Bob Grim

The American League’s 1954 Rookie of the Year, Bob Grim was the first New York Yankee pitcher since 1910 to win 20 games in his rookie season.1 In 1955 he developed elbow problems which lingered for the rest of his eight-year major-league career. Although he never duplicated his first year’s success, from 1955 through 1959 he pitched in five World Series games, led the AL in saves once, appeared in an All-Star game, and started an Opening Day game.

Robert Anton Grim was born on March 8, 1930, in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, not far from where Lou Gehrig was born. His parents, Robert and Veronika (née Weinhart), were both immigrants from Hungary. They welcomed their second child, Anton Robert, in 1933. That year the family moved to the East New York area of Brooklyn.2

Robert Sr. operated a bar and grill in East New York, and Bob helped when needed. His father wanted him to pursue a music career. “Pop always has been interested in the accordion and had me studying it under a good teacher for four years, starting at age 12,” he said. His brother also studied the accordion, and they played at a few weddings and parties before Bob focused on baseball.3

Bob attended Our Lady of Lourdes parochial school, located around the corner from the family’s Hull Street residence. “Baseball was a religion in our neighborhood,” he said. Dexter Park, home of a semipro team called the Bushwicks, was near Franklin K. Lane High School, to which Grim transferred for his junior and senior years.4

Grim played varsity baseball at Lane High for two years before graduating in 1948. Playing right field and pitching, he was 2-2 as a junior and 4-1 as a senior. He credited his coach, Bob Berman, a catcher who appeared in two games with the 1918 Washington Senators, for teaching him the subtleties of pitching and encouraging him to pursue baseball professionally. He told The Sporting News in a 1954 interview, “On the basis of this six and three record (in high school), along with pitching in amateur and semi-pro ranks, I had the nerve to aspire to a baseball career. I don’t know if any pitcher ever had that ambition with less to back him up, arithmetically.”5

In 1947 Grim attended a tryout camp at Yankee Stadium, but the club did not show an immediate interest in the 17-year-old pitcher. Scenes for the movie The Babe Ruth Story were being filmed that day and he earned $20 as a stand-in. “But that wasn’t the reason I went up there, so I decided to try again.”6

During the summer of 1947, Grim pitched a no-hitter in the Queens-Nassau Alliance sandlot league. He was selected by Rabbit Maranville to participate in the August 13 Hearst Sandlot Classic game. With over 30,000 spectators in attendance at the Polo Grounds, Grim pitched one and one-third innings for the New York Journal-American All-Stars.7

The Yankees had scouts Buster Brown, Paul Krichell, and Harry Hesse follow Grim during his senior year in high school. The Boston Braves made an offer, but Grim signed with Hesse and the Yankees in June 1948, one week after graduating from high school.8 He received a bonus of $3,500.9

Assigned to Butler (Pennsylvania) in the Middle Atlantic League (Class C), Grim had a rough introduction to professional baseball. “I got socked for four homers in three innings. The next day I hid from the manager. I didn’t want him to find me. I thought for sure he’d send me back home.”10 He wasn’t sent home and pitched well thereafter, finishing the season with a record of 8-4 (3.30 ERA).

Grim started the 1949 season with Norfolk (Virginia) in the Piedmont League (Class B), but after two appearances was sent to Amsterdam (New York) in the Canadian-American League (Class C), where he was 6-14 with a lofty 5.15 ERA. In assessing his performance, he was convinced he was not in shape, causing him to lose something off his fastball and rely more on a curve he considered less than top-notch. He did two things to address the problem, “I began to run, shag flies, as never before. And I came up with my slider.”11

“I threw it by accident … nobody had shown me how to pitch a slider. The catcher hollered, ‘Hey, Bob, where did you get this thing? Let’s see it again.’ I tried to pitch another slider, and it was no go. But I experimented and got it.”12 Assigned to Norfolk for the 1950 season, he posted a 10-14 record for a team that went 58-82. His ERA improved to 3.11.

