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Dick Groat

Pirate Dick Groat Still Loves Baseball

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Sixty years later, expect the
same autograph — maybe
even more ornate than in 1952!

I’ve” been asking some of the greatest autograph signers in hobby history why they do it.

I thank them. Then, I ask why they’ve been so kind for so long.

Pittsburgh Pirates fans will be the first to understand the short, sincere reply of Dick Groat:

“Love of the ‘game’

Greatest Life in the World

Dick Groat
1960 N.L. MVP

You may not get a one-page letter back from the steady shortstop. You will get fast, crisp signatures, along with the acknowledgement that you’re part of the same team. HIS team. The team that believes in baseball.

Coming Wednesday: How Antiques Roadshow hurts our hobby.

Now Pitching, Pirate Infielder Ed O’Brien?

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A position player pitching? You mean blowout game, mop-up duty?

Don’t tell that to Ed O’Brien.

I confess, I wanted to ask about that famous 1954 Topps card, picturing the O’Brien twins. Forget the Olsen twins. Skip those sisters. I’d rather see Ed and John turn a double play.

However, www.Retrosheet.org amazed me again. Going to “top performances” I found results from September 14, 1957, a day in which the Cubs ate humble pie. One infielder took the mound and confounded Chicago.

Ed O’Brien replied in magnificent calligraphy-like penmanship:

“With Dick Groat at shortstop and Bill Virdon in center field, the Pirates were using me as a utility player. In all, I played seven positions. Because I had a strong arm, they decided to see if I could pitch. At Columbus AAA I had 3 or 4 pitching appearances while still playing in the field. Dan Murtaugh started me against the Cubs in Wrigley Field. I won, 3-1, complete game, throwing fastballs and hard sliders.

Both of us on the Topps 1954 card was their (the company’s) idea. They sent copies to all those signed with them. Everyone received the same compensation. Nothing like today’s figures.”

I had asked if Topps paid both brothers an individual fee, even if they shared one card…

Lastly, I wanted to know about a fellow Washingtonian and famous Pirates fan.

“Bing Crosby came to Seattle on three occasions to talk to us (John and I) about signing with the Pirates. He was a minority owner. He would attend spring training every year and became a lifetime friend.”

Roy Face, Father of the Forkball

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Fans who rave about Bruce Sutter and the last generation of split-fingered fastball artists can’t impress old-school Pirates fans. Followers of the Bucs in the 1950s and 60s are sure they saw it all before, in the likes of Elroy Face.

Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1949, Face was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. On Dec. 1, 1952, he was chosen in the Rule 5 draft by the Pirates. Pittsburgh used him in 41 games the next season. His classic career highlights included 193 saves, three All-Star appearances and “NL Fireman of the Year” honors from The Sporting News in 1962.

Face remembered that special pitch and more in a kind reply:

“In 1954, I was in New Orleans to work on an off-speed pitch to go with my fastball and curve. I worked on it about the first half of the season, and started using it in games. It helped me make it back to the major leagues.”

About his 848 career games pitched, he wrote:

“I don’t have any idea of how many pitches I threw in the bullpen. In 1961 and 1962, Jack Hernon, a writer, kept track of the times I either pitched in games or warmed up. He said it was somewhere between 110-115 times each year.”

How dominating was Face in 1959? Try an 18-1 record. He hasn’t forgotten that one imperfection that year:

“What I remember of my one loss in 1959, was to the Dodgers. Charlie Neal got a broken-bat dribbler through the left side of the infield, between Don Hoak at third and Dick Groat at shortstop. That broke my 22 straight winning streak.”

The all-star resource www.retrosheet.org uncovered details of Face’s single loss here.