PITTSBURGH — As Bill Mazeroski's historic home run sailed over the Forbes Field fence and seemingly all of Pittsburgh stormed the field, Dick Groat remained in the Pirates' dugout, unsure of what he was about to do.
About five weeks earlier, Groat broke his left wrist, the result of a pitch from Milwaukee's Lew Burdette. Normal swings were OK, Groat said, but when he'd reach out of the strike zone, the pain became "excruciating." Groat also hid the severity of his injury from Danny Murtaugh, fearful the Pirates manager would make him sit.
So as Mazeroski circled the bases, having delivered arguably the most magnificent ending in sports history, Groat begrudgingly made peace with what he knew he'd have to do — join the raucous celebration and have his broken wrist jostled around like it had been tossed in the dryer.
"Sure enough, I got there in the middle of it, guys are banging it, and I'm thinking, 'What a dummy. I shouldn't have come out here in the first place,' " Groat said, shaking his left hand for emphasis. "I remember vividly not wanting to go out and meet Maz, as much as I owed it to him."
Speaking with the Post-Gazette at Champion Lakes — the picturesque golf course in Ligonier that he owns and also where he lives — Groat reflected on the Pirates' 1960 World Series title, his legacy as a two-sport sensation, the frayed ties he has to Pitt's basketball program and also what sports have become today.
Groat turned 91 Thursday. He battles balance issues, having lost his equilibrium around three years ago, and he relies a lot on the use of a hearing aid. However, his memories remain fresh, his personality warm and inviting.
And as much as Groat has accomplished — he was five-time MLB All-Star, a two-time All-American in baseball and basketball at Duke and an iconic radio broadcaster who spent four decades on the air — it's tough to top that '60 Series.
It came after Groat won the National League MVP and captured a batting title with his .325 average, and it eventually become one of many accomplishments during a charmed athletic career that's nearly impossible to match.
"The Lord was good to me," Groat said. "He gave me a good pair of legs, a good set of hands and arms. I was also blessed with a great mother and father and family. I've been awfully fortunate to do the things I have done."
'Natural winners'
Groat and ElRoy Face had no need for words or signals. The way Groat remembers it, their communication was more telepathic than anything. When a runner reached second base — which, against Face, wasn't terribly often — Groat would eyeball that guy's lead.
Take another step, Groat would say in his head, and he'd start sprinting toward the bag. Face was making the same sort of assessment and knew Groat's body language well enough to determine when he'd have to make a move and throw.
"We must have picked off 100 people," Groat said. "ElRoy had the best move to second base of anybody I've ever seen. He and I just sensed exactly what the other one was going to do. [Face] would pitch three, four or five days in a row. He played defense and could pick people off bases. In my opinion, he was the best relief pitcher of all time."
And one of Groat's best friends, to this day.
Now 93, Face attended a golf tournament at Champion Lakes earlier this summer. So did Mazeroski (85), who used to golf with Face multiple times a week before the Hall of Famer — and Groat's longtime double-play partner — moved to the Philadelphia area about 18 months ago to be closer to family.
Vernon Law (91) is another former Pirates great with whom Groat remains close, the same for Bill Virdon, who turned 90 this summer. Groat misses those guys, with COVID-19 and the reality of their ages unfortunately starting to set in.
The memories, though, still elicit a wide smile from Groat, whether that's talking about playing with a bum wrist, upsetting the Yankees, or the sheer competitiveness that permeated that group.
"That 1960 team was unique," Groat said. "They all were just natural winners. They wanted to win. Nobody got tired. Nobody was out of the lineup. That was an unbelievable year."
'Downright embarrassing'
Not in a gaudy or showy way, but framing the walls at Champion Lakes are pictures and mementos from Groat's prolific career, one in which he dominated two sports.
As a senior at Duke in 1952, Groat became the Helms national player of the year. The Swissvale native scored 831 points as a junior, a school record that lasted until 2001, and Groat hit .386 and .370 his final two collegiate seasons on the diamond.
Groat was the first in Duke history to have his number retired and in 1952 became the first and only college basketball player to lead the country scoring (26.0 points per game) and assists (7.6).
Perhaps most amazingly, Groat in 1952 graduated from Duke, hit .284 over 95 games with the Pirates (while skipping the minor leagues) and that fall and winter played 26 games in the NBA, after he was a first-round draft pick (third overall) of the Fort Wayne Pistons.
"Basketball has always been my first love," Groat said. "I loved the one year I played in the NBA, but that was a lot of years ago before the game got carried away the way it is today."
Groat served two years in the Army before returning to the baseball diamond in 1955. He wanted to continue playing hoops, although Branch Rickey, the general manager at the time, shut it down. Groat hit better than .300 four times, made five All-Star teams, won a World Series with the Cardinals in 1964 after he was traded and finished his 14-year baseball career top 10 in most defensive categories.
Yet as much as Groat accomplished while playing baseball, he has grown somewhat disenchanted with the sport. There are way too many strikeouts, Groat believes. And the pitching and defense leave a lot to be desired, he added.
Groat doesn't like how the art of hitting to all fields has been lost, while when he does watch, he sees very little resembling an offensive approach.
"It's unbelievable the number of strikeouts anymore in Major League Baseball," Groat said. "In fact, it's downright embarrassing."
