA for the Fort Wayne Pistons, averaging a fine 11.9 points per game. He then spent the next two seasons in Military Service. Groat returned in 1955 to bat .267, and by 1957 he had made himself into a .315 hitter. He batted .300 again in 1958 but slumped a bit in 1959. Groat rebounded in 1960 with arguably the best season of his career, when he was voted the NL MVP with his league leading .325 batting average. He helped the Pirates to win the World Series that year, the one made famous by Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run in Game 7. Although he didn’t have excessive power and didn’t walk too much, Groat provided a lot of value to his team with his defensive positioning, place hitting, and skills at the hit and run, which may well have been the best in history. In 1961, he slumped to .275 but actually drove in five more runs than he did the year before. Groat batted .294 in 1962 but was traded to the Cardinals after the season, and he made the Pirates pay by enjoying a career season. That year he hit .319 and led the MLB with 43 doubles en route to a second place finish in the NL MVP Award voting. Any two time MVP should be a slam dunk Hall of Famer so long as he was clean of any cheating, and Groat played the game cleanly and had a reputation as a stand up gentleman. At any rate, Groat had one last fine season in 1964, batting .292 to help the Cardinals win the World Series, and was still a productive player through 1966. He played in 44 games between the Phillies and the Giants in 1967, losing his skills rapidly at the age of 36, and retired at the end of the year. Dick Groat was a fine hitter, a solid fielder, and a master at hit and run whose skills on both offense and defense merit enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,929 season high: 161 in 1962 and 1964
At Bats career: 7,484 season high: 678 in 1962
Hits career: 2,138 season high: 201 in 1963
Doubles career: 352 season high: 43 in 1963 led NL: 43 in 1963
Triples career: 67 season high: 11 in 1963
Home Runs career: 39 season high: 7 in 1957
Runs career: 829 season high: 85 in 1960 and 1963
Runs Batted In career: 707 season high: 73 in 1963
Stolen Bases career: 14 season high: 3 in 1963
Walks career: 490 season high: 56 in 1963 and 1965
Strikeouts career: 512 season high: 61 in 1962
Batting Average career: .286 season high: .325 in 1960 led NL: .325 in 1960
On Base Percentage career: .330 season high: .377 in 1963
Slugging Percentage career: .366 season high: .450 in 1963
Total Bases career: 2,741 season high: 284 in 1963
Sacrifice Hits career: 122 season high: 17 in 1956
Fielding Percentage career: .961 season high: .97465* in 1966
Double Plays career: 1,241 season high: 127 in 1958 led NL SS: 127 in 1958, 97 in 1959, 117 in 1961, 126 in 1962, 91 in 1964
Putouts career: 3,526 season high: 330 in 1955 led NL SS: 330 in 1955, 307 in 1958, 301 in 1959, 314 in 1962
Assists career: 5,864 season high: 521 in 1962 led NL SS: 521 in 1962, 499 in 1964
*Groat fielded .97461 in 1958, which also rounds to .975
DID YOU KNOW?
-was an eight time all-star
-also finished 15th in the NL MVP Award voting in 1957 and 16th in 1962
-scored three runs and had two extra-base hits in each World Series
-won the 1960 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
-led the NL with 154 singles in 1960
-led NL shortstops in games in 1963 (158)
-went 6-for-6 with three doubles on May 13, 1960
-hit two home runs off of Hall of Famer Robin Roberts and one each off of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Bob Gibson
-went 201-for-631 in 1963, the exact same numbers as Hank Aaron had that season
-on September 29, 1957, he threw out a runner at the plate to end the Giants’ final home game at the Polo Grounds (Boo!)
-hit an RBI double in Game 1 of the 1960 World Series and ended the game with a double play
-tagged out Mickey Mantle on a pickoff play in Game 4 of the 1964 World Series
-his 678 at bats in 1962 are the 48th most of all time
-also played one game each at first base and second base, 28 at third base, 37 as a pinch hitter, and one as a pinch runner
-was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011
Groat as a basketball player in college
Dick Groat? Uh, no. He was a good fielder, but at the plate he was mediocre. His .286 average masked him having no power, and walking 35 times a season. He was a good hitter for a shortstop, and a good fielder, and thus a very good player, but not a hall of famer. He was basically a poor man's Phil Rizzuto.
ReplyDeleteFor me, a Batting Title, an MVP, a second place finish, the double play record, two World Series wins, and 2,138 hits in the toughest pitching era ever make Groat a pretty good candidate. You don't need too much power to make the Hall of Fame as a shortstop, if you can hit, field, and play strategy (like hit and run). He's certainly better than an "Uh, no."
Delete"Uh, no." was probably a little more harsh than I meant to sound, but he really is far from being a hall of famer, in my opinion.
DeleteThank you. I think that he's okay, but not really as obvious as others who I am advocating for, but fine. A lot of people see Groat as a Hall of Famer, and I guess I do too. I also think that he is one of the best shortstops to play the game, but only the third best in Pirates history, behind Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Arky Vaughan.
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