Grim had a breakout year in 1951. Originally assigned to Beaumont in the Texas League (Class AA), he appeared in four games, giving up six runs in seven innings, before he was sent in mid-May to Binghamton (New York) in the Eastern League (Class A). Grim compiled a 16-5 record with a 2.39 ERA. Spencer Harris, Elmira’s general manager, considered him the best pitcher in the Eastern League, a group that included future big-leaguers José Santiago, Gene Conley, and Ike Delock, all 20-game winners in 1951.13

Expecting to be drafted into the service amid the Korean War, Grim joined the Marines on September 20, 1951. After boot camp at Parris Island, he spent two years at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He pitched for the Lejeune baseball team, going 16-11 in 1952 and 23-4 in 1953. “My baseball experience with the Marines was very important to me. I always was physically fit. I always studied pitching. I watched other hurlers. I studied the batters. As we rarely ran into the same opposition more than twice, you had to reach conclusions on batters fast.”14

Grim was one of 35 players invited to the Yankees’ Prospect School, held in St. Petersburg, Florida in February 1954. Future big-league stars Elston Howard, Ralph Terry,and Gus Triandos were among the attendees.15 At the conclusion of the school, Grim was one of four prospects selected to train with the big-league squad.16

Grim pitched 33⅔ innings during spring training. He struck out 27 and walked 15, giving up 25 hits, but only 11 earned runs.17 Manager Casey Stengel was most impressed with the seven innings Grim pitched against the Dodgers’ regular starting lineup on March 18. “He’s made the club,” Stengel told reporters the next day.18

Grim officially made the Opening Day roster when he signed his Yankee contract on April 10.19 “I am sure that Grim safely can by-pass Triple-A. His two years with the Marines seem to have given him the equivalent of Kansas City experience,” said Stengel, referring to New York’s top minor-league affiliate.20

Grim made his major-league debut on April 18, 1954, starting against the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium in New York’s fourth game of the season. With his parents in attendance,21 he retired the first nine batters he faced, striking out three, as the Senators did not hit a ball out of the infield. He gave up two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, and was relieved in the seventh after giving up three more runs. Washington won by a final score of 9-3. Grim, who struck out five batters, yielded 10 hits and three walks over 6⅔ innings in taking the loss.

Grim lost his second start one week later in Philadelphia against the A’s, 4-2. In five-plus innings he gave up four runs on six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. He next appeared in relief in a blowout, 10-2 loss against Cleveland on May 1, allowing one run in the two innings he pitched. At that point, his ERA stood at 6.59.

After another short relief appearance in a blowout game, this time a 9-0 New York win, Grim pitched seven scoreless innings against Cleveland, relieving with no outs in the first inning and the Yankees down 7-3 in a game they ultimately lost 8-7. Two wins in relief followed, evening his record at 2-2 and lowering his ERA to 3.58.

On May 24 against Philadelphia, Grim pitched his first complete game, winning 7-3. Another win in relief and a second complete-game victory on June 1 followed. He lost his next start and was used in relief for the rest of June, picking up three more wins.

Grim pitched 58⅔ innings before giving up his first home run of the season on June 10 to Tigers catcher Frank House. He hit his first big-league homer, a two-run shot off Morrie Martin, on June 18 in Chicago. Grim pitched his first shutout on July 4, and won his next start, improving his record to 10-3 (3.50 ERA) at the All-Star break.

Used primarily as a starter in the second half of the season, he won his 20th game on September 21 at Yankee Stadium, pitching his eighth complete game of the season. He gave up only four singles in the 3-1 victory over the Senators. The franchise’s most recent rookie 20-game winner, Russ Ford, attended the game. In 1910 Ford went 26-6 for the Highlanders, as the club was then known.22

Despite winning 103 games, the most by New York during Stengel’s tenure as manager, the Yankees’ string of five straight World Championships ended as Cleveland won an AL record 111 games. Grim finished the season with a 20-6 record (3.26 ERA), appearing in 37 games (20 starts). He struck out 108 in 199 innings, with 85 walks. Both The Sporting News23 and the Baseball Writers Association of America named Grim the AL’s Rookie of the Year by wide margins.24

In October Grim toured with Eddie Lopat’s All-Stars, a collection of major-league players that included Duke Snider and Whitey Ford. The barnstorming group played a game in Las Vegas, headed to Hawaii for six games, and finished with two games in California.25 Grim returned to Brooklyn after the tour to help with his father’s bar and grill business.26

“I had many disappointments the past season,” said Stengel, “but quite a few pleasant things happened to me, too, and perhaps the most pleasant was Bob Grim’s success … Grim has a chance to be the No. 1 pitcher of the Yankees in 1955.”27

Grim started the Yankees’ second game of the 1955 season, giving up five runs, including two homers, over six innings in an 8-4 loss at Boston. In his next start he lasted only 1 1/3 innings, walking six and taking the loss against the Orioles. He started the opener of the Yankees’ first visit to Kansas City, the new home of the A’s, but had to leave after one inning because of a blister on his pitching hand.28

Grim’s record at the end of April was 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA. When he pitched eight scoreless innings on May 8, limiting the Red Sox to five hits to pick up his first win, he seemed to have regained his rookie year’s form.

