Johnny Groth obit

Obituary: John T. Groth, 95, former Major Leaguer and longtime town resident

 

He was not on the list.

John T. Groth, former Detroit Tigers centerfielder and a 60-year Palm Beach resident, died Aug. 7 at the beachfront home he shared with Betty, his wife of 72 years.

 He was two weeks past his 95th birthday.

Born July 23, 1926 in Chicago, he was one of the three children of German immigrants William and Marie (nee Baltazore) Groth. 

Johnny, as he was known, grew up a few blocks from Wrigley Field, where he played in exhibition football matches with his neighborhood friends during the halftimes of Chicago Bears games.

At one of those games, his preternatural athleticism caught the eye of former All-American Frank Rokusek, the football coach at Chicago Latin, who offered Johnny a scholarship to the elite prep school.

Johnny, who played quarterback, showed his gratitude by leading the school to the Illinois state prep championship title.

At the time of high school graduation in 1944, Johnny was fielding an avalanche of options. He received football or basketball scholarship offers from Yale, Notre Dame, and all of the Big 9 — now the Big 10 — schools, and was a draft choice of several MLB teams.

Instead, the 18-year-old chose to serve his country's war effort and enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

At the time, the Navy employed athletic competitions as a morale-building tool for recruits.

Bob Feller, a Hall of Fame pitcher who then was in charge of Navy baseball operations, put Johnny on a squad comprising all professional players, including Pinky Higgins, Walker Cooper and Ken Keltner.

After he batted .341, major league scouts suddenly were swarming the Navy base.

Mr. Groth spent many hours under the tutelage of Feller, who taught him the finer points of baseball. Mr. Groth credited that mentorship with securing him a spot in the big leagues.

Upon his discharge from the Navy, Mr. Groth found several offers from Major League organizations awaiting him, the best of which came from Cleveland and Detroit.

In 1946, he signed a deal with Walter O. Briggs, owner of the Detroit Tigers, and began his 15-year career in professional baseball.

His tenure with the Tigers, where he was a centerfielder, included an AL pennant run (robbed from them by the Yankees) while he hit .306.

In 1952, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns in a seven-player deal, and went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and then back to the Detroit Tigers.

He retired from baseball in 1960 and his wife Betty, tired of the peripatetic baseball life, bought a house in Palm Beach and they started a family that would become nine girls and two boys — enough for an all-girls baseball team and two umps.

Within his large brood, Mr. Groth is remembered for his one-man band performances, his daily Jack LaLanne exercises, his Mustang convertibles, hitting two homers over the green monster at Fenway Park, and leading the family singalongs.

After retirement, Mr. Groth managed the Detroit Tigers single-A farm club team in Decatur, Illinois for two seasons.

When Milwaukee Braves team owner Bill Bartholomay relocated the Braves to Atlanta in 1966, he hired Mr. Groth as a scout.

His recruits included Mickey Rivers out of Dade Community College, who went on to a 14-year career in the majors.

In 1992, Mr. Groth was inducted into the AAA-league Buffalo Bison Hall of Fame.

Mr. Groth was a member of St. Edward parish and a member of the Sailfish Club Florida.

In addition to his wife, the former Betty Stoll, he is survived by his 11 children: Betty Ann Dortch, Susan Neilson, Peggy Rafferty, Ginger Carlisle, Janet Geary, Winnie Azqueta,  Kathy Bronstien, John Jr., Nancy Tucker, Mary Jacobs and Michael.

He also is survived by 29 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

There will be a private family service.

 

Teams

Detroit Tigers (1946–1952)

St. Louis Browns (1953)

Chicago White Sox (1954–1955)

Washington Senators (1955)

Kansas City Athletics (1956–1957)

Detroit Tigers (1957–1960)