Lefty Grove Baseball Stats by Baseball Almanac

Lefty Grove Stats

Lefty Grove was born on Tuesday, March 6, 1900, in Lonaconing, Maryland. Grove was 25 years old when he broke into the big leagues on April 14, 1925, with the Philadelphia Athletics. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Lefty Grove baseball stats page.

"He (Lefty Grove) didn't have a curve. All he had was a fastball. Everybody knew what they were going to hit at, but they still couldn't hit him. He was fabulous." - Doc Cramer

Birth Name:	Robert Moses Grove
Nickname:	Lefty
Born On:	03-06-1900 (Pisces)
Born In:	Lonaconing, Maryland
Died On:	05-22-1975 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Died In:	Norwalk, Ohio
Cemetery:	Frostburg Memorial Park, Frostburg, Maryland

High School:	Valley High School (Valley, MD)
College:	None Attended
Bats:	Left	Throws:	Left
Height:	6-03	Weight:	190
First Game:	04-14-1925 (Age 25)
Last Game:	09-28-1941
Draft:	Not Applicable

Lefty Grove Lefty Grove Pitching Stats
Year	Age	Team	G	GS	GF	W	L	PCT	ERA	CG	SHO	SV	IP	BFP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	IBB	SO	WP	HB	BK	HLD
1925	25	Athletics	45	18	12	10	12	.455	4.75	5	0	1	197.0	908	207	104	120	11	131	5	116	9	5	0	-
1926	26	Athletics	45	33	9	13	13	.500	2.51	20	1	6	258.0	1,072	227	72	97	6	101	2	194	5	6	0	-
1927	27	Athletics	51	28	18	20	13	.606	3.19	14	1	9	262.1	1,106	251	93	116	6	79	1	174	5	2	1	-
1928	28	Athletics	39	31	6	24	8	.750	2.58	24	4	4	261.2	1,075	228	75	93	10	64	1	183	4	1	0	-
1929	29	Athletics	42	37	5	20	6	.769	2.81	19	2	4	275.1	1,168	278	86	104	8	81	2	170	8	3	0	-
1930	30	Athletics	50	32	17	28	5	.848	2.54	22	2	9	291.0	1,191	273	82	101	8	60	2	209	2	5	0	-
1931	31	Athletics	41	30	10	31	4	.886	2.06	27	4	5	288.2	1,160	249	66	84	10	62	0	175	2	1	0	-
1932	32	Athletics	44	30	13	25	10	.714	2.84	27	4	7	291.2	1,207	269	92	101	13	79	0	188	0	1	0	-
1933	33	Athletics	45	28	16	24	8	.750	3.20	21	2	6	275.1	1,173	280	98	113	12	83	1	114	1	4	0	-
1934	34	Red Sox	22	12	6	8	8	.500	6.50	5	0	0	109.1	506	149	79	84	5	32	1	43	1	1	0	-
1935	35	Red Sox	35	30	4	20	12	.625	2.70	23	2	1	273.0	1,137	269	82	105	6	65	6	121	2	3	0	-
1936	36	Red Sox	35	30	3	17	12	.586	2.81	22	6	2	253.1	1,049	237	79	90	14	65	2	130	0	4	0	-
1937	37	Red Sox	32	32	0	17	9	.654	3.02	21	3	0	262.0	1,127	269	88	101	9	83	3	153	5	1	0	0
1938	38	Red Sox	24	21	3	14	4	.778	3.08	12	1	1	163.2	706	169	56	65	8	52	1	99	3	1	0	-
1939	39	Red Sox	23	23	0	15	4	.789	2.54	17	2	0	191.0	798	180	54	63	8	58	1	81	0	1	0	0
1940	40	Red Sox	22	21	1	7	6	.538	3.99	9	1	0	153.1	652	159	68	73	20	50	4	62	1	1	0	-
1941	41	Red Sox	21	21	0	7	7	.500	4.37	10	0	0	134.0	598	155	65	84	8	42	0	54	3	2	0	0
Career			G	GS	GF	W	L	PCT	ERA	CG	SHO	SV	IP	BFP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	IBB	SO	WP	HB	BK	HLD
17 Years			616	457	123	300	141	.680	3.06	298	35	55	3,940.2	16,633	3,849	1,339	1,594	162	1,187	32	2,266	51	42	1	0