Among National League hitters with at least 5,000 plate appearances from 1955-67 (Groat had 7,764, sixth-most on this list), only two players (Jim Gilliam and Maury Wills) struck out more infrequently than Groat, who never struck out more than 61 times in a season and averaged 43 a year over his 14 MLB seasons.
A few nights ago, Groat was watching a World Series game with one of his three daughters and her husband when he said it dawned on him that he barely knew the names of anybody participating.
"I hate to admit this, but there are times that I'm just not interested in watching a baseball game," Groat said. "That was never true my first 10 or 15 years out of baseball."
The hardest thing for Groat to wrap his mind around is exactly what made him so special — playing multiple sports. As a kid, Groat loved bouncing around, depending on the season or what piqued his interest. He can't quite figure out why and how specialization became such a thing.
"I think it's ridiculous," Groat said. "Why would you stop a kid from playing basketball? Even if you're not going to be a professional, it's a fun game to play. I like to see kids play all sports."
It's complicated
Groat said he does keep tabs on Pitt men's basketball because he really likes head coach Jeff Capel and wants to see the Panthers succeed.
"I think the world of their coach," Groat said. "Everything has gone kind of ass backwards for him since he came here. Even his recruits have bailed. But he will find a way to win at Pitt. He's that kind of a coach. Very solid young man."
Picked to finish 14th in the 15-team ACC, expectations for Capel's team aren't terribly high — and they're even lower after losing Nike Sibande for the entire season to a torn ACL. The departure of top recruits has been an issue and something neither Capel nor his bosses would desire.
Groat, however, has not lost faith. He believes in Capel and thinks that Pitt simply needs to have a bit of a reboot, starting with the type of recruits the Panthers bring in.
"I feel he can really coach" Groat said. "His father was a coach. I just think it's been a couple bad breaks for him. Let's start all over and do it the right way."
Perhaps Pitt could lure another one of Groat's friends — and a coach he respects a ton — to Pittsburgh, although it's doubtful legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski would choose that over his impending retirement.
Krzyzewski will step down at the end of the year, and Groat said he doesn't envy Duke's next coach, having to take over for a legend. Groat and Krzyzewski stay in regular contact, although Coach K — who notoriously does not play golf — has never been to Champion Lakes.
"I pity the poor person who takes that job," Groat said. "It will not be an easy place to work. ... He's done a magnificent job at Duke. He and I are friends, and I have great respect for him. He's a solid guy."
As for his own basketball legacy, Groat is torn. He grew up going to Pitt sporting events, estimating his first came around the age of 5 or 6. He also cherishes the 40 years he spent as a color commentator, forming a kinship with play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove that lasts to this day.
"He's just the best," Groat said of Hillgrove. "To work as long as I did with him was great."
Groat also isn't happy about how he feels like he was cast aside late in the 2018-19 season, when he was told Pitt didn't want him back. The thing that hurt the most, Groat explained, was that it was done over the phone, through one of his daughters, Allison.
"Allison had to fire me in my own living room," Groat said. "There's a way to do things and a way not to do things. ... That should have been done face-to-face."
At the same time, Groat hasn't let that one event taint his love for Pitt athletics or how badly he wants to see Capel succeed.
"I love Pitt," Groat said. "I grew up on Pitt. I was treated well by the university."
'Keeps me active'
Balance issues are not the only health-related hurdle Groat has encountered. Last year, after a small gathering for his birthday at Champion Lakes, Groat and Allison both caught COVID-19.
Their symptoms were fortunately mild — Dick was basically just really tired, Allison said — and they wound up quarantining together at his other house in Edgewood, with her husband and one of Groat's other daughters leaving soup and bread on the porch each day.
Groat hasn't played golf in a couple years, which he said he misses dearly. About the only time he makes it onto the course these days is on a cart, where he's working as a ranger — which is still impressive.
"I try not to do too much," Groat said of his work shuffling slow players along. "I think [the golfers] get offended when the owner comes out and says something,"
The apartment he keeps is below the primary dining area at Champion Lakes, with gigantic windows offering a gorgeous view of the Laurel Highlands. The quality of golf — Champion Lakes it's rated among the top 50 public courses in the U.S. by Golf Digest — is a particular point of pride for Groat, who knows his members and customers enjoy not only the terrific views but also the challenging and well-maintained course.
"The scenery is awesome," Groat said. "We were fortunate enough to design a very solid golf course. Most people who play it will come back and say, 'Wow, it's fine golf course.'"
Living at the golf course — and not, say, in a house abutting the 18th green or something like that — leads to an interesting life. Groat won't go to sleep until the last customer has left the bar, so sometimes that makes for some late nights.
Groat has to be the only 91-year-old anywhere who regularly closes down bars, but he also loves every second of it. The golf course keeps him young, and he enjoys the daily conversations with those who are finishing up their rounds.
"It keeps me active," Groat said. "And I still enjoy being here."
Playing sports — and talking about them — has been a way of life for Groat for more than nine decades, though he insists he doesn't think about his complicated relationship with Pitt or whether today's hitters will take his advice and cut down on the strikeouts.
Groat is content with his memories and the breathtaking view he has from his upstairs window, the lush green and rolling hills creating a daily reminder for Groat to soak it all in and cherish the time spent with everyone he meets along the way.
"Ninety-one sure got here in a hurry," Groat said. "But I know I've been very lucky to have experienced what I have."
