Up on the blog today, we put the spotlight on
another card from my 1960 "Stars of the Game" custom set released back
in 2018, this time it's former N.L. MVP Dick Groat of the Pittsburgh
Pirates:
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The All-Star shortstop had quite the
year in 1960, taking home the N.L. batting title when he hit .325,
collecting 186 hits while scoring 85 runs for the surprising World
Champion Pirates.
Three years later, now playing for the St.
Louis Cardinals, Groat would finish second for the MVP when he hit .319
while collecting a career-best 201 hits, leading the league with 43
doubles while also setting a new personal best of 11 triples and 73
RBIs.
A two-sport star, Groat was an All-American in both
Baseball and Basketball at Duke University, and even made the NBA with
the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952-53.
He was such an accomplished athlete that he was eventually inducted to BOTH the College Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame.
Once
he chose baseball as his focus, he did not disappoint fans, as he would
go on to put 14 years in the Big Leagues, finishing up with a split
1967 season with the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.
His
final numbers very impressive for the era: 2138 hits and a .286 batting
average, with 829 runs scored and 707 runs batted in, with eight
All-Star nods and an MVP.
If not for two lost years serving in the military in 1953 and 1954, he certainly could have approached 2500 career hits.