Grim’s second win, on May 18 at Yankee Stadium against the White Sox, was not without controversy. He knocked down George Kell, Chicago’s second batter, in the first inning.29 Kell singled to center and reached third on Jim Rivera’s double. Grim’s 0-and-2 pitch struck Minnie Miñoso high on the left cheek. Miñoso remained conscious but lay motionless for several minutes before being carried off on a stretcher.30

The White Sox claimed dirty tactics, citing Grim and Hank Bauer, who barreled into Nellie Fox to break up a double play in the seventh. “Nobody can tell me Grim wasn’t throwing at Miñoso,” said Chicago coach George Myatt. “He walked only one batter all day. So, you figure it out.”31

Miñoso suffered a slight fracture of the temple bone.32 Grim visited him in the hospital after the game to convey his regrets over the incident.33 Miñoso, who led the league in HBP 10 times during his career, did not blame Grim for his beaning, admitting, “I get hit because I stand close to the plate and I move to meet the ball.”34

Grim pitched a shutout on May 29 against Baltimore, allowing only five hits. He won his next start against Kansas City despite giving up six runs. On June 12, in what proved to be his last start of the regular season, he walked five batters and was charged with three runs in only 1 1/3 innings. Suffering from elbow soreness, he was placed on the disabled list on June 29.35 His record stood at 4-2 (4.98 ERA).

Returning from the disabled list on August 15, Grim was used exclusively in relief for the rest of the season. He finished with a 7-5 record (4.19 ERA). The Yankees (96-58) won the AL pennant by three games over second-place Cleveland (93-61).

New York faced Brooklyn in the World Series. The teams had met in five previous Fall Classics, with the Yankees victorious each time. New York won the first two games at Yankee Stadium. Grim saved Game One, pitching the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 6-5 win.

The Dodgers won the next two contests at Ebbets Field. Grim was selected to start the pivotal fifth game, with the teams scheduled to return to Yankee Stadium for the sixth and seventh games. The Dodgers had scored eight runs in each of their two wins, but Stengel was confident Grim could stop Brooklyn’s high-powered offense.36

Grim gave up a two-run homer to Sandy Amorós in the second inning, and a solo homer to Snider in the third. Snider again took him deep in the fifth. Lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh with the Yankees trailing 4-1, Grim took the loss in the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory.

“I had good stuff,” Grim said. “I never felt better all year than I did out there today. I made two bad pitches, bad change-ups that came in high to Amorós and to Snider on his first homer.” Describing Snider’s second homer, he said, “It was a helluva pitch – a perfect slider, low and on the outside corner. It was one of the best pitches I made all season. But Snider whacked it a mile.”37

The Yankees won Game Six but dropped Game Seven, handing Stengel his first Series defeat as manager. A week after the Series ended, Stengel blamed losing to the Dodgers on the May 18 incident involving Miñoso. “Grim was getting along fine,” he said. “That accident ruined his season and lost the Series. Bob became a timid pitcher. From then on, he was afraid he’d skull another batter … and timid pitching can’t beat Brooklyn.”38

Grim took a $1,000 pay cut for 1956, signing at the end of February for $12,000. “My arm is sound now and I’m ready to pitch,” he said. “I didn’t want to take a big cut in salary and I didn’t.”39 Used exclusively out of the bullpen at the start of the season, he was 2-0 with a 2.78 ERA in 10 relief appearances. He made his first start on May 31 and won his first game as a starter on June 6.

Grim pitched his best game of the season on June 14, allowing only four hits while striking out nine in a complete-game, 5-1 win over the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. A bizarre incident occurred in the sixth inning. Chicago’s Dave Philley disputed a strike-two call by umpire Charlie Berry. Philley, standing on the plate with his back to Grim, was slow to comply with Berry’s order to get back in the batter’s box. As he finally stepped back into the box, Yogi Berra called for a quick pitch, which was called strike three despite being high and outside.40

Nine days later at Chicago’s Comiskey Park, the two players were involved in another sixth-inning incident. In a scoreless game, Grim’s pitch hit Philley in the shoulder and bounced off his head. Philley charged the mound, tossed his bat aside, and took a swing at Grim, who swung at the same time. The two players were pulled apart before any punches landed. Philley was ejected. Grim was allowed to stay in the game but gave up two runs in the inning. New York lost the game, 2-0.41

