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Gerald Wayne Grote
New York Mets
Catcher
Born: October 6, 1942, San Antonio, TX
Signed: Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent, June 13, 1962
Major League Teams: Houson Colt .45s 1963-1964; New York Mets 1966-1977; Los Angeles Dodgers 1977-1978; Kansas City Royals 1981; Los Angeles Dodgers 1981
World Series Appearances: New York Mets 1969, 1973; Los Angeles Dodgers 1977-1978
One of the best defensive catchers of his era, Jerry Grote was a long-time major leaguer, a two-time All-Star and the starting catcher for the 1969 Miracle Mets. Grote was dealt to the Mets in October 1965, beginning his decade-plus long stint with the club. Inserted as their everyday catcher in 1966, Grote provided stability behind the plate and was the starting catcher for the National League All-Stars in 1968. In 1969, Grote caught 112 games for the pennant-winning Mets while batting .252 with career highs in both home runs (six) and RBIs (40). He settled in as the regular catcher for the Mets over the next several seasons, and was behind the plate again when they went back to the World Series in 1973. He was named to his second All-Star team in 1974. Injuries began to limit his playing time over the next few seasons, and he was dealt to the Dodgers in August 1977. Backing up regular Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager, Grote went to two more World Series in 1977 and 1978. He retired initially following the 1978 season, but made a brief comeback with 24 games in 1981 for the Royals and Dodgers.
One of the best defensive catchers of his era, Jerry Grote was a long-time major leaguer, a two-time All-Star and the starting catcher for the 1969 Miracle Mets. Grote was dealt to the Mets in October 1965, beginning his decade-plus long stint with the club. Inserted as their everyday catcher in 1966, Grote provided stability behind the plate and was the starting catcher for the National League All-Stars in 1968. In 1969, Grote caught 112 games for the pennant-winning Mets while batting .252 with career highs in both home runs (six) and RBIs (40). He settled in as the regular catcher for the Mets over the next several seasons, and was behind the plate again when they went back to the World Series in 1973. He was named to his second All-Star team in 1974. Injuries began to limit his playing time over the next few seasons, and he was dealt to the Dodgers in August 1977. Backing up regular Dodgers catcher Steve Yeager, Grote went to two more World Series in 1977 and 1978. He retired initially following the 1978 season, but made a brief comeback with 24 games in 1981 for the Royals and Dodgers.
Grote collected 1,092 hits and batted .252 with 39 home runs and 404 RBIs over his big league career. His .991 fielding percentage is currently 89th all-time among catchers. Grote was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1992.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #108
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Grote batted .252 in the Mets' Championship season, appearing in 113 games overall and making exactly 100 starts behind the plate. J.C. Martin (#112) and Duffy Dyer (#624) handled the other 62 starts. Grote reached career highs in home runs (6) and RBIs (40), while finishing second in the league in caught stealing percentage with a 56.3% mark. He caught every inning of the Mets postseason run - 3 games against the Braves in the NLCS and 5 games against the Orioles in the World Series. He was one of the first to reach the mound and pitcher Jerry Koosman (#90) to celebrate the 5-3 win over the Orioles in Game 5.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1978-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-JG
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 99 in the Beckett online database as of 6/2/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 31st of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than $2. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
The Card / Mets Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
I have a feeling the Mets cards from this set will be tougher to track down, given the number of Mets collectors looking to build a team set of the franchise's first World Champions. It's likely the photo used for this card was taken in 1966, as it's similar to the photo used for Grote's 1967 Topps card. Grote wore #15 during his entire 12-year run with the Mets. There's a lot of praise heaped on Grote on the back of the card, and it's well-deserved considering he was an All-Star in 1968. His .282 average was behind the .297 average from left fielder Cleon Jones (#512). Scanning the card, I noticed the cars parked behind Grote beyond the field's fence.
Accuracy Index: Grote's card scores a solid +5, and this is one of the better looking cards I've added to our set so far.
1969 Season
Grote batted .252 in the Mets' Championship season, appearing in 113 games overall and making exactly 100 starts behind the plate. J.C. Martin (#112) and Duffy Dyer (#624) handled the other 62 starts. Grote reached career highs in home runs (6) and RBIs (40), while finishing second in the league in caught stealing percentage with a 56.3% mark. He caught every inning of the Mets postseason run - 3 games against the Braves in the NLCS and 5 games against the Orioles in the World Series. He was one of the first to reach the mound and pitcher Jerry Koosman (#90) to celebrate the 5-3 win over the Orioles in Game 5.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #226
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15): 1964-1976, 1978-1979
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2020 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-JG
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 99 in the Beckett online database as of 6/2/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog
1965 Topps Blog
#54 Cisco Carlos - Chicago White Sox / #56 Rich Reese - Minnesota Twins
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