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Steve Gromek
Stephen Joseph Gromek (January 15, 1920 – March 12, 2002) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the American League with the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. In 447 career games, Gromek pitched 2,064+2⁄3 innings and posted a win–loss record of 123–108 with 92 complete games, 17 shutouts, and a 3.41 earned run average (ERA).
Born in Hamtramck, Michigan, Gromek originally began playing professionally with the Indians organization as an infielder, but became a pitcher early on, and made his major league debut in 1941. He played sparingly his first three years before becoming an everyday starter in 1944 and 1945, earning his lone All-Star appearance in the latter year. After the war ended, he became a spot starter, spending time as both a starting pitcher and relief pitcher. Gromek was the winning pitcher in game four of the 1948 World Series with the Cleveland Indians. His career is best remembered for a post game celebratory photo taken of him hugging Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, whose third inning home run provided the margin of victory. The photo became a symbol for integration in baseball.
Gromek remained in the spot starter role with the Indians until 1953, when he was traded to the Tigers. The Tigers used him solely as a starting pitcher, and had 18 wins in his first full season with them in 1954. He played two more full seasons with the Tigers, and retired during the 1957 season. Gromek then became a player-manager for the Erie Sailors for one year, became a car insurance sales representative after his retirement, and died in 2002.
Gromek was born in Hamtramck, Michigan to Polish immigrant parents. His father worked in Hamtramck as a laborer. While attended St. Ladislaus High School in Hamtramck, Gromek considered becoming a priest, but decided on a career in baseball instead, playing sandlot baseball in the area, as the school did not have a baseball team. Shortly after graduating, Gromek signed with the Cleveland Indians as an infielder after being discovered by Indians scout Bill Bradley. In his first professional season, Gromek batted .283 with two home runs as a second baseman for the Mansfield Braves and Logan Indians. He moved over to shortstop in 1940 with the Michigan State League's Flint Gems. After suffering an injury in his left shoulder that hampered his swing, he decided to become an outfielder. His ability to throw strikes to the plate on throws from the outfield inspired manager Jack Knight, who was a former pitcher, to try him on the mound. Gromek pitched four games, and won all four with a 1.61 ERA. A year later, Gromek went 14–2 with a 2.90 ERA for the newly renamed Flint Arrows. In July, Gromek and the Arrows faced the Indians in an exhibition game, which they won, 3–2; the victory led the Indians to promote him to the major league club a month later. He lost his major league debut to the Washington Senators, and earned his first major league win in his only other start of the season against the Philadelphia Athletics. He spent the rest of the season as a relief pitcher, and finished the season with a 1–1 record and a 4.24 ERA in nine appearances.
New Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau used Gromek as a relief pitcher in 1942. On July 12, facing the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium, Gromek entered the game in the fifth inning behind 6–5 with two outs and a runner on third. He struck out Al Evans to end the inning without further damage, and earned the win in extra innings, but walked three consecutive batters in the seventh, the third of which forced in a run. Shortly after the game, he was demoted to the double A Baltimore Orioles for the rest of the season, the result of an agreement the Indians and Orioles had made before the season began where the Indians would allow use of certain players during the season if requested. He finished the season with a 2–0 record and a 3.65 ERA in 14 appearances with the Indians, and a 4–6 record with a 5.14 ERA in 20 games with the Orioles. He spent the entire 1943 season with Baltimore, going 16–13 with a 3.34 ERA, with the exception of September, when he received a call up to the major leagues. There, he made three appearances, totaling four innings of work.
Gromek started the 1944 season in Cleveland's bullpen. On May 16, he entered a game against the Senators in the first inning after starter Allie Reynolds had already allowed three runs. From there, Gromek held the Senators scoreless on just two hits, bringing his ERA for the season down to 0.57 (1 earned run in 15.2 innings). Though the Indians still lost the game, it convinced Boudreau to try Gromek as a starter. On May 21, Gromek made his first start of the season in the second game of a doubleheader with the A's. Through the first six innings, Gromek held the A's scoreless on four hits. Meanwhile, back-to-back home runs by Roy Cullenbine and Pat Seerey in the fourth inning gave Cleveland a 2–0 lead. A seventh-inning error by third baseman Ken Keltner allowed two unearned runs to tie the score, and a wild pitch the following inning allowed the winning run to score. On July 2, after spending June as a reliever, Gromek earned his first win of the season against the Washington Senators after being placed back in the starting rotation, and did not allow a hit until the eighth inning in a 6–3 win; he remained a starter for the rest of the season. On July 14 against the St. Louis Browns, Gromek pitched 14 innings to earn the complete game 3–2 victory over Bob Muncrief, who also pitched all 14 innings for St. Louis. He followed that up with a complete game shutout against the New York Yankees, and 1–0 loss in which Gromek allowed two hits against the Boston Red Sox. He ended the season winning six of his final seven decisions, finishing the year with a 10–9 record with a 2.56 ERA, and had a league leading 7.1 hits per nine innings.
