Jerry Grote Deserves His Own Thread

[Edgy MD]

Ten Fact-Like Things About Jerry Grote

1. Jerry Grote played in four World Series(es), two as a Met and two as a Dodger.
   
   
   
2. Johnny Bench (reportedly) once said that if he played on the same team as Jerry Grote, he would have to play third base.
   
   
   
3. Jerry Grote only faced Tom Seaver once in his career, batting for the Dodgers against Seaver's Reds. He struck out.
   
   
   
4. On April 22, 1970, when Tom Seaver struck out a record 19 Padres, Grote also set a major league record with 20 putouts, handling each of the 20 strikeouts and corralling a popup off the bat of Van Kelly.
   
   
   
5. Jerry Grote, as we've previously discussed, had a couple of spots on his face that had no pigment. This would become more pronounced as the summer wore on and his face would tan but these spots would just turn pink.
   
   
   
6. When he was ten years old, his family was caught in a classick F-4 Texas tornado. While his parents and siblings and he were able to escape, his grandmother was killed.
   
   
   
7. While the Mets famously failed to garner a no-hitter well beyond his playing days, he did catch one thrown by Ken Johnson when he was a young Colt.
   
   
   
8. Incredibly put together his best offensive season in 1968, the Year of the Pitcher.
   
   
   
9. Caught 56% of all would-be base-stealers in 1969. Fitty-six percent!!
   
   
   
10. He remains the Mets all-time leader in appearances at catcher with 1,176. And nobody is particularly close. The active leader, Travis d'Arnaud, is 802 games behind.
    
    
1. Jerry Grote: 1,176
   
2. Mike Piazza: 826
   
3. Todd Hundley: 745
   
4. John Stearns: 698
   
5. Gary Carter: 566
   
6. Ron Hodges: 446
   
7. Travis d'Arnaud: 374
   
8. Duffy Dyer: 326
   
9. Josh Thole: 279
   
10. Mackey Sasser: 261



[fimg=700]https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_kQEqEwAnzOSoP4_3HvFfOhZarM=/0x297:2430x1917/1200x800/filters:focal(0x297:2430x1917)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/33549959/Cover-Focus-on-Sports-.0.jpg[/fimg]

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: [*]Jerry Grote, as we've previously discussed, had a couple of spots on his face that had no pigment. This would become more pronounced as the summer wore on and his face would tan but these spots would just turn pink.

And even more pronounced in his retirement when those sections of his beard came in pigment-less too.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't think I was aware of that.

I had a friend in high school who had something like that around one of his ankles. It was a fairly large area, the shape of a marble pattern. He said that it was the result of a broken ankle he had years before. Even in summer, when the rest of his leg had a deep tan, there was this pale streak around the ankle.

[Frayed Knot]

[fimg=500:3bj4pj3c]https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17796541_10155175952074253_1296781441171003126_n.jpg?oh=ad71f0a5afc0d9f4a301bf048a74e5d4&oe=5A61F36F[/fimg:3bj4pj3c]

Not a great shot, but you can see the lack of pigmentation on the right side (our left) of his mouth. And those were the same spots that were similarly discolored in his beard.

My father had two-toned hair. A patch right up front and center was basically pure white against his otherwise dark hair but seeing as how he never went bald nor shaved his head (that I know of) I
don't know if the skin underneath was similarly off color. It also didn't start growing like that until he was 8 or 9 years old so who knows what triggered it, I only know that many of his friends used
to tease me about when my very light-colored childhood hair was going to sprout a dark patch.

[ashie62]

Jerry Grote was the second Met named to the all star team after Ron Hunt.

[Edgy MD]

I think you mean that he was the second to be named a starter. Richie Ashburn was the first Mets all-star, followed by Duke Snider.

[RealityChuck]

Edgy MD wrote: Ten Fact-Like Things About Jerry Grote [*]On April 22, 1970, when Tom Seaver struck out a record 19 Padres, Grote also set a major league record with 20 putouts, handling each of the 20 strikeouts and corralling a popup off the bat of Van Kelly.

Also, Grote set a record in that game for the most consecutive putouts by a catcher with ten.

He was also the last catcher to be named all star catcher before Johnny Bench monopolized the honor.

[Edgy MD]

Managing the Birmingham Barons in 1985, Jerry found himself confronted by the second game of a double-header with a wet field and both of his catchers ailing. Rather than risk further injury, Grote called his GM and asked if he could activate himself for the nightcap. Forty-two and four-years removed from any game action, Jerry strapped on the gear and caught the whole game, going 0-1 with a walk and successful sacrifice bunt. He got five putouts and nobody stole against him.

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

Jerry Grote was before my time.

[Frayed Knot]

He was a tough ol' bird.

One of his signature moves following an inning-ending strikeout was to roll the ball back towards the mound but always on the opposite side of the infield from the other team's dugout.
This made sure that the opposing pitcher would have to walk an extra 10-15 feet to pick up the ball and then the extra 10-15 feet back before he could start his warmups.
It's obviously more a psychological thing than a real physical advantage but I'm not sure he ever failed to do it anyway.

[ashie62]

This has to be urban legend stuff but I thought I remember reading Grote let a few sail over his should against umps that annoyed him.

He did nail Froemming and Crawford.

Great read.

http://metsmerizedonline.com/2014/10/168700.html/

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: One of his signature moves following an inning-ending strikeout was to roll the ball back towards the mound but always on the opposite side of the infield from the other team's dugout.

He was also a passionate devotee of backing up first on grounders. He didn't just make a show of it, either. He was actually racing the batter down the line.

-suJ8uCnFRQ