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“1969 Miracle Mets” Photo Gallery
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Jerry Grote, RIP
“If Jerry Grote and I were on the same team, I would be playing third base” –Johnny Bench (1)
Possibly Johnny was exaggerating a bit in the above quote, but if so, it wasn’t by much.
As your friendly baseball historian, I’d be remiss in my duties if I didn’t take a few moments to reflect on the passing this week, aged 81, of a fine ball player who was one of the best defensive catchers of his era, Jerry Grote (October 6, 1942-April 7, 2024).
As a long-time Cub fan, I remember well the role he played for the Mets in upsetting the Cubs on their way to capturing the 1969 National League pennant and World Series championship against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles.
Jerry Grote’s Career Stats
A native of San Antonio, Texas, Jerry Grote played sixteen seasons in the major leagues (1963-1981) for the Colt .45s (1963-’64), Mets (1966-’77), Dodgers (1977-’78), Royals (1981), and Dodgers (1981). Over his career, the two-time All-Star appeared in 1421 games, hitting .252, with 39 home runs, and 404 RBIs. Although his offense numbers seem modest, it was his defensive abilities that was his meal ticket to sixteen seasons in the Big Leagues. He compiled a .991 fielding percentage which at the time of his retirement ranked eighth all-time. He also possessed a strong, accurate arm against opposing base stealers, causing Lou Brock to cite Grote as one of the most difficult catchers for him to steal against.
Over his career, Grote caught some of the best pitchers of the era, including Tom Seaver, Jerry Goosman, Nolan Ryan,Tug McGraw, Tommy John, Don Sutton, and Dan Quisenberry. At the time of his passing, Mets’ pitcher John Matlack said of Jerry Grote, “He was the best catcher I ever threw to.”(2) He is the Mets’ all-time leader in games played as a catcher (1,176) with 116 shutouts to his credit, ranking him fifteenth on the all-time list.
1969 Miracle Mets
Behind the plate for 113 games for the 1969 “Miracle Mets,” Grote batted .252 with career highs of six home runs and 40 RBIs. But it was on defense where he made his most valuable contributions. He posted a .991 fielding percentage and a 56.3 caught-stealing percentage, good for second-best among National League catchers. Under his guidance, the young Mets pitching staff led the National League in victories and shutouts, while finishing second in earned run average. He also played a pivotal role in the 1969 World Series:
Besides catching every inning in the postseason, Grote contributed offensively with a single in Game Two to keep a ninth-inning rally alive; Al Weis followed with the game-winning hit. With Game Four tied, Grote doubled to start the tenth inning, then pinch runner Rod Gaspar scored the winning run when an errant throw hit J.C. Martin on the wrist. With Grote calling the pitches, the Mets pitching staff held the Orioles hitters to a .146 batting average against during the series. (3)
In 1973, another pennant-winning year for the Mets, Grote was on the disabled list for two months with a broken bone in his arm. When he returned in mid-July, the Mets began winning, climbing from last place on August 30 to capture the National League Eastern Division. After advancing to the World Series by defeating the Reds in the NLCS, they took the two-time defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics to the seventh and final game of the Series. As he did in 1969, Grote caught every inning of every post-season game in 1973. After the Series ended, Grote was quoted as saying: “The 1969 season was no miracle. Now, ’73, that was a miracle.”(4)
Following his playing days, he managed the Lakeland Tigers and Birmingham Barons in 1985. Grote has been elected to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame (1991), the New York Mets Hall of Fame (1992), the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame (1998). In addition, he was named to the Trinity University Athletic Hall of Fame (2011), his alma mater.
Bill Schaefer Shares a Memory
Thanks Bill!
Gary Livacari
Information: Excerpts edited from the Jerry Grote Wikipedia page. Quotes (1) and (4) from New York Post article on Jerry Grote, August 8, 2009; Quote (2) from Chicago Sun-Times, April 11, 2024, page 31; Quote 3) from Jerry Grote Wikipedia page.
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For some reason, whenever there’s a discussion of the greatest catchers, only the same handful of names usually pops up….Berra, Bench, Gibson, Fisk, etc. There are so many “just under the top tier ” backstops that should also be in those discussions. The late Jerry Grote is one of them. Yes, he was light with the bat, but was a tremendous handler of pitchers, and a solid all-around defensive player. I’m sure that Seaver, Koosman, Matlack, etc. owe a great deal of their success to his performance behind the dish. Uncanny that his .252 batting average; during the Mets’ 1969 WS title year, mirrored his lifetime B.A. Thnx for the post, Gary. {To: Herr Schaefer, nice little tale about how your temporary disgust with your Mets affirmed your loyalty to them, but caused any chance of a future with the blonde to evaporate}. “PLAY BALL” !
Yes, Tom but I still have vivid memories of that blonde!
Saw Grote close-up after being ushered into an interview room at Shea Stadium in 1968 and had a brief but pleasant chat with him on an ocean county radio station.
What struck me was that at 5’10” 185 he resembled a block of granite totally dominating the room. The perfect big-boned build for a major league backstop.
Yes, Bill……I’ll bet you do. {She must have been a real dish; to have left such an indelible mark in your memory}. And, in describing the play that precipitated your ice-cube-spilling fit of anger, I’m glad you used the proper term : “rundown” and not “pickle”. To us umpires, a “pickle” is something that goes on a hamburger, not a base-runner caught in between two bases. And yes, catchers seem to be the most sturdy of stature, when compared to their teammates. If it can be said that Grote was like a “block of granite” {great analogy}, then I guess you could say Yogi Berra was like a two-legged “bowling ball”. “PLAY BALL” !
Right, Tom, and Yogi was very strong with legs like coiled springs. He used to challenge opposing players who were known for their speed to 30-yard sprint races.
He would beat most of them handily–much to their chagrin.
A notorious bad ball hitter who seldom struck out, was deadly in the clutch and brilliant between the white lines.
Great conversation between you two guys! Thanks!
And, as usual, Gary those pictures are dynamite–love the one with Berra in it!
Bench was being magnanimous to Grote. Grote was a 2-time All-Star who won no Gold Gloves. Bench was a 14-time All-Star who won 10 Gold Gloves. Grote was very good, and at times excellent, defensively. But Bench was simply the best, and by a very large margin.
Excellent bio. Jerry Grote was a class act. RIP