Lefty Grove
Lefty Grove, born Robert Moses Grove on March 6, 1900, in Lonaconing, Maryland, is recognized as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history. Coming from a modest background as the son of a coal miner, Grove began working at a young age and only discovered organized baseball as a teenager. His professional career began at age twenty in the Blue Ridge League, quickly leading to a standout performance with the Baltimore Orioles, where he gained attention for his exceptional pitching skills.
In the major leagues, he played primarily for the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Boston Red Sox, accumulating an impressive record that included winning the American League MVP and achieving two pitching triple crowns. Grove's career spanned from 1925 to 1941, during which he won 300 games—a milestone shared by only a select few pitchers. Known for his fiery temperament and competitive spirit, he was both admired for his talent and scrutinized for his emotional outbursts. After retiring, he remained involved in baseball in various capacities and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947. Lefty Grove passed away
Lefty Grove
Baseball Player
- Born: March 6, 1900
- Birthplace: Lonaconing, Maryland
- Died: May 22, 1975
- Place of death: Norwalk, Ohio
Sport: Baseball
Early Life
Robert Moses Grove was born March 6, 1900, in Lonaconing, Maryland. His father, John, was a coal miner. His mother, Emma, stayed home to rear Lefty and his three brothers. Coal mining was not a high-paying profession, and John and Emma had to struggle to feed their family. As soon as they were old enough, Lefty and his brothers helped out by working in the mines. They earned fifty cents a day. After completing eighth grade, Lefty quit school to work full time. Besides working in the mines, Lefty had jobs as a railroad worker and an apprentice glassblower. Lefty was a shy child and never quite lost his suspicion of people from the city. Life was simple in the mountain country where the Groves lived, and there were no organized sports for children. Lefty never heard of organized sandlot baseball until he was seventeen, but there was no keeping him from baseball after that.
The Road to Excellence
When he was twenty, Lefty became a professional pitcher, playing for the Martinsburg, West Virginia, team in the Blue Ridge League. After only six games, he was sold to the Baltimore Orioles of the International League. In 1920, his first year with Baltimore, Lefty won twelve games and lost only two. The next year, he won twenty-five and lost ten. He led the league in strikeouts both years, and again in 1923 and 1924.
Today, any pitcher that good would be moved up to the major leagues, but the owner of the Orioles, Jack Dunn, did not want to let Lefty go. Lefty drew big crowds to Baltimore’s games with his great pitching and lively personality. Ironically, it was because he was so good that he played in the minor leagues longer than most great players. Lefty did not really mind because he was well paid by the Orioles, earning as much as $500 a year—a huge amount compared with the money he had earned in the coal mines. He knew he would make it to the big leagues one day. Finally, after the 1924 season, Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics bought Lefty’s contract. He paid Dunn $100,600—six hundred dollars more than the Yankees had paid for Babe Ruth.
The Emerging Champion
In his first year in the majors, Lefty was erratic. He led the league in walks and lost more games than he won, but he also led the league in strikeouts and went on to take the strikeout title for the next six years. By 1927, he was doing everything right. He was clearly Connie Mack’s best pitcher and one of the best left-handers of all time.
From 1927 through 1933, he won at least twenty games each season. The Athletics won the pennant in 1929, 1930, and 1931, and the World Series in 1930, with Lefty leading the team from the mound. He was often credited with helping to make baseball more popular. He was so talented on the mound that people came out just to watch him. There was another reason that people liked to watch Lefty, however. All of his life he had a terrible temper. He was a poor loser and would shout and make a scene when one of his teammates made a mistake in a game—a problem Lefty never learned to handle.
In 1930, he won the triple crown by leading the league in winning percentage, earned run average (ERA), and strikeouts. In 1931, he added his second triple crown and was named the first recipient of the American League most valuable player award after winning thirty-one games and chalking up sixteen consecutive wins. After Lefty won thirty-one games in 1931, no other pitcher in the American League won thirty games in a season until 1968.
Continuing the Story
Lefty continued to be a successful and popular pitcher. He played with the Athletics for two more years. In 1934, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox. Even at this late stage in his career, Lefty was an outstanding pitcher. In eight seasons in Boston he led the league in ERA four times and won almost twice as many games as he lost.
One reason Lefty was able to pitch so well for so many years was that he was an intelligent as well as a talented player. He had always been a powerful fastball pitcher, but as time went on, he learned how to trick batters with different pitches. While playing in Boston, Lefty learned to throw the curve and the forkball after years of throwing the fastball left him with a sore arm. Constant practice helped him improve his control every year. As he got older, Lefty no longer had the speed and power he had had as a youth, but he was one of the most knowledgeable players in the game, and this made him a strong asset.
When he retired after the 1941 season, Lefty had reached a pitching milestone that few achieve: He had won 300 major-league games. Only eleven men had reached this mark before him, and Lefty had spent five of his best years playing for Baltimore in the minor leagues. In retirement, Lefty lived comfortably for many years. He ran a bowling alley back in Lonaconing and generously shared his time and money with youth baseball leagues.
In 1947, Lefty was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. At that time, he had the best winning percentage of all Hall of Fame pitchers. After the death of his wife, Lefty went to live with his daughter-in-law in Norwalk, Ohio. He suffered a heart attack and died on May 22, 1975.
Summary
One of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time, Lefty Grove drew large crowds to witness his outstanding ability and fiery temper. He won three hundred games and would have won more if his superior talent had not destined him to a lengthy minor-league career.
Bibliography
Kaplan, Jim. Lefty Grove: American Original. Cleveland: Society for American Baseball Research, 2000.
Roberts, Russell. One Hundred Baseball Legends Who Shaped Sports History. San Mateo, Calif.: Bluewood Books, 2003.
Shatzkin, Mike, Stephen Holtje, and Jane Charlton, eds. The Ballplayers: Baseball’s Ultimate Biographical Reference. New York: Ideal Logic Press, 1999.
Westcott, Rich. Winningest Pitchers: Baseball’s Three-Hundred-Game Winners. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002.