Dick Groat was a baseball and basketball player who won two World Series, with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Died: April 27, 2023 (Who else died on April 27?)
- Details of death: Died at a Pittsburgh hospital of complications from a stroke at the age of 92.
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Dick Groat’s legacy
After attending Duke University, Groat signed with both the Pirates and the NBA’s Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952. After playing two professional sports in one year, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, taking a two-year hiatus to serve. When he returned, Groat chose only to play baseball, thanks to some pressure from Pirates management to settle on a single focus. As shortstop, he remained with the Pirates through 1962, helping them to victory in the 1960 World Series against the New York Yankees. Traded to the Cardinals in 1962, Groat again met the Yankees in the 1964 World Series and again came out victorious.
Groat saw two more trades in his career, first to the Philadelphia Phillies and then to the San Francisco Giants. He retired in 1967 after a single season with the Giants. In the years after his retirement, he concentrated on golf, co-designing Pennsylvania’s Champion Lakes Golf Course and serving as the course’s manager.
Groat was an eight-time All-Star and was named National League MVP in 1960. He was one of only a handful of World Series champions and MVPs who are not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he was elected to the Pirates Hall of Fame just days before his death.
Groat on his MLB debut
“I was intimidated. I never felt that way in basketball because I was much better at it, so this was kind of new. I remember everything about my first at bat, though – I was facing Jim Hearn and I took the first pitch because I was shaking like a leaf. I stepped out of the batter’s box and wondered what I was doing there. Then he threw me a slow pitch and I hit it right back to the mound. After the game, the manager told me to get my rest because I was going to be in the lineup the next day.” —from a 2016 interview for Bucs Dugout
Tributes to Dick Groat
Full obituary: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
