The late Groat is of course most remembered as a longtime (and two-time) Pittsburgh Pirate--not to mention for so often double-playing a couiple opponents out with Pirates second baseman (and 1960 walk-off Series winner) Bill Mazeroski.

But Groat, who expired at 92 today in Pittsburgh, ALSO had a memorable stint as the St. Louis Cardinals shortstop in the early '60s. I especially remember his assertive and methodical play in that glorious (at least for us St. Louis-area hicks) 1964 World Series Cardinals triumph in seven games over the mighty Yankees.

But what my father never told me--or perhaps wasn't aware of--when he took me up to St. Louis's tough north-side to watch the Cardinals at venerable Sportman's Park was that our star shortstop Groat was also a top-notch basketball player--formerly in the NBA for the then-still Ft. Wayne Pistons (had it been for the then-still St. Louis Hawks, Dad would have known and told me THAT, for sure).

Needless to say, shortstop Groat threw right-handed; while there HAVE been a handful of left-throwing catchers in major league history, as far as I can determine there have been precisely ZERO left-throwing shortstops, for what I consider obvious reasons. (For several years now I've been encouraging baseball-fan pals to prove wrong my limited research on the question; any alt-obit takers?)

Glad to learn Groat spent his final years in The Steel City; far too many aging local baseball heroes end up taking the easy way* out of life by retiring down here to Florida, in the process forgoing a remaining-lifetime of comp restaurant meals and local celebrity privilege (in exchange for retelling stories they'd usually delight in repeating anyway), merely for year-round tropical sunshine.**

BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
--------------------------------------
* Like I so lazily did.
** I remind y'all: The Sunshine State is a serious misnomer (although certainly more handy as a license plate slogan than The Usually Clouded-Over-by-Midday State).
================================https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Groat

On Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 5:18:07 PM UTC-4, radioacti...@gmail..com wrote:
> The late Groat is of course most remembered as a longtime (and two-time) Pittsburgh Pirate--not to mention for so often double-playing a couiple opponents out with Pirates second baseman (and 1960 walk-off Series winner) Bill Mazeroski.
>
> But Groat, who expired at 92 today in Pittsburgh, ALSO had a memorable stint as the St. Louis Cardinals shortstop in the early '60s. I especially remember his assertive and methodical play in that glorious (at least for us St. Louis-area hicks) 1964 World Series Cardinals triumph in seven games over the mighty Yankees.
>
> But what my father never told me--or perhaps wasn't aware of--when he took me up to St. Louis's tough north-side to watch the Cardinals at venerable Sportman's Park was that our star shortstop Groat was also a top-notch basketball player--formerly in the NBA for the then-still Ft. Wayne Pistons (had it been for the then-still St. Louis Hawks, Dad would have known and told me THAT, for sure).
>
> Needless to say, shortstop Groat threw right-handed; while there HAVE been a handful of left-throwing catchers in major league history, as far as I can determine there have been precisely ZERO left-throwing shortstops, for what I consider obvious reasons. (For several years now I've been encouraging baseball-fan pals to prove wrong my limited research on the question; any alt-obit takers?)
>
> Glad to learn Groat spent his final years in The Steel City; far too many aging local baseball heroes end up taking the easy way* out of life by retiring down here to Florida, in the process forgoing a remaining-lifetime of comp restaurant meals and local celebrity privilege (in exchange for retelling stories they'd usually delight in repeating anyway), merely for year-round tropical sunshine.**
>
> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
> --------------------------------------
> * Like I so lazily did.
> ** I remind y'all: The Sunshine State is a serious misnomer (although certainly more handy as a license plate slogan than The Usually Clouded-Over-by-Midday State).
> =================================
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Groat

Around here (Durham NC), Mr. Groat was known more for his basketball, as he was an All-American in basketball at Duke in addition to his baseball honors. I believe he is the only person inducted into both the college basketball and baseball Hall of Fames. He was also the first, and for thirty years only, athlete at Duke to have his number retired.

He was the color announcer for Pitt basketball for 40+ years, so he was there for more than his "final years."

Regarding lefty shortstops, I believe you'll need to go back to the 19th century before finding any players who were shortstops regularly; you'll probably find a few that played for a couple of innings in extra inning games on rare occasions. Same with second basemen.

