Jerry Grote obit

METS HALL OF FAMER JERRY GROTE PASSES AWAY

 

He was not on the list.

The wife of Jerry Grote, Cheryl, announced Sunday evening that her husband, Jerry, passed away earlier Sunday evening at age 81 due to respiratory failure after a heart procedure.

Grote was part of the 1969 Miracle Mets team that won the first World Series in franchise history. Grote, largely regarded as the best defensive catcher in team history, played 12 seasons for the orange and blue. He was a two-time All-Star (1968, 1974) and accumulated 994 hits across his Mets career. Grote is the Mets all-time leader in games played at the catcher position (1,235).

During his tenure with New York, he caught several of the franchise’s legends. Most notably Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Tug McGraw. Not to mention, Nolan Ryan.

Grote also played for the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Kansas City Royals. Grote made his debut with the Astros in 1963 and retired in 1981. In all, he played 16 seasons totaling 1,092 hits. He went to school at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Grote was inducted to the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1992 after being inducted in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

May he rest in peace.

Grote attended Douglas MacArthur High School, where he played on the baseball team as a pitcher, catcher and third baseman. As a high school pitcher, he threw a no-hitter and a one hitter. Grote attended Trinity University in 1962, and played college baseball for the Trinity Tigers. He led the Tigers in batting average (.413), home runs (five), runs batted in (RBIs; 19), runs scored (29), and hits (31).

After one season at Trinity University, Grote was signed as an amateur free agent by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962, and was assigned to play for their minor league affiliate, the San Antonio Bullets. At the age of 20, he made his major league debut with the Colt .45s on September 21, 1963 as a late-inning defensive replacement for John Bateman, and hit a sacrifice fly to score Bob Aspromonte in his only plate appearance. For the season he appeared in three games, including on September 27, when every starter in the Colts' line-up was a rookie.

In 1964, Grote platooned with Bateman at catcher; however, the Colts also experimented with young catchers Dave Adlesh and John Hoffman, as neither Grote nor Bateman hit for a very high average that season (.181 and .190, respectively). Grote was the Colts' catcher on April 23, when Ken Johnson became the first pitcher in major league history to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings.

In 1965, the newly renamed Houston Astros remained unsettled behind the plate, with former All-Star Gus Triandos and prospect Ron Brand being added to the roster. Grote spent the entire season with Houston's Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Oklahoma City 89ers, where he batted .265 with eleven home runs. At the end of the season, he was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Tom Parsons.

 

Teams

Houston Colt .45s (1963–1964)

New York Mets (1966–1977)

Los Angeles Dodgers (1977–1978)

Kansas City Royals (1981)

Los Angeles Dodgers (1981)

Career highlights and awards

2× All-Star (1968, 1974)

World Series champion (1969)

New York Mets Hall of Fame