Robert Anton Grim (March 8, 1930 – October 23, 1996) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Life

Born in New York City, he was signed as an amateur free agent by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in 1948. His Major League debut was on April 18, 1954 for the Yankees. He wore uniform number 55 for the Yankees during his entire period on the team. He won 20 games (the first Yankee rookie to win 20 since 1910) and lost only 6 that year, with a 3.26

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and was voted

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

Rookie of the Year, with 15 votes out of 24. He played in two

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

for the Yankees, in 1955 (against the Brooklyn Dodgers) and in 1957 (against the Milwaukee Braves). By 1957, because of arm troubles, he became an exclusive relief pitcher. He has been retroactively listed as leading the

in saves in 1957 with 19. (At the time, saves were not a regularly calculated statistic.) Grim got the final out of the 1957 All-Star Game, being brought in from the bullpen with the American League leading 6–5 and getting pinch-hitter

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

on a game-ending fly out to left field. He also took the loss in Game 4 of the

1957 World Series The 1957 World Series featured the defending champion New York Yankees of the American League playing against the Milwaukee Braves of the National League. After finishing just one game behind the N.L. Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, the Brave ...

when he allowed a walk-off home run to Milwaukee Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews. On June 15, 1958, Grim was traded, along with Harry Simpson, by the New York Yankees to the

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

for Duke Maas and

Virgil Trucks Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks (April 26, 1917 – March 23, 2013) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Athletics and New York Yankees between 1941 and 1958. He batte ...

. He had records of 7–6 and 6–10 for the Athletics the next two seasons. He played with three teams in 1960. On April 5, 1960, he was traded by Kansas City to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

for Leo Kiely. On May 18, the Cincinnati Reds purchased his contract from Cleveland, and on July 29, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

purchased his contract from Cincinnati. He spent all of 1961 at the Triple-A level in the Redbird organization. Grim was released by the Cardinals before the 1962 season, but on April 9, 1962 he was signed as a free agent with the

. His final MLB game was played on May 24, and the A's released him on May 31. He died in

Shawnee, Kansas Shawnee is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the seventh most populous municipality in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 67,311. History Territory of Kansas Before ...

at age 66 after suffering a heart attack while throwing snowballs with neighborhood kids.Bob Grim, Pitcher, 66
/ref>

References

External links

*Bob Grim's biographical information and statistics on th
Baseball Almanac
site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grim, Bob 1930 births 1996 deaths American League All-Stars Amsterdam Rugmakers players Baseball players from New York (state) Binghamton Triplets players Butler Yankees players Charleston Marlins players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners New York Yankees players Norfolk Tars players Portland Beavers players St. Louis Cardinals players San Juan Marlins players Sportspeople from New York City

Life

See also

References

External links