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1958 • Baseball Clip • Dick Groat Interview - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is RetroSports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  This is Dick Groder of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill.
• 0:13
  This is Harry Wismarff. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding players.
• 0:31
  And in event our special guest Dick Grode considers his greatest sports thrill.
• 0:37
  And Dick himself is here to tell us all about it. But first, here is Bill Radick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force.
• 0:46
  A professional golfer must master many skills in order to use every club in the bag correctly. Air Force flying officers, masters of the skies also are proficient in many skills.
• 0:59
  You see, Air Force pilots and navigators are thoroughly and expensively trained in subjects such as aircraft engineering, navigation and airborne electronics.
• 1:09
  These men are also taught to command the respect of those around them and to operate the most advanced aircraft with the utmost precision and skill.
• 1:19
  In this technically demanding age, the Air Force must maintain high standards. The Air Force pilots and navigators of today are the world's finest, dedicated professional men of the skies.
• 1:30
  So young men, if you're between the ages of 19 and 26 and a half and a high school graduate, see your local Air Force recruiter about aviation cadet training.
• 1:39
  Wear the silver wings of leadership. Become a U.S. Air Force pilot or navigator.
• 1:45
  And now back to Harry Wismur.
• 1:49
  If the major leagues offered a prize for the most improved ballplayer, they'd have to look hard for a worthier candidate than Dick Groth, shortstop and captain of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• 1:58
  A mediocre performer in 1956, the collegian from Duke University in two brief years has developed into an outstanding shortstop and one of the national league's top stars.
• 2:10
  Forbes Field fans roared their approval of this 6-foot, 175-pounder who, together with second baseman Bill Masarovsky, teamed up to form just about the best double-play combination in the senior circuit.
• 2:23
  It was the work of this blended pair as much as anything else that enabled the pirates to make their fabulous leap from last place in 1957 to the national league's runner-up spot in 1958.
• 2:36
  It's axiomatic in baseball that a successful team invariably is strong down the middle, from the catching department to the center fielder, and that naturally includes the second base combination.
• 2:49
  Today, Dick Groth and Bill Masarovsky rate with Johnny Temple and Roy McMillan of the Reds as the best in baseball.
• 2:57
  Shortstop Dick Groth stepped directly from a college campus into a major league lineup in 1952.
• 3:04
  After three mediocre seasons separated by two years in the service, Groth leaped into stardom in 1957 when his batting average scored 41 points to give him a 3-15 figure best on his club, highest among all shortstops in the majors, and fifth on the national league list.
• 3:24
  In 1958, Groth again hit the 300 mark, drove in 66 runs, the high water mark of his career, and his 36 two-baggers were second in the league, only due to San Francisco's Orlando Sapeade's 38.
• 3:38
  At Duke University, Dick Groth was an all-America basketball player and led the nation in scoring one year.
• 3:45
  He was also outstanding on the ball field, and when he graduated, he had his choice of basketball or baseball.
• 3:51
  He elected to try both, accepting offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates and from Fort Wayne in the National Basketball Association.
• 3:59
  After one season on the hard floors, the pirates who had paid him a $35,000 bonus prevailed upon him to concentrate on baseball.
• 4:09
  Whether competing in basketball or baseball, Dick Groth has been big league all the way.
• 4:15
  His teammates regard Groth as one of the best clutch hitters in the business. He hits to all fields, is an excellent butter, has a strong arm, and if he isn't as fast as some fielders, he plays the hitters in the proper places.
• 4:29
  Dick Groth has the uncanny knack of making the important play on the field or wrapping the game-winning hit.
• 4:36
  Dependability is his middle name. In his own unobtrusive way, he manages to beat the opposition.
• 4:43
  When I see Dick Groth, I think of Lou Boudreau, says Frank Lane, general manager of the Cleveland Indians, who has seen plenty of short stops in both the American and national leagues.
• 4:54
  And that's as much praise as I can give anyone. He doesn't have much speed. He has no range on the field. He has little power, but he always seems to be the fellow who beats you in the close games.
• 5:05
  The boy is a great competitor.
• 5:08
  To those who don't get to see Dick Groth play very often, his fielding draws few superlatives.