Entering the 1945 season, Gromek was named one of the Indians' main starting pitchers, and would hold that title throughout the season. On June 8, Gromek defeated the Browns, 2–1, to improve to 7–1 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 4, the Indians accomplished one of the more bizarre firsts in baseball history with Gromek on the mound. In a complete game victory over the Yankees, Gromek struck out four. Fifteen outs came via fly balls to the outfield; another four pop-ups were handled by the infielders. Catcher Frankie Hayes caught two foul balls, and the only ground ball outs recorded were handled by first baseman Mickey Rocco unassisted. It was the only time in major league history that a team went nine innings without recording an assist. A week later, Gromek was named to the All-Star team for the 1945 All-Star Game, which was cancelled due to travel restrictions in place during World War II. In late August, Gromek won his 16th game in a 5–4 victory against the Detroit Tigers, but injured his knee when scoring the winning run, causing him to miss two weeks. For the year, Gromek went 19–9, with a career best 2.55 ERA; he ranked fourth in wins and seventh in ERA in the American League that season.
After getting married in the offseason, Gromek entered the 1946 season as one of the four primary starting pitchers alongside Allie Reynolds, as well as Bob Feller and Red Embree who had returned from the war. Gromek started the season by pitching in the home opener against Detroit. In a 7–0 loss, the Tigers allowed two hits, one of which was a single by Gromek, who allowed five runs in six innings. After losing his first three games of the season, he won his next three in May, which included two complete game shutouts against the Athletics and Browns. He followed that up with a four-game losing streak, which went through the end of June. After his June 28 win, however, Gromek fell in a slump, and Indians management reduced his role to that of a part-time starter who would only see action in a few innings at a time. Gromek lost seven straight games between June 28 and September 10 before breaking the streak in his second-to-last appearance of the season, a 4–2 victory against the Yankees. Gromek finished the season with a 5–15 record and a 4.33 ERA in 29 games.
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Steve Gromek
Stephen Joseph Gromek (January 15, 1920 – March 12, 2002) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the American League with the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. In 447 career games, Gromek pitched 2,064+2⁄3 innings and posted a win–loss record of 123–108 with 92 complete games, 17 shutouts, and a 3.41 earned run average (ERA).
Born in Hamtramck, Michigan, Gromek originally began playing professionally with the Indians organization as an infielder, but became a pitcher early on, and made his major league debut in 1941. He played sparingly his first three years before becoming an everyday starter in 1944 and 1945, earning his lone All-Star appearance in the latter year. After the war ended, he became a spot starter, spending time as both a starting pitcher and relief pitcher. Gromek was the winning pitcher in game four of the 1948 World Series with the Cleveland Indians. His career is best remembered for a post game celebratory photo taken of him hugging Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League, whose third inning home run provided the margin of victory. The photo became a symbol for integration in baseball.
Gromek remained in the spot starter role with the Indians until 1953, when he was traded to the Tigers. The Tigers used him solely as a starting pitcher, and had 18 wins in his first full season with them in 1954. He played two more full seasons with the Tigers, and retired during the 1957 season. Gromek then became a player-manager for the Erie Sailors for one year, became a car insurance sales representative after his retirement, and died in 2002.
Gromek was born in Hamtramck, Michigan to Polish immigrant parents. His father worked in Hamtramck as a laborer. While attended St. Ladislaus High School in Hamtramck, Gromek considered becoming a priest, but decided on a career in baseball instead, playing sandlot baseball in the area, as the school did not have a baseball team. Shortly after graduating, Gromek signed with the Cleveland Indians as an infielder after being discovered by Indians scout Bill Bradley. In his first professional season, Gromek batted .283 with two home runs as a second baseman for the Mansfield Braves and Logan Indians. He moved over to shortstop in 1940 with the Michigan State League's Flint Gems. After suffering an injury in his left shoulder that hampered his swing, he decided to become an outfielder. His ability to throw strikes to the plate on throws from the outfield inspired manager Jack Knight, who was a former pitcher, to try him on the mound. Gromek pitched four games, and won all four with a 1.61 ERA. A year later, Gromek went 14–2 with a 2.90 ERA for the newly renamed Flint Arrows. In July, Gromek and the Arrows faced the Indians in an exhibition game, which they won, 3–2; the victory led the Indians to promote him to the major league club a month later. He lost his major league debut to the Washington Senators, and earned his first major league win in his only other start of the season against the Philadelphia Athletics. He spent the rest of the season as a relief pitcher, and finished the season with a 1–1 record and a 4.24 ERA in nine appearances.
