LUBBOCK, Texas – Duke baseball and basketball great Dick Groat was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.
A two-year letterwinner and two-time All-America on the Duke baseball team from 1951-52 and the 1952 College Basketball Player of the Year, Groat is now a member of the College Baseball and College Basketball Halls of Fame. Voted to the seven-member class of 2011, Groat is the first player in Duke baseball history to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Other members of the 2011 Hall of Fame class are Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, outfielder, Arizona; Danny Goodwin, catcher, Southern University; Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, coach, Grambling State; Oddibe McDowell, outfielder, Arizona State; L.A. Dodgers third base coach Tim Wallach, first baseman, Cal State Fullerton; and Bill Wilhelm, coach, Clemson.
Groat posted a career batting average of .375 at Duke and led Duke to its first College World Series appearance in 1952. Following his two standout years as a Blue Devil and a two-year stint in the military, Groat embarked on a 14-year professional baseball career in which he was named the Most Valuable Player of the National League in 1960, made five all-star teams and won two World Series rings with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1960) and St. Louis Cardinals (1964).
On the hardwood, Groat is one of 13 Duke men’s basketball players to have his jersey number (#10) retired. He ranks second in Duke history with an average of 23.0 points per game and 17th with 1,886 total points. The 1952 National Player of the Year, Groat was also a two-time All-America and a two-time All-Southern Conference member.
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