Lefty Grove starred for the great Orioles teams of the 1920s, delaying his appearance in the major leagues until he was 25. But he made up for the lost time, winning 300 games and posting an amazing .681 winning percentage. He was the ace of Connie Mack's 1929-1931 American League champion Philadelphia A's, and won 105 games for the Boston Red Sox after he was sold and had arm trouble. An intense competitor who destroyed his share of clubhouses after tough losses, Grove was considered the greatest left-handed pitcher of his time, and one of the best in history.
Quotes About Lefty Grove
"All things considered, Grove is the best lefthander that ever walked on a pitcher's slab. He surpasses everybody I have ever seen. He has more speed than any other lefthander in the game." — Connie Mack, 1931
"Waddell was a remarkable pitcher. We all know that. But he wasn't dependable. He didn't take care of himself. Grove isn't that way. Lefty's always in condition. He's as dependable as the tides... He's faster than Waddell, too." — Connie Mack, 1931
Teams Lefty Grove Played For
Philadelphia Athletics (1925-1933) Boston Red Sox (1934-1941)
Where does Lefty Grove rank among baseball greats?
Lefty Grove ranks #1 among the Top 50 all-time at SP. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1931 Grove followed up his amazing 1930 season (28-5, 18 relief appearances, and nine saves) with an even better year. He helped the A's to their third straight pennant, no small feat with Gehrig and Ruth's Yankees in the same league. Grove went 31-4, with a league-best 2.06 ERA. The league ERA was 4.51. He also led in K's, WHIP, complete games, and shutouts. He won 16 games in a row. Once again he proved valuable out of the pen, saving five games. He was honored as the league's MVP.
Factoids From July 25, 1930, through September 24, 1931, Lefty Grove was an incredible 46-4. According to researcher Jim Kaplan, this is the best 50-game stretch by any pitcher in baseball history.
Lefty Grove was the first American League pitcher to lead the league in K's and walks in the same season (1925).
No pitcher/batter has ever struck out as many times as Lefty Grove. Grove fanned 593 times in 1,369 official at-bats, or 43% of the time.
First Tilt by the Lake On July 31, 1932, the Indians moved into their new ballpark, Municipal Stadium. Mel Harder and Grove tangled in a pitcher's duel won by Lefty, 1-0, on Mickey Cochrane's RBI single. More than 80,000 were in attendance.
Streak Stopper The New York Yankees posted a somewhat unbelievable feat of playing 308 straight games without being shut out, beginning August 2, 1931. Two years and one day later, Lefty Grove stopped the streak, blanking Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey and the gang, 7-0, on August 4, 1933.
Sunday's Best On August 22, 1926, after three straight rainouts, Connie Mack decided that the time for Sunday baseball in Philadelphia had come. Armed with a court injunction preventing police from interfering, the A's played the White Sox in a light rain that kept the crowd down to 10,000. Lefty Grove started and won the first Sunday game in Philadelphia, 3-2. A court later ruled that Sunday baseball was still illegal, and it wasn't until 1934 that the law was abolished in Philadelphia.
Where He Played Starting pitcher, and like most aces of his era, Grove served as a relief pitcher in between starts.
Born Robert Moses Grove was born on March 6, 1900, in Lonaconing, MD.
Related Players Al Simmons did not play in left field on August 23, 1931, having gone to a doctor instead. His replacement, Jimmy Moore, drew the wrath of Grove when he misjudged a fly ball and lost the game, which would have been Grove's AL-record 17th straight win... Connie Mack paid $100,600 to get Grove from the Baltimore Orioles of the International League in 1925, topping the record $100,000 the Yankees had paid the Red Sox for Babe Ruth... On April 14, 1925, two future Hall of Famers made their debut in the same game. Grove started the game against the Boston Red Sox, and in the eighth inning, Mickey Cochrane pinch-hit and singled. Cochrane entered the game and caught Grove... On May 30, 1925, Grove, a rookie, stopped George Sisler's 34-game hitting streak... Ted Williams went 2-for-3 in the final game of the 1941 season to raise his average to .406, In that same game, Grove pitched for the last time, losing 7-1 to the A's.
Hall of Fame Voting
Year
Election
Votes
Pct
1945
BBWAA
28
11.3%
1946
BBWAA
61
23.2%
1946
Nominating Vote
71
35.1%
1947
BBWAA
123
76.4%
1960
BBWAA
6
2.2%
Post-Season Appearances
1929 World Series
1930 World Series
1931 World Series
Awards and Honors
1930 AL Triple Crown
1931 AL MVP
1931 AL Triple Crown
Feats On July 25, 1941, Grove won his 300th — and final — game, a 10-6 victory over Cleveland.
Milestones
July 25, 1941: 300th Win...
Pitching Feats
, 1928: ...
, 1931: ...
Transactions December 12, 1933: Traded by the Philadelphia Athletics with Max Bishop and Rube Walberg to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Kline, Rabbit Warstler, and $125,000 cash.
All-Star Selections
1933 AL
1935 AL
1936 AL
1937 AL
1938 AL
1939 AL
Replaced Left-hander Stan Baumgartner, in the 1925 Athletics' rotation.
Replaced By 34-year old rookie left-hander Oscar Judd, in the Red Sox' 1942 rotation.
Best Strength as a Player Location of his fastball.
