Robert Earl Grace (February 24, 1907 – December 22, 1980) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player and coach. He played as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) from 1929 through 1937 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. During World War II, 1LT Robert E. Grace served as baseball coach for servicemen assigned to the Welch Army Convalescent Center in Daytona Beach.

Early minor league career

Grace's professional career began in 1925, playing for the Lincoln Links and Little Rock Travelers. After playing for the Muskogee Athletics in 1927. He played for the Travelers again in 1928, then he was signed by the

organization, where he started the season with the Reading Keystones.

Major league career

Chicago Cubs

Grace made his major league debut for the

in 1929, playing in 27 games and batting .250. After a season back in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

with the Keystones, he returned to the Cubs for 7 games in 1931 before being traded to the

for fellow catcher Rollie Hemsley.

Pittsburgh Pirates

After batting .280 in 47 games for the Pirates after the trade, Grace was made the Pirate's regular catcher in 1932. He finished the season having committed only 1

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

in 413

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

, to establish a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

fielding record with a .998

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

, breaking the record set by Shanty Hogan just one year earlier. Over the next three seasons, Grace's playing time decreased in favor of Tom Padden, and after the 1935 season, he was traded along with pitcher Claude Passeau for another fellow catcher, Al Todd.

Philadelphia Phillies

Grace played two seasons for the Phillies, splitting time with Jimmy Wilson and Bill Atwood, Grace was traded a third time. Like each of the previous two trades, he was traded for another catcher, this time to the St. Louis Browns for Cap Clark. However, Grace never played for the Browns after the trade. Instead, he returned to

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, splitting the 1938 season between the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

and the

Columbus Red Birds The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...

. He continued to play in the minors until 1940.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace, Earl Major League Baseball catchers Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Lincoln Links players Little Rock Travelers players Muskogee Athletics players Reading Keystones players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Columbus Red Birds players Nashville Vols players Baseball players from Kentucky 1907 births 1980 deaths People from Ballard County, Kentucky 20th-century American sportsmen