New Cleveland manager Lou Boudreau used Gromek as a relief pitcher in 1942. On July 12, facing the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium, Gromek entered the game in the fifth inning behind 6–5 with two outs and a runner on third. He struck out Al Evans to end the inning without further damage, and earned the win in extra innings, but walked three consecutive batters in the seventh, the third of which forced in a run. Shortly after the game, he was demoted to the double A Baltimore Orioles for the rest of the season, the result of an agreement the Indians and Orioles had made before the season began where the Indians would allow use of certain players during the season if requested. He finished the season with a 2–0 record and a 3.65 ERA in 14 appearances with the Indians, and a 4–6 record with a 5.14 ERA in 20 games with the Orioles. He spent the entire 1943 season with Baltimore, going 16–13 with a 3.34 ERA, with the exception of September, when he received a call up to the major leagues. There, he made three appearances, totaling four innings of work.
Gromek started the 1944 season in Cleveland's bullpen. On May 16, he entered a game against the Senators in the first inning after starter Allie Reynolds had already allowed three runs. From there, Gromek held the Senators scoreless on just two hits, bringing his ERA for the season down to 0.57 (1 earned run in 15.2 innings). Though the Indians still lost the game, it convinced Boudreau to try Gromek as a starter. On May 21, Gromek made his first start of the season in the second game of a doubleheader with the A's. Through the first six innings, Gromek held the A's scoreless on four hits. Meanwhile, back-to-back home runs by Roy Cullenbine and Pat Seerey in the fourth inning gave Cleveland a 2–0 lead. A seventh-inning error by third baseman Ken Keltner allowed two unearned runs to tie the score, and a wild pitch the following inning allowed the winning run to score. On July 2, after spending June as a reliever, Gromek earned his first win of the season against the Washington Senators after being placed back in the starting rotation, and did not allow a hit until the eighth inning in a 6–3 win; he remained a starter for the rest of the season. On July 14 against the St. Louis Browns, Gromek pitched 14 innings to earn the complete game 3–2 victory over Bob Muncrief, who also pitched all 14 innings for St. Louis. He followed that up with a complete game shutout against the New York Yankees, and 1–0 loss in which Gromek allowed two hits against the Boston Red Sox. He ended the season winning six of his final seven decisions, finishing the year with a 10–9 record with a 2.56 ERA, and had a league leading 7.1 hits per nine innings.
Entering the 1945 season, Gromek was named one of the Indians' main starting pitchers, and would hold that title throughout the season. On June 8, Gromek defeated the Browns, 2–1, to improve to 7–1 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 4, the Indians accomplished one of the more bizarre firsts in baseball history with Gromek on the mound. In a complete game victory over the Yankees, Gromek struck out four. Fifteen outs came via fly balls to the outfield; another four pop-ups were handled by the infielders. Catcher Frankie Hayes caught two foul balls, and the only ground ball outs recorded were handled by first baseman Mickey Rocco unassisted. It was the only time in major league history that a team went nine innings without recording an assist. A week later, Gromek was named to the All-Star team for the 1945 All-Star Game, which was cancelled due to travel restrictions in place during World War II. In late August, Gromek won his 16th game in a 5–4 victory against the Detroit Tigers, but injured his knee when scoring the winning run, causing him to miss two weeks. For the year, Gromek went 19–9, with a career best 2.55 ERA; he ranked fourth in wins and seventh in ERA in the American League that season.
After getting married in the offseason, Gromek entered the 1946 season as one of the four primary starting pitchers alongside Allie Reynolds, as well as Bob Feller and Red Embree who had returned from the war. Gromek started the season by pitching in the home opener against Detroit. In a 7–0 loss, the Tigers allowed two hits, one of which was a single by Gromek, who allowed five runs in six innings. After losing his first three games of the season, he won his next three in May, which included two complete game shutouts against the Athletics and Browns. He followed that up with a four-game losing streak, which went through the end of June. After his June 28 win, however, Gromek fell in a slump, and Indians management reduced his role to that of a part-time starter who would only see action in a few innings at a time. Gromek lost seven straight games between June 28 and September 10 before breaking the streak in his second-to-last appearance of the season, a 4–2 victory against the Yankees. Gromek finished the season with a 5–15 record and a 4.33 ERA in 29 games.