Jerry Grote
| Jerry Grote | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Catcher | |||
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Born: October 6, 1942 San Antonio, Texas |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 21, 1963, for the Houston Colt .45s | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 3, 1981, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .252 | ||
| Hits | 1,092 | ||
| Runs batted in | 404 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Gerald Wayne Grote (born October 6, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the New York Mets and was regarded as one of the best defensive catchers of his era.
Grote was raised in San Antonio, Texas. When he was ten years old, he and his family were caught in an F-4 tornado. His mother, father and two sisters made it to safety, however, he lost his grandmother in the storm. 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 played for Trinity University in 1962, and led the Tigers in batting average (.413), home runs (five), RBI (19), runs (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 at-bat. For the season he appeared in three games, including on September 27, when every starter in the Colts' line-up was a rookie.
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