Prior to Grich, the prototypical second baseman was a smaller athlete who was a wizard with the glove, and any offense you got from him was a bonus. There were occasional exceptions, but that was generally the rule for the position. Grich was oversized for a Second Baseman, but had exceptional range and won four Gold Gloves. Grich had decent power and co-led the league in homers during the strike-shortened season of 1981. Grich may not have been dazzling with his traditional batting numbers, but he was with his On Base Percentage which was often well over a hundred points over his Batting average.
Bobby Grich had the misfortune of making the ALCS five times but his teams could not get to the World Series. Grich may not have been any serious threat for a post season award, but time is showing a new light on his contributions and his ushering in of a new wave of offensively capable second basemen. We are still not sure if he should be in the Hall, but we do believe he deserved better than being a “one and done” for the Baseball Writers in terms of his eligibility.
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