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Richard Morrow Groat
St. Louis Cardinals
Shortstop
Born: November 4, 1930, Wilkinsburg, PA
Signed: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, June 16, 1952
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1952, 1955-1962; St. Louis Cardinals 1963-1965; Philadelphia Phillies 1966-1967; San Francisco Giants 1967
Dick Groat was an eight-time All-Star and the National League MVP in 1960, enjoying an extended period of success in the early 1960s. Groat made his debut with the Pirates in 1952, spending no time in the minor leagues. He missed two seasons while serving in the military and he also briefly played in the NBA in 1953 for the Fort Wayne Pistons. In his MVP season, Groat won the batting title with a .325 average, collecting 186 hits with 26 doubles, while leading his Pirates team to the 1960 World Series. He didn't find much success in the postseason, but he won rings with the Pirates in 1960 and later with the Cardinals in 1964. Statistically, his 1963 season was better than his MVP year, as he batted .319 with a career-high 201 hits and 73 RBIs, while leading the league with 43 doubles. Groat finished second in MVP voting that season behind Sandy Koufax (#300). Dealt to the Phillies following the 1965 season, Groat would appear in two more seasons with the Phillies and Giants before retiring.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1956 Topps blog.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #550
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
When collecting this set, I found several semi-stars from the lower series releases more difficult to find than others. This Groat card certainly fits that description, as it was one of the final common or semi-star cards needed to complete the set's fourth series. The back of this card highlights his MVP honors from the 1960 season.
1965 Season
In his final season with the Cardinals, Groat was the club's opening day shortstop and he'd make 144 starts at the position throughout the season. His average fell to .254 and he collected 149 hits overall with 52 RBIs.
Phillies Career
Groat was traded to the Phillies from the Cardinals on October 27, 1965 with catcher Bob Uecker (#519) and first baseman Bill White (#190) for pitcher Art Mahaffey (#446), outfielder Alex Johnson (#352) and catcher Pat Corrales (#107). The starting shortstop for the Phillies in 1966, Groat appeared in 155 games and hit a respectable .260 with 53 RBIs. On May 18, 1966, Groat collected his 2,000th career hit off former teammate Bob Gibson (#320).
Groat appears on a few oddball issues with the Phillies (1966 Sports Service Phillies, 1967 Dexter Press Phillies, 1992 Action Packed ASG) but his only mainstream Phillies baseball card can be found within the 1967 Topps set. That card is reprinted within the 2001 Topps Archives set.
Groat's 1967 season would be the last of his 14-year career. Limited to only 10 games with the Phillies due to an ankle infection, he was sold to the Giants on June 22nd. He appeared in 34 games for the Giants, hitting .171 and retiring following the season.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #369
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1952-1967, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DG
197 - Groat non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/6/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #550
This is the 66th of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. After our 51 card haul from Uncle Dick's, and with more card spending budget still in place, I set out to find another dealer with a binder of 1965 Topps cards with reasonable prices. I had purchased cards from Sports Cards Plus before, finding the last few cards needed for our 1971 Topps set from this dealer back in December 2019.
Settling in, we found 37 commons, semi-stars and team cards needed for our set, including this Groat card, with the average price per card working out to around $6 a piece. After paying for this mini haul, we were officially 13 cards away from a complete set, with one more purchase coming to end the day.
The Card / Cardinals Team Set
When collecting this set, I found several semi-stars from the lower series releases more difficult to find than others. This Groat card certainly fits that description, as it was one of the final common or semi-star cards needed to complete the set's fourth series. The back of this card highlights his MVP honors from the 1960 season.
1965 Season
In his final season with the Cardinals, Groat was the club's opening day shortstop and he'd make 144 starts at the position throughout the season. His average fell to .254 and he collected 149 hits overall with 52 RBIs.
Groat was traded to the Phillies from the Cardinals on October 27, 1965 with catcher Bob Uecker (#519) and first baseman Bill White (#190) for pitcher Art Mahaffey (#446), outfielder Alex Johnson (#352) and catcher Pat Corrales (#107). The starting shortstop for the Phillies in 1966, Groat appeared in 155 games and hit a respectable .260 with 53 RBIs. On May 18, 1966, Groat collected his 2,000th career hit off former teammate Bob Gibson (#320).
Groat appears on a few oddball issues with the Phillies (1966 Sports Service Phillies, 1967 Dexter Press Phillies, 1992 Action Packed ASG) but his only mainstream Phillies baseball card can be found within the 1967 Topps set. That card is reprinted within the 2001 Topps Archives set.
Groat's 1967 season would be the last of his 14-year career. Limited to only 10 games with the Phillies due to an ankle infection, he was sold to the Giants on June 22nd. He appeared in 34 games for the Giants, hitting .171 and retiring following the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1952 Topps #369
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1952-1967, 1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2013 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-DG
197 - Groat non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/6/22.
Sources:
1956 Topps Blog
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