Johnny Groth

John Thomas Groth (born July 23, 1926) is an American former professional baseball player and scout. An outfielder, Groth appeared in 1,248 games over all or parts of 15 years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1946–1952, 1957–1960), St. Louis Browns (1953), Chicago White Sox (1954–1955), Washington Senators (1955) and Kansas City Athletics (1956–1957). He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 182 pounds (83 kg).

Johnny Groth
Center fielder
Born: (1926-07-23) July 23, 1926
Chicago, Illinois
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 5, 1946, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
July 28, 1960, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average.279
Home runs60
Runs batted in486
Teams

Career

Groth was born in Chicago and signed with the Tigers in 1946 after graduating from the Latin School of Chicago and World War II service in the United States Navy. He was lauded by the Tigers as "the next DiMaggio" when he arrived on the major league scene in 1946 at age 20.[1][2]

Groth spent most of 1947 and 1948 in the minor leagues, where he twice batted over .300, and did not play in more than six MLB games until 1949. In 1948, he hit .340 with 40 home runs for Buffalo in the Triple-A International League, leading the circuit in hits (199) and runs scored (124). Time, Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post, and Life all tabbed him for superstardom in 1949.[3]

In 1949, Groth hit .293 with a .407 on-base percentage, a .451 slugging percentage and 73 runs batted in in only 103 games with Detroit. On April 19, 1949, rookie Groth hit home runs in two of his first three at bats, helping Hal Newhouser to a 5–1 win. Then, in 1950, he hit .306 with career-highs in home runs (12), RBIs (85), hits (173), and runs scored (95). At one point during the 1950 season, he had eight consecutive hits.

Groth played ten more American League seasons, but never equaled his 1950 totals. In all, he spent 11 of 15 major league seasons with Detroit.

On December 4, 1952, the Tigers traded Virgil Trucks‚ who tossed two no-hitters during the year‚ along with Hal White and Groth‚ to the Browns in exchange for Owen Friend‚ Bob Nieman and Jay Porter. Groth bounced from the Browns to the White Sox to the Senators to the A's in the mid-1950s. In 1957, the Tigers bought Groth from the Athletics, and he finished his career as a backup outfielder with the Tigers from 1957 to 1960.

Over the course of his career, Groth played in 1,248 games, 964 as a center fielder, 121 as a left fielder, and 83 as a right fielder. He had a career batting average of .279 with a .352 on-base percentage, 1,064 hits, 480 runs scored, 486 RBIs, 419 walks, 197 doubles, and 60 home runs. His lifetime fielding percentage was .987, as he committed only 36 errors in 2,684 total chances.

He scouted for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves after his playing days, initially working for former Tiger player and executive John McHale, and also served the St. Louis Cardinals in that role. He retired in 1990.[1]

See also

References
  1. Erion, Greg, Johnny Groth, Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project
  2. Information at Baseball Reference
  3. Baseball Library
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