Pirates star Dick Groat, who also played in NBA, dies at 92

Baseball

Published 27.04.2023

Pirates star Dick Groat, who also played in NBA, dies at 92

PITTSBURGH — Before Bo Jackson knew all the pieces, earlier than Deion Sanders launched Prime Time, there was Dick Groat.

A wiry shortstop with a slick glove and a lightning-quick guard with a deadly set shot, Groat was a star on the baseball diamond and the basketball courtroom within the Fifties, lengthy earlier than Jackson and Sanders made main sports activities multitasking a factor.

Groat, who parlayed a spectacular hoops profession at Duke into a quick stint within the NBA earlier than changing into an All-Star and the 1960 National League MVP whereas enjoying baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, died Thursday. He was 92.

Groat’s household stated in a press release that he died at UMPC Presbyterian Hospital from issues of a stroke.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community,” Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting stated in a press release, calling Groat “a great player and an even better person.”

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Groat, who was from the Swissvale neighborhood simply east of Pittsburgh’s downtown, earned All-American honors in each basketball and baseball whereas starring at Duke. His No. 10 jersey hangs in Cameron Indoor Stadium; this system retired his quantity following the tip of his senior season in 1952.

“A true multisports icon, Dick represented Duke University and the city of Pittsburgh with the utmost of class and dignity, which resulted in universal admiration,” former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski stated.

Groat tried to play each baseball and basketball professionally, signing with the Pirates and being drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons of the then-fledgling NBA inside weeks of one another in 1952. He is one among 13 gamers to play professionally in each the NBA and Major League Baseball.

Long earlier than Jackson and Sanders made two-way enjoying en vogue within the Nineteen Eighties and ’90s, Groat was recurrently shuttling from Durham, North Carolina, to Fort Wayne, Indiana within the winter of 1952-53 so he might break up time between his lessons at Duke — the place he was ending his diploma after his eligibility expired — and the Pistons.

“I had a ball playing for them and had some of the scariest trips in my life,” Groat stated. “I never had to practice, just play on the weekend.”

While basketball was Groat’s sport of alternative, a stint within the navy and an ultimatum from Pirates normal supervisor Branch Rickey redirected the arc of Groat’s athletic profession.

“Baseball was always like work for me,” Groat stated in a 2014 interview. “Basketball was the game that I beloved, however it was baseball the place I knew I might make a residing.”

Rickey agreed, telling Groat after he returned house and performed for the Pirates in 1955 that the younger shortstop wanted to step away from basketball. Groat considerably reluctantly agreed, a call that morphed right into a prolonged 14-year profession with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. He made the All-Star group in 5 seasons and led the majors in hitting in 1960 when he batted .325.

The 1960 season ended with Groat incomes NL MVP honors for a Pirates group that upset the New York Yankees in seven video games to win the World Series.

Groat completed with 2,138 profession hits throughout a serious league profession spanning 1952-67. The Pirates introduced final week that he could be inducted into the group’s not too long ago established Hall of Fame this summer time.

A member of the faculty basketball and faculty baseball Halls of Fame, Groat was a two-time All-American guard at Duke and stays the second-leading scorer at school historical past, averaging 23.0 factors for the Blue Devils. He was taken third total by the Pistons within the 1952 NBA draft.

Groat performed 26 video games for the Pistons, averaging 11.9 factors, 3.3 rebounds and a pair of.7 assists. His basketball profession, nevertheless, ended after he enlisted within the Army in 1953. He spent practically two years within the service and when he was discharged, Rickey primarily threatened to remove Groat’s signing bonus if he didn’t flip his consideration to baseball.

Groat relented and have become probably the most constant shortstops of his period. He performed in eight All-Star video games (there have been two video games a season for a quick interval within the Fifties and ’60s) and through Pittsburgh’s inconceivable run to a World Series title in 1960, it was Groat and never future baseball Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski who spearheaded the Pirates’ unlikely rise from perennial also-ran to championship membership.

The checklist of gamers who completed behind Groat within the 1960 NL MVP voting contains Hall of Famers Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Eddie Matthews.

A clean defender who teamed with Mazeroski to steer the NL in double performs 5 occasions — a file that also stands — Groat performed 1,290 video games at shortstop for the Pirates, fourth on the membership’s all-time checklist for a participant at that place.

Pittsburgh traded Groat to St. Louis in November 1962. He responded by having the most effective statistical season of his profession in 1963, ending second in MVP voting behind Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax whereas hitting .319 with a serious league-leading 43 doubles. Groat gained a second world championship that fall because the Cardinals toppled the Yankees in seven video games.

Groat performed briefly for Philadelphia after which the Giants earlier than retiring after the 1967 season. He remained lively within the Pittsburgh space following his enjoying days, working the golf course he owned within the Laurel Highlands about an hour east of town and spending 4 a long time as a coloration commentator for the University of Pittsburgh basketball group.

Current Pitt coach Jeff Capel stated Groat lived “a storybook life.”

Groat is survived by daughters Tracey, Carol Ann and Allison, together with 11 grandchildren.