Tom Grieve selected to Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame
Tom Grieve, who has spent nearly 43 of his 44 years in professional baseball with the Washington/Texas franchise, has been selected as the 13th member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame, it was announced today.
Grieve was selected for the Rangers’ highest honor for his contributions to the franchise in a “non-playing capacity”, joining Johnny Oates (2003), Tom Vandergriff (2004), and Mark Holtz (2005) as Hall of Famers in that category.
Grieve will be inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame during pre-game ceremonies on Saturday, July 24 before the Rangers game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The starting time of that game will be moved from 7:05 to 7:35 p.m. to accommodate the on-field ceremony.
One of the nation’s top high school players in his hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the outfielder was the sixth overall pick by the Senators in the June 1966 MLB Amateur (now First Year) Draft. He advanced through the Washington farm system before making his making league debut with the Senators in 1970.
Grieve accompanied the franchise to Arlington after the 1971 season and was a member of the club’s outfield over the next six years, batting .255 with 60 homers and 236 RBI in 562 games. The righthanded hitter enjoyed his finest season in uniform in 1976, when he was named the Rangers Player of the Year after producing career highs in most categories, including doubles (23), homers (20), and RBI (81). His 10th inning homer on June 21, 1976 at Oakland accounted for the game’s only run in Bert Blyleven’s complete game one-hitter.
He completed his major league career with stints at the New York Mets (1978) and St. Louis (1979) and batted .249 with 65 homers and 254 RBI in 670 total games. Grieve’s final playing action came with Texas’ Triple-A club in Tucson over the second half of the 1979 season.
Tom joined the Rangers’ front office as Director of Group Sales in 1980 and became Assistant Director of Player Development the following year. He was promoted to Director of Player Development after the 1982 season before his appointment as the club’s General Manager on September 1, 1984 at age 36, the majors’ youngest GM at the time. During Grieve’s 10-year tenure as General Manager, the longest in team history, the Rangers made huge strides in their international scouting operation, signing such future stars as Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, and Sammy Sosa. Grieve pulled off major trades that brought Julio Franco, Rafael Palmeiro, and Jeff Russell to the Rangers and signed free agents Nolan Ryan, Tom Henke, and Will Clark. Much of the nucleus for the Rangers’ A.L. West Division Championship teams was acquired via the professional and amateur ranks during Grieve’s watch.
In 1995, he moved to the broadcast booth for what has been a 16-year run as the club’s television analyst, again the longest tenure ever for a Rangers TV announcer. His first partner was fellow Hall of Famer Holtz, followed by Bill Jones, and since 2002, Josh Lewin.
On of the most popular individuals to ever grace the Rangers organization, Tom was the first recipient of the Harold McKinney Good Guy Award in 1975 and was a repeat winner in 1994. He is a longtime resident of the Arlington area.
Beginning with the 2009 inductions, a selection committee meets to consider individuals for the Hall of Fame based on their playing contributions in every odd year. In even years, individuals in a non-playing capacity are considered for induction.
The Texas Rangers Hall of Fame plaques are located in the Rangers Hall of Fame exhibit, which was constructed for the 2010 season in the space previously occupied by the Legends of the Game Baseball Museum.
In addition to the on-field ceremony on July 24, Grieve will be honored at the Dr Pepper Texas Rangers Hall of Fame Luncheon on Friday, July 23 at the Sheraton Arlington. In addition to the inductees, Rangers Hall of Famers Rusty Greer, Toby Harrah, Charlie Hough, Nolan Ryan, and Jim Sundberg will be among the guests at the luncheon, which benefits the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation. Tickets are priced at $50 for individuals and $500 for tables of eight that include Rangers Alumni/Celebrity (subject to availability). For tickets to the luncheon, which begins at 11:30 a.m, please call 817-436-5933 or e-mailtexasrangers.com/halloffame.
TEXAS RANGERS BASEBALL HALL OF FAME MEMBERS
(Year Inducted in parentheses)
Charlie Hough (2003)
Johnny Oates (2003)
Nolan Ryan (2003)
Jim Sundberg (2003)
Buddy Bell (2004)
Ferguson Jenkins (2004)
Tom Vandergriff (2004)
John Wetteland (2005)
Mark Holtz (2005)
Rusty Greer (2007)
Toby Harrah (2009)
Ruben Sierra (2009)
Tom Grieve (2010)
Updated 06-23-2010
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