Lefty Grove Lefty Grove Hitting Stats
Year	Age	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GRSL	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
1925	25	Athletics	45	65	3	8	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	26	2	0	0	1	.123	.136	.123
1926	26	Athletics	45	81	6	8	1	1	0	0	6	5	0	42	9	0	0	1	.099	.151	.136
1927	27	Athletics	51	80	8	10	1	0	2	0	8	8	0	30	9	0	0	0	.125	.205	.213
1928	28	Athletics	39	88	10	15	2	1	1	0	6	10	0	41	5	0	1	4	.170	.263	.250
1929	29	Athletics	42	102	13	22	3	0	1	0	15	6	0	33	8	0	0	1	.216	.259	.275
1930	30	Athletics	50	110	11	22	3	2	2	0	17	7	0	46	4	0	0	1	.200	.248	.318
1931	31	Athletics	41	115	8	23	3	0	0	0	12	3	0	48	4	0	0	1	.200	.220	.226
1932	32	Athletics	44	107	10	18	1	0	4	0	12	5	0	51	4	0	0	0	.168	.205	.290
1933	33	Athletics	45	105	9	9	4	0	1	0	7	4	0	43	4	0	0	4	.086	.119	.152
1934	34	Red Sox	22	37	4	6	1	0	1	0	4	2	0	13	3	0	0	2	.162	.205	.270
1935	35	Red Sox	35	89	5	7	1	1	1	1	5	13	0	49	6	0	0	1	.079	.196	.146
1936	36	Red Sox	35	80	5	11	4	0	0	0	5	6	0	34	12	0	1	1	.138	.207	.188
1937	37	Red Sox	32	91	6	13	1	0	0	0	6	12	0	39	6	0	0	2	.143	.243	.154
1938	38	Red Sox	24	54	8	8	0	0	0	0	8	7	0	25	7	0	0	0	.148	.246	.148
1939	39	Red Sox	25	67	3	9	0	0	1	0	5	9	0	26	9	0	0	0	.134	.237	.179
1940	40	Red Sox	23	53	4	8	0	0	1	0	2	3	0	29	5	0	0	0	.151	.196	.208
1941	41	Red Sox	21	45	6	5	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	18	6	0	0	1	.111	.184	.156
Career			G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	GRSL	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SH	SF	HBP	GIDP	AVG	OBP	SLG
17 Years			619	1,369	119	202	27	5	15	1	121	105	0	593	103	0	2	20	.148	.209	.207

