Greg Gross
Encyclopedia
Gregory Eugene Gross is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from 1973-1989, playing for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

, Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...

, and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

. He is currently the hitting coach of the Phillies.

Gross was best known for his clutch pinch-hits as a Phillie, and holds the Phillies career record in pinch hits with 117. He also ranks fifth on Major League Baseball's all-time list in career pinch hits with 143.

Early life and education

Born in York, Pennsylvania
York, Pennsylvania
York, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...

, Gross graduated from Red Land High School in Lewisberry
Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
Lewisberry is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 362 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Lewisberry is located at ....

.

Beginnings of his professional baseball career

On June 4, , Gross was selected by the Houston Astros
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...

 in the fourth round of the free agent draft. He led the league in hits in 1970 while playing for Covington in the Appalachian League, batting .351. He also tied for the league lead in double plays by outfielders. In 1971, Gross was promoted to the Columbus Astros of the Southern League, where he played outfield and first base. In 1972, Gross played most of the season at Columbus, and was promoted later on in the season to the Oklahoma City 89ers, which was the Astros' AAA farm club. In 1973, Gross started the season with the Denver Bears, which by that point had become the Astros' new AAA farm club.

The Astros decided to call up Gross to the major leagues late in 1973. On September 5, , Gross made his major league debut with the Astros, going 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in a 9-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Gross finished the season going 9-for-39 for a .231 average.

Everyday playing for the Astros

In 1974, Gross became the Astros' starting right fielder and leadoff hitter, playing in 156 games and batting .314. Gross was named the Sporting News' National League Rookie Player of the Year and finished second in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year. Gross also finished the season with a .393 on-base percentage, giving him one of the highest on-base percentages of any rookie since 1970. In 1974, Gross also set a major league record for most times caught stealing in a rookie season with 20. In 1975 and 1976, Gross continued to be a starting outfielder for the Astros, hitting .294 and .286, respectively.

With the Cubs and then the Phillies

On December 8, , the Astros traded Gross to the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 for Julio González
Julio González (infielder)
Julio César González Hernández is a former Major League Baseball infielder. He played all or part of seven seasons in the majors from until . He played about equally at shortstop and second base, with a lesser but still substantial number at third base.-Sources:...

. In 1977, Gross hit his first major-league home run, connecting a total of five times while hitting .322 in 115 games. After a busy 1978 season, Gross was traded by the Cubs on February 23, to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 with Manny Trillo
Manny Trillo
Jesús Manuel Marcano Trillo , also nicknamed "Indio", is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from to...

 and Dave Rader
Dave Rader (baseball)
David Martin Rader is a former professional baseball player. From through , he was a catcher in Major League Baseball, playing for the San Francisco Giants , St. Louis Cardinals , Chicago Cubs , Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox...

 for Jerry Martin
Jerry Martin
Jerry Lindsey Martin is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is the son of major league pitcher Barney Martin....

, Barry Foote
Barry Foote
Barry Clifton Foote is a former American professional baseball player, scout, coach and minor league manager. Foote played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Montreal Expos , Philadelphia Phillies , Chicago Cubs , and New York Yankees...

, Ted Sizemore
Ted Sizemore
Ted Crawford Sizemore was a second baseman for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers , St...

, Derek Botelho
Derek Botelho
Derek Wayne Botelho is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs, who is currently the pitching coach for the Class A-Advanced Lynchburg Hillcats.-Career:...

 and Henry Mack. Gross established himself as a key platoon outfielder and first baseman for the Phillies, getting to play in the 1980 League Championship Series (he went 3-for-4 -- all pinch hits -- with 1 RBI in 4 games), the 1980 World Series (he went 0-for-2 in 4 games), the 1983 League Championship Series (he went 0-for-5 in 4 games with a run scored), and in the 1983 World Series (he went 0-for-6 in 2 games). And, Gross was an invaluable pinch hitter as well. In 1982, he led the league in pinch hits with 19.

Gross has said he had hoped to be a full-time player for the Phillies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the Phillies just had too many other talented outfielders, namely Bake McBride
Bake McBride
Arnold Ray "Bake" McBride , also nicknamed "Shake n' Bake" and "The Callaway Kid", is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, known primarily as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies' teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. He made his major league debut for the St...

, Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox, and Lonnie Smith
Lonnie Smith
Lonnie Smith is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He made his debut for the Philadelphia Phillies on September 2, 1978 and later played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Baltimore Orioles...

