Jerry Grote

From The Met Wiki

Jerry Grote was a catcher for the Mets from 1966 to 1977. He had 994 hits and 357 runs batted in during his time with the team. Grote hit 35 home runs as a Met.

Grote was acquired by the Mets from the Houston Astros in a trade for Tom Parsons on October 19, 1965. In ’66, he was the Mets’ catcher for 115 games and had 75 hits for the year. On June 5, Jerry had two singles and a double in a 3-2 Mets win over the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. He drove in a run with an 11th inning single for a 3-2 triumph over the Reds at Shea on June 12. Grote also had a two-run double in the Mets’ 10-4 victory over the Dodgers on August 30 at Shea.

In 1967, Grote played in 120 games, all but one of which was as a catcher. He had 25 runs scored and 67 hits for the season. In the season opener at Shea on April 11, Jerry hit a two-run homer in the Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Pirates. He had four singles and an RBI in a 9-1 Mets win at Atlanta on June 24. In the second game of a doubleheader at Shea on September 8, Grote had a single and a run-scoring double in the Mets’ 5-4 victory over the Reds.

Grote hit .282 in 124 games played in 1968. He had 141 total bases for the year and played in the All-Star Game at Houston. On May 25, Jerry hit a three-run double in the Mets’ 9-1 win at Atlanta. At Shea on July 12, he had a two-run homer and a run-scoring single in a 4-0 Mets victory over the Cubs. Grote also had two singles, a double and two runs scored in the Mets’ 8-2 triumph over the Cardinals at Shea on August 30.

In the Mets’ World Championship season of 1969, Grote had career highs with 6 home runs and 40 RBIs. He also hit .252 with 128 total bases. On April 20, Jerry drove in four runs with a single and two doubles in the Mets’ 11-3 win at St. Louis. He hit a three-run homer in the first inning of the Mets’ 10-2 win at St. Louis on June 30. Grote also homered in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 6-5 victory over the Braves at Shea on August 3. He hit a ninth-inning double on August 23 to drive in the winning run for a 3-2 Mets triumph over the Dodgers at Shea.

Jerry played in all eight Mets games in the ’69 post-season. He had a double and a run scored in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Braves on October 6. In the World Series, he had a hit in each of the first four games against the Orioles. Jerry had a run-scoring double in Game 3 and a double to leadoff the 10th inning which led to the winning run in Game 4 of the Series.

In 1970, Grote batted .255 in 126 games played. He singled four times in the Mets’ 7-5 win over the Cardinals at Shea on July 8. At Pittsburgh on August 8, he had three singles and two runs scored in the Mets’ 12-9 victory over the Pirates. Jerry also hit a two-run double in the ninth inning in the Mets’ 5-3 win at Chicago on September 5.

Grote led the Mets with 25 doubles in 1971. He totaled 109 hits and 40 RBIs for the year. On April 11, Jerry hit a home run in the 11th inning to give the Mets a 1-0 win over the Reds at Shea. He had two singles, two doubles and two runs scored in an 11-inning, 3-2 victory over the Cubs at Shea on May 3. Grote homered in the Mets' 3-0 win at Philadelphia on June 29. At Montreal on June 25, he hit three doubles in the Mets’ 4-1 win over the Expos. Jerry also had three singles and three runs scored in a 20-6 Mets win at Atlanta on August 7.

Jerry missed much of the 1972 season with injuries. He appeared in only 64 games and had 43 hits during the season. On May 12, Grote’s ninth-inning single drove in the winning run for a 2-1 Mets victory over the Giants at Shea. He hit two home runs in an 8-3 Mets win at Philadelphia on May 19. Jerry also had two singles and three RBIs in the Mets’ 13-6 victory at Atlanta on August 27.

A fractured arm put Grote on the disabled list for two months of the season in 1973. He played in 84 games and hit .256 with 32 RBIs in the Mets’ pennant-winning season. Jerry’s only home run of the year was a grand slam in the Mets’ 7-0 win at San Diego on August 15. Three days later, he had four singles in a 12-1 Mets victory over the Reds at Shea. Jerry also had a single, two doubles and two RBIs in a 10-2 victory over the Pirates at Shea that put the Mets into first place in the National League East Division on September 21.

Grote had 12 singles during the post-season in ’73. He had a two-run single in the ninth inning of the Mets’ 5-0 win at Cincinnati in Game 2 of the NLCS on October 7. Jerry also singled three times in the Mets’ 6-1 win over the Athletics in Game 4 of the World Series at Shea on October 17.

In 1974, Grote appeared in 97 games and hit .257 with five homers. He also played in the All-Star Game at Pittsburgh. At Philadelphia on April 7, Jerry drove in four runs with two singles and a homer in the Mets’ 9-2 win. In the team’s home opener three days later, he had a run-scoring single and a home run in a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals. On May 10, Grote had three singles and two RBIs in a 7-2 Mets win at Chicago. He singled three times in the Mets’ 5-2 victory at Los Angeles on July 12. Jerry had two singles and a double in the Mets' 10-2 win at San Diego on July 20. He also singled twice and scored a pair of runs in a 4-3 Mets victory over the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader on July 30 at Shea.

Grote batted a career-high .295 in 1975. In 119 games, he had 114 hits for 144 total bases for the season. Jerry had two singles, a homer and two runs scored in the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Cubs at Shea on April 20. At Houston on May 16, he had a single and two doubles as the Mets defeated the Astros, 10-2. From June 7 to June 18, Grote had an 8-game hitting streak in which he went 13-for-31 for a .419 batting average. He hit a two-run homer off Tug McGraw in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 4-3 win at Philadelphia on July 4. Jerry also had a 10-game hitting streak from August 18 to August 31, batting .378 by going 14-for-37.

Jerry hit .272 in 101 games in 1976. At St. Louis on April 19, he had four singles in the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Cardinals in 17 innings. At Houston on July 7, he had three of the Mets’ 20 hits in a 12-4 victory over the Astros. Grote also hit safely in 10 straight games in August and September of ’76.

In the 1977 season, Grote played 42 games for the Mets in his final year with the team. He had 31 hits and 8 runs scored while batting .270 with 7 RBIs. At Shea on June 4, Jerry drove in both of the Mets’ runs with RBI singles in a 2-0 win over the Phillies. These were the last runs Grote drove in as a Met. He was traded to the Dodgers for two minor league players on August 31. Jerry ended the ’77 season by playing in the World Series against the Yankees.

Grote played for the Dodgers again in 1978. After two seasons out of the major leagues, he joined the Kansas City Royals in 1981. Jerry played the last month of the ’81 season with the Dodgers to end his career.