• 5:14
  Maybe so, but it was sufficient enough in 1957 to wipe out Rabbit Moranville's all-time record for pirate short stops.
• 5:22
  As a batter, he has improved steadily until today he ranks with the most dangerous in the game, especially in the clutch.
• 5:31
  Dick Groth's strong tendencies of leadership became so apparent to the pirates that when only in his fourth year with the club, he was named team captain.
• 5:40
  At 28, Groth is a young veteran on the club that has undergone more personnel changes in recent years than any other team in the league.
• 5:49
  He is the oldest pirate in point of service with the club.
• 5:52
  For a long time now, Dick has figured in the pirates blueprint for the future, an ambitious, though yet unrealized project for building a pennant winner.
• 6:02
  If there is such a thing as a player born to be with a particular club, it must be Dick Groth and Pittsburgh.
• 6:08
  The pirates kept an eye on Groth since he was a high school star in Swiss Vale, the Pittsburgh suburb.
• 6:13
  He worked out with the pirates even before he attended Duke University.
• 6:17
  It was after he had finished his junior year in college that Branch Ricky offered the land of contract, plus the assurance of a chance at the pirates' varsity shortstop job right then and there.
• 6:28
  But Groth is a young man of strong convictions.
• 6:31
  He felt he owed it to Duke and his coaches to return for his senior year and a final fling at basketball and baseball.
• 6:39
  Ricky didn't argue too strongly, for he knew Groth was in safe hands with Jack Coombs, one of baseball's immortals and head coach of the sport at Duke.
• 6:49
  Dick Groth signed with the pirates two days after he left the NCAA tournament in Omaha in June of 1952.
• 6:56
  It was a Monday and he joined the club in New York the next day.
• 7:00
  The first head of Dick Groth's major league life seemed to set the pace for the quiet career he was going to have.
• 7:06
  It came on a June afternoon at the Polo Grounds in 1952.
• 7:10
  Larry Janssen was pitching for the Giants and Groth, who had popped up the first time, came up in the third inning with the bases loaded and two out.
• 7:19
  Characteristically, he singled through the middle.
• 7:22
  One run scored and George Metkovich, trying to come in from second, was blocked by West Westrom of the Giants who tagged him out, then dropped the ball.
• 7:31
  Babe Penelli, the umpire, called him out, then as manager Bill Meyer, the pirates screamed to the heavens, he reversed himself.
• 7:39
  Enter Leo D'Rosier of the Giants, a full-scale feud which bordered on fisticuffs nearly began.
• 7:46
  It lasted for ten minutes, during which Groth calmly stayed on second.
• 7:51
  The fact that he had gotten his first hit as a National Liga went totally unnoticed by the papers and fans,
• 7:57
  all of whom watched the extracurricular goings on closely.
• 8:01
  It was in this same series that Groth also hit his first major league homer.
• 8:06
  The story Branch Rickey likes to tell about Dick Groth goes back to a Sunday afternoon in college before Duke was to play Wake Forest in an important Southern Conference baseball game.
• 8:17
  Groth, playing golf in the Duke campus, stepped on a broken bottle and cut his foot so badly he needed a flock of stitches.
• 8:24
  He went to an off-campus doctor so Coach Jack Coombs would know nothing about it, then had the trainer tape it securely and secretly the next day before the game.
• 8:34
  The coach didn't know anything about it until after Groth's base hits pushed Duke to victory.
• 8:40
  When this was relayed to Branch Rickey at Pittsburgh, the old man chuckled.
• 8:45
  The boy wants to be a ball player, he said. Very well, we shall let him be a ball player.
• 8:54
  The boy, Dick Groth of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is still a ball player every inch of the way and should be for many years to come.
• 9:04
  Now before you meet our special guest Dick Groth in person in an interview from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in here about his greatest sports thrill,
• 9:13
  here is a message of interest to all young men with an eye on the future.
• 9:20
  On any clear day, chances are you can look skyward and trace the thin white trails left by the jets of the United States Air Force.
• 9:27
  You may not be able to hear or see these silver birds, but you can be sure they are up there, guided by the sure skilled hands of an Air Force pilot.
• 9:36
  These men are a special breed, selected for space age leadership and trained and retrained in such specialized fields as engineering, navigation and airborne electronics.
