Dick Groat

Lore & Background

Groat won the National League batting title in 1960 with a .325 average, was the league's Most Valuable Player, and earned a World Series championship with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished his 14-year career with a .286 batting average and 2,138 hits with three teams. For seven seasons from 1956 to 1962, Groat teamed with future Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski to give the Pirates one of the most efficient keystone combinations in baseball history. He ranked ninth in major league history in games played at shortstop (1,877) and fourth in double plays. Groat attended Duke University, where he was a two-time All-American, two-time McKelvin Award winner as the Southern Conference athlete of the year, and the first basketball player to have his number (10) retired in school history. In 2011, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first person to be admitted to the college basketball and baseball halls of fame.

In Their Own Story

The September evening in Pittsburgh was thick with humid air and the smell of cut grass. Groat stood in the hole, his left hand tucked into the pocket of his Pirates uniform, watching the pitcher wind up. The crack of the bat from the next batter echoed off the brick wall, and the crowd at Forbes Field swelled. He fielded a sharp grounder, snapped it back to first, and before the dust settled he was already jogging to the on-deck circle, bat already in hand, eyes locked on the pitcher. No one in that crowd needed to be told who the shortstop was. You didn't have to be a Royal to know the name.

Reader's Guide

Groat was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, to Martin and Gracie Groat, the youngest of five children. He was raised in Swissvale, Pennsylvania, and attended Swissvale High School where he earned letters in basketball, baseball, and volleyball. He earned an athletic scholarship for basketball to attend Duke University where he was a two-sport star athlete. In basketball, he was a two-time college basketball All-American (1950–51, 1951–52) and one-time Helms Foundation Player of the Year recipient (1950–51). He was the Southern Conference Player of the Year as well as United Press International (UPI) National Player of the Year in the 1951–52 season, when he set an NCAA record with 839 points scored. In his final regular-season game, Groat scored 48 points against the visiting University of North Carolina, the most ever by a Tar Heels opponent. On May 1, 1952, Groat had his jersey number 10 retired to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium. On November 18, 2007, he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. In baseball, Groat played shortstop at Duke. In his senior year (1952), he helped lead the team to a 31–7 record and their first College World Series. He was a two-time winner of the McKelvin Award. After his junior year, Pittsburgh Pirates' general manager Branch Rickey offered him a chance to play professional baseball while allowing him to complete his degree. Groat declined out of deference to Duke. When Rickey repeated his offer in 1952, Groat signed his first professional contract in June. Groat joined the Pirates on June 17, 1952, in New York, without a day of minor league experience. He made his major league debut the following day and subsequently batted a team-high .284 for the remainder of the season. After his MLB debut, Groat played basketball for the Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons of the NBA. Four months into the season, he enlisted in the US Army. During his military stint, he led Fort Belvoir teams to worldwide Army championships in baseball and basketball. When Groat returned to the Pirates in 1955, he led the last-place team in hits (139) and the NL in putouts at shortstop. In 1960, as team captain, Groat became the first Pirate to be selected Most Valuable Player since Paul Waner in 1927. He hit .325 to become the first right-handed Pirates hitter to win the batting title since Honus Wagner in 1911. He sat out 20 days

Did You Know?

• Groat was a right-handed hitter, not left-handed.
• He joined the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952, not 1953.
• The 1960 Pirates won the World Series, not lost it.
• Groat was the first right-handed Pirates hitter to win the batting title since Honus Wagner in 1911.