. "I...didn't figure I should be playing part-time at that point in my career," Gross told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an article that appeared on March 18, 1991. "But they had those three guys and I knew they should be playing ahead of me. Plus, they were winning and that changes your thinking a lot. Before, I was playing on second-division teams and we were out of it pretty early. But when you get your first taste of winning, when you're in the playoffs and the World Series, you want more of it." In addition, Gross acknowledged in an interview in 2007 the difficulty of being a starting player when he was neither fast nor a power hitter. "The cycle that baseball was in back then, with the AstroTurf and everything, centered on the stolen base or the home run, and I did neither of those," Gross told The Patriot-News
The Patriot-News
The Patriot-News is the largest daily newspaper serving the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily/Sunday circulation in the United States...

 of Harrisburg in an article that was published on April 8, 2007. "It was just a matter of survival. You made the best out of it. The big break for me was when I got onto a real good club."

Gross remained with the Phillies through the 1988 season, in which he hit just .203 in 133 at-bats but posted the unusual statistic of striking out just 3 times during the entire season. In fact, in Gross' entire career of 3,745 at-bats, Gross struck out just 250 times.

Final years as a professional ballplayer

On April 5, , Gross rejoined the Houston Astros as a free agent, hitting .200 for the season largely in a pinch-hitting role. Despite his historic success as a prolific pinch-hitter, Gross struggled as a pinch-hitter with the Astros in 1989, hitting just .184 (7-for-38). In October 1989, as part of a rebuilding movement, the Astros told Gross and many other veterans -- including Bob Forsch
Bob Forsch
Robert Herbert Forsch was an American right-handed starting pitcher who spent most of his sixteen years in Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals before finishing his playing career with the Houston Astros...

, Rick Rhoden
Rick Rhoden
Richard Alan Rhoden is a professional golfer and was a Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 16 year baseball career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros of the National League; and the New York Yankees of the American League.-Early years:Rhoden was...

, Dan Schatzeder
Dan Schatzeder
Daniel Ernest Schatzeder is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the major leagues from - for nine different teams. Schatzeder played college baseball at the University of Denver...

, Terry Puhl
Terry Puhl
-See also:*List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases*List of Major League Baseball players from Canada*UHV Jaguars-External links:...

 and Harry Spilman
Harry Spilman
William Harry Spilman is a retired Major League Baseball first Baseman for the Cincinnati Reds , Houston Astros , Detroit Tigers , and San Francisco Giants...

 -- that they would not negotiate new contracts with them before the free agent filing period, which was to begin after the 1989 World Series, if at all. On November 2, 1989, Gross filed for free agency. Gross had hoped to be invited to a major-league club for a tryout in 1990. After a lockout by the owners in early 1990, Gross never received a single tryout, and he wound up sitting out the 1990 season.

Gross again tried to extend his baseball career. On February 7, , the San Diego Padres
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...

 announced that they had invited Gross to spring training. Gross came to spring training at the recommendation of his old teammate and then-Phillies coach Larry Bowa
Larry Bowa
Lawrence Robert Bowa is a former middle infielder, playing mainly as a shortstop, and manager in Major League Baseball.-Early life:...

, who had asked then-Padres manager Greg Riddoch
Greg Riddoch
Greg Riddoch is a former manager in Major League Baseball. He was the manager of the San Diego Padres from 1990 to 1992. His career record was 200-194. During his career, he also served as a bench coach for the Padres, as well as third base coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and director of...

 to invite Gross to camp. "I love this game so much," Gross told the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

 in an article that appeared on February 28, 1991. "I can't leave it alone. It's not the money. It's not the attention. It's just being around this game. And I'm not going to cheat myself from playing as long as someone will let me."

On March 30, 1991, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

 reported that Gross had made the Padres as a pinch-hitter. However, on April 5, 1991, the Padres cut Gross, choosing instead to sign Mike Aldrete
Mike Aldrete
Michael Peter Aldrete is a former first baseman/outfielder in Major League Baseball.Aldrete was a four-year letterman at Stanford University...

 to its final roster spot. The move ended Gross' major-league career. Several weeks later, there was reported interest in Gross by the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

, according to a May 14, 1991 article in the Boston Globe, but nothing ever materialized.

"I've enjoyed my career, I really have," Gross told the San Diego Union-Tribune in March 1991. "There've been frustrations, sure, but the good times and being at this level of the game outweigh any of the negatives. I wanted to play every day, sure, but it didn't work out for me. But I found that niche and it worked out. Probably, if I'd been an everyday player, I wouldn't have lasted this long. I'd rather have the longevity."