• 9:48
  This is indeed a challenging vital career with a limitless future for a young man who can make the grade.
• 9:55
  How about you? If you're between 19 and 26 and a half and a high school graduate, you may be eligible for enrollment as an aviation cadet.
• 10:04
  Visit your local Air Force recruiter. He'll give you a complete rundown on physical and scholastic qualifications.
• 10:10
  You'll also learn in detail about the training programs and the excellent pay and privileges that can be yours as an Air Force pilot.
• 10:18
  And now back to Harry Wismer.
• 10:21
  Dick Groth, what was your greatest sports thrill?
• 10:25
  My greatest sports thrill would have to be the finish of the Pittsburgh parts in the year 1958.
• 10:31
  Seeing our club come from a tie for last place right after the All-Star game to a second place finish would have to be my biggest thrill in sports.
• 10:40
  Dick is a former great basketball player. Is it your opinion that you could have played both sports if permitted to do so?
• 10:47
  I felt it one time I could have, yes Harry, but right now I feel that I did the right thing and Mr. Ricky was right in convincing me that I could not play both of them.
• 10:56
  I would like to have played professional basketball one or two more years, but I feel now that it was probably a good thing that I did.
• 11:03
  I'll always question myself as to what it would be like to play both sports all year on, but I'm convinced in my own mind I did the right thing.
• 11:11
  Dick, what is the difference in the conditioning program between baseball and basketball?
• 11:16
  I would have to say there's a lot of running in both, but the big difference I think is the type of muscles used.
• 11:23
  For example, when I came out of the service in 1955, I was in very fine condition for playing basketball.
• 11:29
  I played about 60 to 70 basketball games and my legs were in wonderful condition.
• 11:33
  Yet when I came down here to spring training in 1955 and started my work with the Pittsburgh club, my legs were sore the first two weeks as they've ever been in my life.
• 11:42
  It was a matter of using entirely different muscles and working out for baseball than the ones you use for basketball.
• 11:49
  Dick, what is the story behind your signing to play ball with the Pirates?
• 11:54
  This started back in 1951 when I was playing semipro ball in South Boston, Virginia when Rex Ball on a Pittsburgh Pirate Scout invited me to work out with the Pirates
• 12:04
  when I came home to Pittsburgh for the last few days before I returned to Duke again for the fall semester.
• 12:10
  So that I was certainly willing to and I worked out with the Pirates for two weeks in Pittsburgh.
• 12:15
  I spent quite a bit of time talking to Mr. Rickey and at that time he offered me the chance to sign and I still had another year of eligibility left at Duke.
• 12:23
  So I returned to college and when I graduated from Duke, we played the NCAA tournament in Omaha.
• 12:29
  I returned to Pittsburgh right after the tournament, signed the next day with Mr. Rickey.
• 12:35
  Dick, do you accept a hurler throwing a knockdown or brush back pitch as part of the game?
• 12:41
  Yes, Harry, I think it's part of the game. We know it's going to happen. Our pitchers do it now and then.
• 12:47
  I'm not crazy about throwing at someone's head, but I expect to be throwing at now and then it's just part of the game.
• 12:53
  And if you're really concentrating at the plate, you shouldn't get hit with these brush back pitches.
• 12:58
  Dick, what player, coach or manager has been most helpful in your making the grade as a Major League ball player?
• 13:05
  I would have to say, Harry, there are two people that have done so much to influence my baseball career.
• 13:11
  The first person would be my first manager in the big leagues.
• 13:14
  In 1952, when I came out of college, I went right to the Pirates and played under, in my estimation, one of the finest men I've ever known in baseball, the late Billy Maher.
• 13:22
  He did a wonderful job of making you believe in yourself as a young boy because there's plenty of times that first year when I was almost going to give baseball up, I just didn't think I had it.
• 13:32
  But he wouldn't let me and he made me believe in myself.
• 13:35
  The second person is my present manager, Danny Murtaugh, who again is probably one of the finest men I've ever known when it comes to handling the ball players themselves, making them believe in themselves.
• 13:45
  He builds up your confidence and right now, Danny Murtaugh and Billy Maher are to me the two greatest managers I've ever known.
• 13:52
  Thank you very much, Dick Rowe, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of baseball's outstanding players.