Before there was Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson as two-sport stars, there was Dick Groat.
Groat, one of the best multiple-sport athletes in North American sports history, died on Thursday at the age of 92. You would have a difficult time finding a sporting life that matched what Groat was able to do on the basketball court and the baseball diamond.
Baseball was the sport where Groat gained most of his notoriety, playing 14 years in Major League Baseball where he won two World Series championships (1960 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 1964 with the St. Louis Cardinals) and the 1960 National League MVP award. Along with that, he also won the 1960 batting title and was a runner-up for the 1963 NL MVP award, finishing second only to Sandy Koufax (and ahead of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays).
He was also one of half of one of the best double-play duos in baseball history alongside Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski.
For as good as Groat was on the baseball field, he was just as sensational on the basketball court — and arguably even better.
Groat was a standout basketball star at Duke University (where his number has been retired) and was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft by the Fort Wayne Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons). He played only one year in the NBA, but was one of the best players on the 1952-53 Pistons team that reached the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Groat left that team early, however, so he could list in the military and fight in the Korean war. He missed two years of his baseball and basketball careers while serving.
When he returned, Pirates general manager Branch Rickey insisted that Groat focus only on baseball, ending his pro basketball career.
Groat would continue to have an impact on basketball in his retirement, serving as an announcer for the University of Pitt men’s basketball team between the 1980 and 2019 seasons.