It's slightly easier to play third base as a lefty, although by no means easier than a righty, which is why most are starboard sided. But since it's a less important defensive position than short or second, there have been a few lefties at third for short periods. Don Mattingly started two games there in 1986, when the Yankees had some injury problems to their regular infielders. Two years earlier, Mike Squires of the White Sox played 13 games at third, with four starts. Squires also caught a couple of games back in 1984, and there was talk of making him a semi-regular, but it never happened. (Squires, unlike Mattingly, was a so-so hitter, worse than the average first baseman, but better than most catchers - so it was an idea to get his good glove and hitting in the lineup.) There was another lefty catcher in the '90s for the Pirates...(Google Search), it actually was Benny DiStefano in 1989.

jdunlop <jdunlop@aol.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 5:18:07?PM UTC-4, radioacti...@gmail.com wrote:
>> The late Groat is of course most remembered as a longtime (and two-time) Pittsburgh Pirate--not to mention for so often double-playing a couiple opponents out with Pirates second baseman (and 1960 walk-off Series winner) Bill Mazeroski.
>>
>> But Groat, who expired at 92 today in Pittsburgh, ALSO had a memorable stint as the St. Louis Cardinals shortstop in the early '60s. I especially remember his assertive and methodical play in that glorious (at least for us St. Louis-area hicks) 1964 World Series Cardinals triumph in seven games over the mighty Yankees.
>>
>> But what my father never told me--or perhaps wasn't aware of--when he took me up to St. Louis's tough north-side to watch the Cardinals at venerable Sportman's Park was that our star shortstop Groat was also a top-notch basketball player--formerly in the NBA for the then-still Ft. Wayne Pistons (had it been for the then-still St. Louis Hawks, Dad would have known and told me THAT, for sure).
>>
>> Needless to say, shortstop Groat threw right-handed; while there HAVE been a handful of left-throwing catchers in major league history, as far as I can determine there have been precisely ZERO left-throwing shortstops, for what I consider obvious reasons. (For several years now I've been encouraging baseball-fan pals to prove wrong my limited research on the question; any alt-obit takers?)
>>
>> Glad to learn Groat spent his final years in The Steel City; far too many aging local baseball heroes end up taking the easy way* out of life by retiring down here to Florida, in the process forgoing a remaining-lifetime of comp restaurant meals and local celebrity privilege (in exchange for retelling stories they'd usually delight in repeating anyway), merely for year-round tropical sunshine.**
>>
>> BRYAN STYBLE/Florida
>> --------------------------------------
>> * Like I so lazily did.
>> ** I remind y'all: The Sunshine State is a serious misnomer (although certainly more handy as a license plate slogan than The Usually Clouded-Over-by-Midday State).
>> =================================
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Groat
>
> Around here (Durham NC), Mr. Groat was known more for his basketball, as he was an All-American in basketball at Duke in addition to his baseball honors. I believe he is the only person inducted into both the college basketball and baseball Hall of Fames. He was also the first, and for thirty years only, athlete at Duke to have his number retired.
>
> He was the color announcer for Pitt basketball for 40+ years, so he was there for more than his "final years."
>
> Regarding lefty shortstops, I believe you'll need to go back to the 19th century before finding any players who were shortstops regularly; you'll probably find a few that played for a couple of innings in extra inning games on rare occasions. Same with second basemen.
>
> It's slightly easier to play third base as a lefty, although by no means easier than a righty, which is why most are starboard sided. But since it's a less important defensive position than short or second, there have been a few lefties at third for short periods. Don Mattingly started two games there in 1986, when the Yankees had some injury problems to their regular infielders. Two years earlier, Mike Squires of the White Sox played 13 games at third, with four starts. Squires also caught a couple of games back in 1984, and there was talk of making him a semi-regular, but it never happened. (Squires, unlike Mattingly, was a so-so hitter, worse than the average first baseman, but better than most catchers - so it was an idea to get his good glove and hitting in the lineup.) There was another lefty catcher in the '90s for the Pirates...(Google Search), it actually was Benny DiStefano in 1989.

I don't know where the late athlete's family picked up the name,but the "groat" (English word somehow descended from
the Italian "grosso") is a fourpenny silver coin,originating in mediaeval times when that was considered a large
denomination (one fifth of a troy ounce...where the currency pound was divided into twenty twelve-penny shillings,
the troy pound was/is divided into twelve twenty-pennyweight ounces).
Fifteen groats in a crown,sixty in a pound.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.