Lefty Grove Lefty Grove Fielding Stats
Team	POS	G	GS	OUTS	TC	TC/G	CH	PO	A	E	DP	PB	CASB	CACS	FLD%	RF
1925 Athletics	P	45	18	591	63	1.4	61	6	55	2	3	n/a	n/a	n/a	.968	2.79
1926 Athletics	P	45	33	774	62	1.4	59	6	53	3	3	n/a	n/a	n/a	.952	2.06
1927 Athletics	P	51	28	787	72	1.4	63	8	55	9	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	.875	2.16
1928 Athletics	P	39	31	785	47	1.2	46	6	40	1	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.979	1.58
1929 Athletics	P	42	37	826	46	1.1	44	3	41	2	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.957	1.44
1930 Athletics	P	50	32	873	61	1.2	59	6	53	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.967	1.82
1931 Athletics	P	41	30	866	49	1.2	49	2	47	0	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	1.53
1932 Athletics	P	44	30	875	50	1.1	49	3	46	1	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.980	1.51
1933 Athletics	P	45	28	826	69	1.5	67	9	58	2	5	n/a	n/a	n/a	.971	2.19
1934 Red Sox	P	22	12	328	23	1.0	21	3	18	2	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.913	1.73
1935 Red Sox	P	35	30	819	66	1.9	64	1	63	2	6	n/a	n/a	n/a	.970	2.11
1936 Red Sox	P	35	30	760	54	1.5	52	3	49	2	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.963	1.85
1937 Red Sox	P	32	32	786	50	1.6	49	6	43	1	1	n/a	n/a	n/a	.980	1.68
1938 Red Sox	P	24	21	491	29	1.2	29	0	29	0	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	1.000	1.59
1939 Red Sox	P	23	23	573	24	1.0	21	0	21	3	2	n/a	n/a	n/a	.875	0.99
1940 Red Sox	P	22	21	460	38	1.7	35	1	34	3	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.921	2.05
1941 Red Sox	P	21	21	402	22	1.0	19	2	17	3	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	.864	1.28
Career	POS	G	GS	OUTS	TC	TC/G	CH	PO	A	E	DP	PB	CASB	CACS	FLD%	RF
P Totals		616	457	11,822	825	1.3	787	65	722	38	26	n/a	n/a	n/a	.954	1.80
17 Years		616	457	11,822	825	1.3	787	65	722	38	26	n/a	n/a	n/a	.954	1.80

Lefty Grove Lefty Grove Miscellaneous Stats
Baserunning Statistics				Other Positions			Common Hitting Ratios			Common Pitching Ratios
Team	SB	CS	SB%	PH	PR	DH	AB/HR	AB/K	AB/RBI	K/BB	K/9	BB/9
1925 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.5	21.7	0.89	5.30	5.98
1926 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	1.9	13.5	1.92	6.77	3.52
1927 Athletics	1	0	1.000	0	0	n/a	40.0	2.7	10.0	2.20	5.97	2.71
1928 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	88.0	2.1	14.7	2.86	6.29	2.20
1929 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	102.0	3.1	6.8	2.10	5.56	2.65
1930 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	55.0	2.4	6.5	3.48	6.46	1.86
1931 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.4	9.6	2.82	5.46	1.93
1932 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	26.8	2.1	8.9	2.38	5.80	2.44
1933 Athletics	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	105.0	2.4	15.0	1.37	3.73	2.71
1934 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	37.0	2.8	9.3	1.34	3.54	2.63
1935 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	89.0	1.8	17.8	1.86	3.99	2.14
1936 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.4	16.0	2.00	4.62	2.31
1937 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.3	15.2	1.84	5.26	2.85
1938 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.2	6.8	1.90	5.44	2.86
1939 Red Sox	0	0	.000	2	0	n/a	67.0	2.6	13.4	1.40	3.82	2.73
1940 Red Sox	0	1	.000	1	0	n/a	53.0	1.8	26.5	1.24	3.64	2.93
1941 Red Sox	0	0	.000	0	0	n/a	0.0	2.5	0.0	1.29	3.63	2.82
Career	SB	CS	SB%	PH	PR	DH	AB/HR	AB/K	AB/RBI	K/BB	K/9	BB/9
17 Years	1	1	.500	3	0	n/a	91.3	2.3	11.3	1.91	5.18	2.71

Lefty Grove Lefty Grove Miscellaneous Items of Interest
Team \| Roster	Uniform Numbers	Salary	All-Star	World Series
1925 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$6,500.00	n/a	-
1926 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$6,500.00	n/a	-
1927 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$8,000.00	n/a	-
1928 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$9,000.00	n/a	-
1929 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$12,000.00	n/a	Stats
1930 Philadelphia Athletics	n/a	$12,000.00	n/a	Stats
1931 Philadelphia Athletics	10	$20,000.00	n/a	Stats
1932 Philadelphia Athletics	10	$20,000.00	n/a	-
1933 Philadelphia Athletics	10	$20,000.00	Stats	-
1934 Boston Red Sox	10	$45,000.00	-	-
1935 Boston Red Sox	10	$10,000.00	Stats	-
1936 Boston Red Sox	10	$17,500.00	Stats	-
1937 Boston Red Sox	10	$19,000.00	Stats	-
1938 Boston Red Sox	10	$15,000.00	Stats	-
1939 Boston Red Sox	10	$5,000.00	Stats	-
1940 Boston Red Sox	10	$15,000.00	-	-
1941 Boston Red Sox	10	$10,000.00	-	-
Lefty Grove Stats by Baseball Almanac

