Pirates star Groat, who played in NBA, passes away at 92
PITTSBURGH– Penis Groat, a two-sport star who went from All-American guard in basketball to a short stint in the NBA to eventually an All-Star shortstop and the 1960 National League MVP while playing baseball for his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, has died. He was 92.
Groat’s family said in a declaration that he died Thursday at UPMC Presbyterian Healthcare facility in Pittsburgh due to issues from a stroke.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a precious member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting stated in a statement, calling Groat “a fantastic player and an even better individual.”
Groat, who was from the Swissvale area simply east of Pittsburgh’s downtown, starred at Duke in basketball and baseball in the early 1950s, making All-American honors in both. His No. 10 jersey hangs inside Cameron Indoor Arena after the program retired his number following his senior season in 1952.
Groat attempted to play both baseball and basketball expertly, signing with the Pirates and being prepared 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 divide time in between his classes at Duke– where he was completing 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 in a 2014 interview. “I never had to practice, just use the weekend.”
Penis Groat won the NL MVP award in 1960, when he led the majors with a. 325 batting average as the Pirates won the World Series. AP Photo/File While basketball was Groat’s sport of option, a stint in the military and a warning from Pirates basic supervisor Branch Rickey rerouted the arc of Groat’s athletic career.
“Baseball was always like work for me,” Groat said. “Basketball was the sport that I liked, but it was baseball where I understood I would earn a living.”
Rickey agreed, informing Groat after he returned home and played for the Pirates in 1955 that the young shortstop required to step away from basketball.Groat somewhat unwillingly concurred, a choice that changed into a lengthy 14-year career split in between Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Groat made the Dream team in five seasons and led the majors in striking in 1960 when he batted.325.
That season ended with Groat making NL MVP honors for a Pirates group that upset the New york city Yankees to win the World Series.Groat completed with 2,138 profession hits throughout a major league career that covered from 1952 to 1967. The Pirates announced last week that Groat would be inducted into the team’s recently developed Hall of Popularity later this summertime. Penis Groat(center)was an All-American in both basketball and baseball at Duke, and heaven Devils retired his No. 10 jersey to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium in 1952. AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File A member of the college basketball and college baseball Halls of Fame, Groat was a two-time All-American guard at Duke in the 1950s and remains the second-leading scorer in school history, balancing 23 points for heaven Devils. He was taken third overall by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1952 NBA draft.Groat played 26 games for the Pistons, averaging 11.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. His basketball career, nevertheless, ended after he got in the Army in 1953. He invested nearly two years in the service and when he was discharged, Rickey essentially threatened to take away Groat’s signing benefit if he didn’t turn his attention to baseball.Groat relented and became one of the most constant shortstops of his age. He played in eight All-Star games(there were two games a season for a quick period in the 1950s and
1960s )and during Pittsburgh’s unlikely go to a World Series in 1960, it was Groat and not future baseball Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Expense Mazeroski who spearheaded the Pirates’unlikely rise from perennial also-ran to champion club.The list of players who completed behind Groat in the 1960 NL MVP ballot consists of Hall of Famers Clemente, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Eddie Matthews.A smooth defender who teamed with Mazeroski to lead the
NL in double plays five times– a record that still stands– Groat played 1,290 games at shortstop for the Pirates, 4th on the club’s all-time list.Pittsburgh traded Groat to St. Louis in November 1962. Groat responded by having the very best statistical season of his career in 1963, completing second in MVP ballot behind Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax while striking.319 with a major league-leading 43 doubles.
Groat won a 2nd world championship that fall as the Cardinals fell the Yankees in seven games.Groat played briefly for Philadelphia and then the Giants before retiring after the 1967 season. He remained active in the Pittsburgh area following his playing days, including spending 4 years as a color commentator for the University of Pittsburgh
basketball team.Current Pitt coach Jeff Capel said Groat lived”a storybook life.”Groat is endured by children Tracey, Carol Ann and Allison, in addition to 11 grandchildren.