Stints as a pitcher

Both in 1986 and in 1989, Gross was called to the pitcher's mound during blowouts. On June 8, , Gross pitched the final two-thirds of the eighth inning in a 12-0 Phillies loss to the Montreal Expos
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

. Gross gave up a double to Andrés Galarraga
Andrés Galarraga
Andrés José Padovani Galarraga is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the Montreal Expos , St. Louis Cardinals , Colorado Rockies , Atlanta Braves , Texas Rangers , San Francisco Giants and Anaheim Angels...

, and then struck out Casey Candaele
Casey Candaele
Casey Todd Candaele is a former Major League Baseball player from 1986 to 1997 for the Montreal Expos, Houston Astros, and Cleveland Indians. Candaele was known as a versatile utility player who could play many infield and outfield positions. His mother, Helen Callaghan St...

 and Herm Winningham
Herm Winningham
Herman Son Winningham is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball.Drafted by the New York Mets in the 1st round of the 1981 amateur draft, Winningham made his major league debut with the Mets on September 1, , and appeared in his final game on October 3, .Winningham was a member of the...

 to end the rout. And on May 21, , Gross took the mound in the ninth inning of what wound up being a 17-5 loss by the Astros to the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

. In that game, Gross had relieved shortstop Craig Reynolds, who had pitched the eighth inning. In the ninth inning, Gross gave up three hits and two earned runs. However, he also struck out José Lind
José Lind
José Lind Salgado, nicknamed "Chico", is a former Major League Baseball player, and former manager of the Atlantic League's Bridgeport Bluefish. He is the cousin of Onix Concepcion, another MLB player. Primarily a second baseman, Lind was highly regarded for his defensive skills, winning a Gold...

 swinging. "The worst part is how close you are to the batter after you throw the ball," Gross told the Sporting News in its June 5, 1989 issue. "I throw batting practice, but you've got the screen. I was looking for a way to sneak the screen out there."

After baseball

After his baseball career ended, Gross worked as a color commentator for several games for SportsChannel Philadelphia
SportsChannel Philadelphia
SportsChannel Philadelphia was a regional sports network that served the Philadelphia area during the 1990s. The network was owned by Cablevision along with its sister-network PRISM and was part of SportsChannel America. Games from Philadelphia's sports teams were split between the two networks...

 in 1991. He also dabbled in real estate and coached high school teams like Malvern Prep High School. He returned to professional baseball on February 6, , when the Colorado Rockies
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1991, they started play in 1993 and are in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains...

 announced that Gross would make his debut as a professional coach with the Rockies' AA New Haven Ravens minor-league affiliate in New Haven, Connecticut. In 1995, Gross worked as a first-base coach for the Ravens, and then stayed with the club for the 1996 season as well. On October 24, , the Rockies promoted Gross to become the Rockies' roving minor-league hitting instructor. He served in that capacity in 1997 through 2000. Gross quit the Rockies at the end of the 2000 season to become a bench coach for the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 in 2001. In 2002, Gross became the Phillies' hitting instructor. He remained the Phillies' hitting instructor through 2004.

On January 3, , Gross became the hitting instructor for the Phillies' Class-A Batavia Muckdogs
Batavia Muckdogs
The Batavia Muckdogs are a minor league baseball team based in Batavia, a city in Genesee County, New York, United States. The Muckdogs are the current Short-Season A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals...

 minor league team. On December 22, 2005, Gross was named the 2006 hitting coach for the Phillies' high-A Clearwater Threshers
Clearwater Threshers
The Clearwater Threshers are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the Florida State League. Since 2004, the team competes in the West Division....

 minor-league team. On November 28, , Gross was named the hitting coach for the Phillies' Reading Phillies
Reading Phillies
The Reading Phillies are a minor league baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League. Since the 1967 season, they have been the AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies....

 minor-league team. Then, on December 13, , Gross was named the 2008 hitting coach for the Phillies' Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs
Lehigh Valley IronPigs
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a minor league baseball team that plays in the International League. The IronPigs are the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team plays their home games at Coca-Cola Park, which is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania...

 minor league team. On July 22, 2010, it was announced he would take over as hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Gross has two children, Megan and Michael, and lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania
West Chester, Pennsylvania
The Borough of West Chester is the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,461 at the 2010 census.Valley Forge, the Brandywine Battlefield, Longwood Gardens, Marsh Creek State Park, and other historical attractions are near West Chester...

.

Gross is honored annually by the AGA with the Greg Gross Open (GGO) golf tournament held at the Anetsberger Golf Club in Northbrook, IL. The 2008 GGO will be held August 2. The reigning GGO champ is Scott Strangberg of Racine, Wisconsin.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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