Robert Moses Grove was a Major League Baseball player who pitched with the Philadelphia Athletics (1925-1933) and Boston Red Sox (1934-1941). Lefty, his nickname made his big league debut on April 14, 1925, along with another future hall of fame teammate — do you know who it was? [Answer]

Lefty Grove Rookie Card

Lefty Grove Rookie Card | 1933 Goudey Baseball Card (#220)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

The rookie card for Lefty Grove (above) often sells for over $500 in poor condition, over $1,000 in fair condition, and as high as $10k in very good condition! The back of the baseball card (below) includes the following text:

Lefty Grove: Setting the standard by which all future Philadelphia southpaws would be judged, Grove was a nine-time ERA champ, who also compiled seven strikeout crowns and 2266 K's, 1,523 while in Philly. He retired in 1941 as the greatest left-hander to ever play the game.

Steve Carlton: That distinction now belongs to Carlton, who won four Cy Young Awards and chalked up 329 career wins, second all-time among lefties to Warren Spahn. Steve racked up five strikeout crowns and 4,136 strikeouts, 3031 coming as a Phillie.

Lefty Grove Baseball Card

Lefty Grove | 2002 Fleer Rival Factions Baseball Card (#30RF)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Lefty Grove is the first pitcher in Major League history to strike out the side on exactly nine pitches twice during the same season? [Immaculate Innings] Let's take a look at some additional numbers of interest for Lefty Grove, who some said, "could throw a lamb chop past a wolf."

2: Lefty Grove led the American League (AL) in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, in 1930 — winning the Triple Crown. A year later (1931), he did it again, the first junior circuit pitcher to put together back-to-back Triple Crown seasons!

3: Lefty Grove led the AL in complete games three times (1931, 1932, 1933), shutouts three times (1931, 1932, 1936), and won 25-or-more games three times (1930, 1931, 1932).

4: Lefty Grove led the AL in wins four times (1928, 1930, 1931, 1933). During that time frame, Lefty had the second most wins (20) in 1927, third most wins (20) in 1929, second most wins (25) in 1932, and the fourth most wins (20) in 1935.

7: Lefty Grove was not just a seven-time strikeout champion, he did them all in consecutive seasons! The AL strikeout leader from 1925, through 1931, the second longest streak in Major League history! Do you know who had 8-in-a-row? [Answer]

9: Lefty Grove was a nine-time ERA Champion (1926, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939), the most times leading any league in earned run average by any pitcher in baseball history!

10: Lefty Grove was the first player in Athletics franchise history to wear #10 in a regular season game. After being traded to Boston, Lefty became the first PITCHER to wear #10 in a regular season game for the Red Sox! Neither team has retired his number.

300: Lefty Grove retired with exactly three-hundred career wins (Top 1,000 Career Wins). He joined the 300 Wins Club on July 25, 1941, a complete game 10-6 win over the Red Sox in Fenway Park.

Lefty Grove 300th Win | Baseball Almanac

Lefty Grove 300th Win | Corsicana Daily Sun | 26 July 1941 | Page 7
Baseball Almanac Research Library

In 1931, Lefty Grove dominated the league, finishing with the most wins (31), the most complete games (27), the most shutouts (4), the most strikeouts (175), the best earned run average (2.06 ERA), and the best winning percentage (.886 / he only lost 4 games). The Baseball Writers' Association of America started awarding the Most Valuable Player Award in 1931, and Grove was the first player (pitcher) to receive it in the American League!

Lefty Grove Hall of Fame Plaque

Lefty Grove | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1947 (HOF)