PITTSBURGH — The original intent here was to explore the following question: Is this the worst Pirates team of all time?
It’s a fair question, even in this radically shortened, cardboard-cutout season.
As of Thursday morning, the Pirates were on pace to go 47-115 over 162 games — 48-114 if you’d like to round up (and who wouldn’t?). Their winning percentage sunk to .292 Wednesday with their eighth consecutive loss.
Discounting the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of 1882-90, only one team in Pirates history — the abominable 1952 edition — had a lower win rate. That team finished 42-112 for a winning percentage of .273.
These Pirates need to go 2-10 in their final 12 games to break that record and finish at .267.
I think they’re up to it.
But the first order business, as a way of comparison, was to dive a little deeper into the ’52 crew. Turns out a certain rookie shortstop from that club is still kicking, about a month shy of his 90th birthday.
“It had to be hell,” Dick Groat says, speaking of what the ’52 season was like for veteran teammates such as Joe Garagiola. “We were terrible.”
For Groat, however, 1952 was more like heaven. And that’s where our tale takes a turn. Who could write a depressing piece after a 15-minute chat with this man?
Groat greeted my first question — “Just how bad was it that season?” — with a surprising answer.
“Never happier in my life,” he said. “I’m a kid who grew up in Pittsburgh. Forbes Field was special to me, and here I am playing Major League Baseball at the age of 21. Every day was like Christmas morning. I loved every minute of it. I’ve asked the question a number of times and haven’t gotten an answer yet: How many youngsters come into the major leagues and are treated by their teammates as well as I was with the Pirates?
“I was never treated better.”
Stats comparisons fade fast when you have Dick Groat on the line, from his second home at Champion Lakes Golf Resort in Ligonier, telling of how the legendary Branch Rickey secured his services.
“I’ve always been grateful to Mr. Rickey for living up to his word,” he said.
Rickey, then the Pirates general manager, wasn’t afraid to make bold moves. He’d made baseball history in 1945 when he signed Jackie Robinson to a Los Angeles Dodgers contract.
Six years later, Rickey had his eyes on Groat — one of the great athletes in this region’s history and a player who would help the Pirates win the 1960 World Series — and wasn’t about to let him slip away. After Groat’s junior year at Duke, the Pirates invited him to work out at Forbes Field.
Later that day, Groat sat with his mother and father in Rickey’s box for a game.
“(Rickey) turned to me and said, ‘Young man, if you’ll sign a contract tonight and have your father sign it (Groat wasn’t yet 21), I will start you tomorrow night against the Cincinnati Reds,’ ” Groat recalled. “As God is my true witness, I said, ‘Mr. Rickey, I want to play and you know that, but I’m going back to Duke for my senior year to play baseball and basketball. If you were to make the same promise after that, I promise you I’ll sign with the Pirates.’ He said, ‘Young man, you have a deal,’ and we shook hands.
“I didn’t hear from him until I came back from the College World Series. He called, my dad and I went down to sign the contract, and I joined the Pirates the next day.”
Groat led the ’52 team in hitting at .284. His teammates included Bobby Del Greco and Tony Bartirome, two Pittsburgh guys he’d played against since childhood, and future broadcasting icons in Garagiola and Ralph Kiner.
The hugely popular Kiner hit 37 home runs that season and was Groat’s first roommate.
Groat revered manager Billy Meyer, whose claim to fame was that he appeared in the Norman Rockwell painting, “Tough Call.”
“Nicest man you’d ever want to meet,” Groat said. “More than understanding about mistakes a rookie would make. Just a beautiful man in every possible way.”
Life is OK for Groat these days, despite some tough calls of his own. He remains hurt by the way his Pitt basketball broadcasting career ended a year-and-a-half ago — “Contrary to what so many people thought, I didn’t retire; I was fired,” he said — and can’t golf anymore because, “I lost my equilibrium two years ago.”
Still, he revels in life around Champion Lakes, where he designed the course with partner Jerry Lynch and has kept an apartment for 53 years, in addition to his house in the Edgewood/Swissvale area. He has three doting daughters, including Allison Groat DeStefano, general manager of the golf club. He considers himself a lucky man.
Before we hung up, I had to ask: What does he think of this year’s Pirates?
“No comment,” Groat said. “But I do have a little compassion, because I lived through something like that myself.”
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