1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is RetroSports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000 This is Dick Groder of the Pittsburgh Pirates. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill. 3 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:20,000 This is Harry Wismarff. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding players. 4 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:37,000 And in event our special guest Dick Grode considers his greatest sports thrill. 5 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:46,000 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. 6 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:59,000 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. 7 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:09,000 You see, Air Force pilots and navigators are thoroughly and expensively trained in subjects such as aircraft engineering, navigation and airborne electronics. 8 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:19,000 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. 9 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:30,000 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. 10 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:39,000 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. 11 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Wear the silver wings of leadership. Become a U.S. Air Force pilot or navigator. 12 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,000 And now back to Harry Wismur. 13 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:58,000 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. 14 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:10,000 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. 15 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:23,000 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. 16 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:36,000 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. 17 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:49,000 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. 18 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Today, Dick Groth and Bill Masarovsky rate with Johnny Temple and Roy McMillan of the Reds as the best in baseball. 19 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Shortstop Dick Groth stepped directly from a college campus into a major league lineup in 1952. 20 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:24,000 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. 21 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:38,000 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. 22 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:45,000 At Duke University, Dick Groth was an all-America basketball player and led the nation in scoring one year. 23 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:51,000 He was also outstanding on the ball field, and when he graduated, he had his choice of basketball or baseball. 24 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:59,000 He elected to try both, accepting offers from the Pittsburgh Pirates and from Fort Wayne in the National Basketball Association. 25 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:09,000 After one season on the hard floors, the pirates who had paid him a $35,000 bonus prevailed upon him to concentrate on baseball. 26 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Whether competing in basketball or baseball, Dick Groth has been big league all the way. 27 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:29,000 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. 28 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:36,000 Dick Groth has the uncanny knack of making the important play on the field or wrapping the game-winning hit. 29 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:43,000 Dependability is his middle name. In his own unobtrusive way, he manages to beat the opposition. 30 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:54,000 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. 31 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:05,000 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. 32 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,000 The boy is a great competitor. 33 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:14,000 To those who don't get to see Dick Groth play very often, his fielding draws few superlatives. 34 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:22,000 Maybe so, but it was sufficient enough in 1957 to wipe out Rabbit Moranville's all-time record for pirate short stops. 35 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:31,000 As a batter, he has improved steadily until today he ranks with the most dangerous in the game, especially in the clutch. 36 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:40,000 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. 37 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:49,000 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. 38 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,000 He is the oldest pirate in point of service with the club. 39 00:05:52,000 --> 00:06:02,000 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. 40 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:08,000 If there is such a thing as a player born to be with a particular club, it must be Dick Groth and Pittsburgh. 41 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,000 The pirates kept an eye on Groth since he was a high school star in Swiss Vale, the Pittsburgh suburb. 42 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,000 He worked out with the pirates even before he attended Duke University. 43 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:28,000 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. 44 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 But Groth is a young man of strong convictions. 45 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:39,000 He felt he owed it to Duke and his coaches to return for his senior year and a final fling at basketball and baseball. 46 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:49,000 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. 47 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Dick Groth signed with the pirates two days after he left the NCAA tournament in Omaha in June of 1952. 48 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:00,000 It was a Monday and he joined the club in New York the next day. 49 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:06,000 The first head of Dick Groth's major league life seemed to set the pace for the quiet career he was going to have. 50 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,000 It came on a June afternoon at the Polo Grounds in 1952. 51 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:19,000 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. 52 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Characteristically, he singled through the middle. 53 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:31,000 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. 54 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:39,000 Babe Penelli, the umpire, called him out, then as manager Bill Meyer, the pirates screamed to the heavens, he reversed himself. 55 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:46,000 Enter Leo D'Rosier of the Giants, a full-scale feud which bordered on fisticuffs nearly began. 56 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:51,000 It lasted for ten minutes, during which Groth calmly stayed on second. 57 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:57,000 The fact that he had gotten his first hit as a National Liga went totally unnoticed by the papers and fans, 58 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,000 all of whom watched the extracurricular goings on closely. 59 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:06,000 It was in this same series that Groth also hit his first major league homer. 60 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:17,000 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. 61 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Groth, playing golf in the Duke campus, stepped on a broken bottle and cut his foot so badly he needed a flock of stitches. 62 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:34,000 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. 63 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:40,000 The coach didn't know anything about it until after Groth's base hits pushed Duke to victory. 64 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:45,000 When this was relayed to Branch Rickey at Pittsburgh, the old man chuckled. 65 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:54,000 The boy wants to be a ball player, he said. Very well, we shall let him be a ball player. 66 00:08:54,000 --> 00:09:04,000 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. 67 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:13,000 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, 68 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:20,000 here is a message of interest to all young men with an eye on the future. 69 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:27,000 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. 70 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:36,000 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. 71 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:48,000 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. 72 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:55,000 This is indeed a challenging vital career with a limitless future for a young man who can make the grade. 73 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:04,000 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. 74 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Visit your local Air Force recruiter. He'll give you a complete rundown on physical and scholastic qualifications. 75 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:18,000 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. 76 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,000 And now back to Harry Wismer. 77 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Dick Groth, what was your greatest sports thrill? 78 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:31,000 My greatest sports thrill would have to be the finish of the Pittsburgh parts in the year 1958. 79 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:40,000 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. 80 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:47,000 Dick is a former great basketball player. Is it your opinion that you could have played both sports if permitted to do so? 81 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:56,000 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. 82 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:03,000 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. 83 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:11,000 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. 84 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,000 Dick, what is the difference in the conditioning program between baseball and basketball? 85 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:23,000 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. 86 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:29,000 For example, when I came out of the service in 1955, I was in very fine condition for playing basketball. 87 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,000 I played about 60 to 70 basketball games and my legs were in wonderful condition. 88 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:42,000 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. 89 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:49,000 It was a matter of using entirely different muscles and working out for baseball than the ones you use for basketball. 90 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:54,000 Dick, what is the story behind your signing to play ball with the Pirates? 91 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:04,000 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 92 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:10,000 when I came home to Pittsburgh for the last few days before I returned to Duke again for the fall semester. 93 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,000 So that I was certainly willing to and I worked out with the Pirates for two weeks in Pittsburgh. 94 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:23,000 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. 95 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:29,000 So I returned to college and when I graduated from Duke, we played the NCAA tournament in Omaha. 96 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:35,000 I returned to Pittsburgh right after the tournament, signed the next day with Mr. Rickey. 97 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:41,000 Dick, do you accept a hurler throwing a knockdown or brush back pitch as part of the game? 98 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:47,000 Yes, Harry, I think it's part of the game. We know it's going to happen. Our pitchers do it now and then. 99 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,000 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. 100 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:58,000 And if you're really concentrating at the plate, you shouldn't get hit with these brush back pitches. 101 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:05,000 Dick, what player, coach or manager has been most helpful in your making the grade as a Major League ball player? 102 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:11,000 I would have to say, Harry, there are two people that have done so much to influence my baseball career. 103 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,000 The first person would be my first manager in the big leagues. 104 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:22,000 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. 105 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:32,000 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. 106 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,000 But he wouldn't let me and he made me believe in myself. 107 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:45,000 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. 108 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:52,000 He builds up your confidence and right now, Danny Murtaugh and Billy Maher are to me the two greatest managers I've ever known. 109 00:13:52,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Thank you very much, Dick Rowe, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of baseball's outstanding players.