1986 Sportflics Decade Greats Lefty Grove

 

Here is one of the greatest pitchers in major league history, Lefty Grove. I couldn't get a good photo of the Red Sox pitching pose and couldn't find it online. Here is a clear version of the other action photo. It comes from the site of Brad Green, a Lefty Grove supercollector who has a lot of 1930s-era cards for sale.

On-the-field trivia: Grove had a record nine ERA titles. He was the best pitcher on the best team in baseball from 1929-1931, as the A's won three pennants. Despite winning 20 games in 1929, Connie Mack used Grove as a reliever in the World Series, where he recorded two saves. Grove's final victory was his 300th, in 1941. It would be twenty years until another pitcher won 300 (Warren Spahn in 1961.) 

Off-the-field trivia: Grove was from the coal-mining town of Lonaconing, Maryland, where he started a bowling alley during his playing career. In the late 1950s he was the town's Chief of Police. His 1931 American League MVP trophy is the only one not in the Baseball Hall of Fame; you can see it at the George's Creek Regional Library in Lonaconing.

My collection: I do not have any playing-days cards of Grove. Grove's last solo card as a contemporary player was in the 1937 O-Pee-Chee Batter-Ups set.