#275 Dick Groat

"Dick Groat" may sound like a term you'd find on Urban Dictionary, but I'm afraid to check.

Fun facts about Dick Groat:

-A native of Wilkinsburg, PA, Dick attended Duke University, where he excelled in both baseball and basketball. He was a two-time hoops All-American for the Blue Devils, as well as 1952's National Player of the Year. His number 10 was retired by the team.

-He was signed by his hometown Pirates in 1952 and hit .284 in 95 games for them as a 21-year-old rookie that year.

-Dick was drafted third overall by the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons and played one season for them, scoring 11.9 points per game in the 1952-1953 campaign.

-He returned to the diamond in 1955 after a brief hiatus for basketball and military service. That year, he led the National League in putouts for the first time; he would ultimately do it three more times.

-Despite hitting .300 or better with 30-plus doubles in each of the two seasons prior, Groat was not named to his first All-Star team until 1959. He would be tabbed for eight of them by the end of his career (two each in three different seasons).

-1960 brought an MVP award for Dick, as he led the league with a .325 batting average for the eventual World Champion Pirates. He was the last shortstop to pace the N.L. in batting before Hanley Ramirez did it last year.

-He was deeply hurt when Pittsburgh traded him to the Cardinals in 1963, but let his bat do the talking with career highs in doubles (an N.L.-best 43), triples (11), and RBI (73) while batting .319 to lead the club. He finished behind only Sandy Koufax in MVP balloting.

-Groat played in his final All-Star Game in 1964, when he batted .292 for the soon-to-be World Champions from St. Louis.

-His performance began to diminish in 1965, and he spent the final three seasons of his career in St. Louis, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. He retired with a .286 batting average in 14 seasons, along with 39 home runs and 707 RBI.

-Dick has been a part of the University of Pittsburgh's radio broadcast team for college basketball games since 1979.