PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dick Groat, a two-sport star who went from All-American guard in basketball to a brief stint in the NBA to ultimately an All-Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, died Thursday. He was 92.
Groat’s family said in a statement that he died at UMPC Presbyterian Hospital from complications 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 said in a statement, calling Groat “a great player and an even better person.”
Groat, who was from the Swissvale neighborhood just east of Pittsburgh’s downtown, starred at Duke in basketball and baseball in the early 1950s, earning All-American honors in both. His No. 10 jersey hangs in Cameron Indoor Stadium; the program retired his number following the end of his senior season in 1952.
Groat attempted to play both baseball and basketball professionally, signing with the Pirates and being drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons of the then-fledgling NBA within weeks of each other in 1952.
Long before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders made two-way playing en vogue in the 1980s and ’90s, Groat was regularly shuttling from Durham, North Carolina, to Fort Wayne, Indiana in the winter of 1952-53 so he could split time between his classes at Duke — where he was finishing his degree 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 said. “I never had to practice, just play on the weekend.”
While basketball was Groat’s sport of choice, a stint in the military and an ultimatum from Pirates general manager Branch Rickey redirected the arc of Groat’s athletic career.
“Baseball was always like work for me,” Groat said in a 2014 interview. “Basketball was the sport that I loved, but it was baseball where I knew I would make a living.”
Rickey agreed, telling Groat after he returned home and played for the Pirates in 1955 that the young shortstop needed to step away from basketball. Groat somewhat reluctantly agreed, a decision that morphed into a lengthy 14-year career with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. He made the All-Star team in five seasons and led the majors in hitting in 1960 when he batted .325.
Be the first to comment