Grim improved his record to 5-1 against Washington on June 29, but the win proved costly. Through seven innings he had allowed only two hits, including a solo homer by Clint Courtney. With the Yankees leading, 3-1, he began the eighth by fanning Jim Lemon, his eighth strikeout victim. While pitching to the next batter, he grabbed his right elbow in pain and had to leave the game. In the locker room he was diagnosed with a strained tendon of the inner elbow.42

Grim was out of action until August 23. Used exclusively in relief for the rest of the season, he appeared in nine games, allowing two runs in 14⅔ innings. He picked up a win and two saves, including the Yankees’ pennant-clinching win against Chicago on September 18, finishing with a 6-1 record (2.89 ERA).43

The Yankees and the Dodgers faced off again in the 1956 World Series. Brooklyn won the first two games at Ebbets Field. New York won the next three at Yankee Stadium, including Don Larsen’s perfect game in the fifth contest. Back home, the Dodgers forced a seventh game, but this time the Yankees prevailed, giving Stengel his sixth World Championship in eight seasons as Yankee manager. Grim was on the roster but did not play as the Yankees’ staff pitched five complete games in the Series.

Pitching exclusively in relief during 1957, Grim had his best year since his rookie season. Named to the American League All-Star team, he earned a save in the AL’s 6-5 victory. Entering the game in the ninth with a runner at second and two out, he retired pinch-hitter Gil Hodges on a liner to left.

The season was not without a recurrence of Grim’s arm problems. After giving up a ninth-inning home run to Boston’s Mickey Vernon on July 4, Grim felt soreness in his right forearm near the elbow. “It felt all right while pitching,” he said, “but that night the pain came back and it’s in the same place … I told Casey (Stengel) about it while we were in New York and offered to withdraw (from the July 9 All-Star game) so he could name another pitcher, but he said he wanted me to stay on the team and go to St. Louis, anyway.”44

Rested until July 16, Grim did not allow a run in his next 12 appearances, pitching 20 innings of scoreless baseball. Stengel considered him a Cy Young Award candidate. “Grim has really made my pitching staff,” said the Yankees’ manager. “From the start of the season, he gave me splendid relief, and that allowed me to work my starters a lot more freely.”45 Grim posted a 12-8 record with a 2.63 ERA in 46 appearances. His 19 saves (as calculated retroactively) led the majors.

Grim’s only hit during 1957 was against Boston at Yankee Stadium on September 9. With the score tied, 2-2, and the Yankees’ bench depleted, he came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with two out and two on base. He hit Boston starter Willard Nixon’s pitch 360 feet into the right field stands for a game-ending home run.46

New York faced the Milwaukee Braves in the World Series. The teams split the first two games at Yankee Stadium. Grim pitched two innings of scoreless relief in New York’s second game loss. The Yankees won the third contest, the first World Series game ever played in Milwaukee, 12-3.

The Braves held a three-run lead in the fourth game after eight innings, but Elston Howard’s two-out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth tied the score, 4-4. The Yankees scored a run in the top of the 10th to take the lead, 5-4. With a runner at first and none out in the bottom of the inning, Grim relieved Tommy Byrne. A bunt moved the runner to second. Johnny Logan doubled, tying the score at 5-5. Eddie Mathews hit Grim’s 2-and-2 pitch over the 355-foot marker in right-center, knotting the Series at two games each.47

Lew Burdette shut out the Yankees in the fifth and seventh games, handing New York its second World Series loss under Stengel. Grim did not pitch in any of the final three contests.

Grim pitched poorly during spring training in 1958, allowing 15 hits and 10 earned runs in 11 innings through the end of March.48 He made 11 relief appearances in the regular season for the Yankees (0-1 with a 5.51 ERA and no saves) before being traded with outfielder Harry Simpson to the Kansas City Athletics on June 15 for pitchers Duke Maas and Virgil Trucks.

Grim pitched in relief during his first month with the Athletics. He started his first game in two years on July 19. Facing his former team at Yankee Stadium, he pitched into the eighth inning, giving up three runs (two earned) in a game Kansas City won in extra innings. His manager, Harry Craft, was pleased with Grim’s performance, inserting him into the starting rotation for the rest of the season.49

Grim picked up his first win on July 30, pitching a rain-shortened, five-inning shutout against the Yankees in Kansas City. He posted a 7-6 record (3.56 ERA) for the A’s in 1958, with five complete games in 14 starts.

Selected as the A’s Opening Day starter in 1959, Grim gave up four runs (two earned) in a losing effort. In his next start, he hit a grand slam homer50 in a victory against Chicago, the first of his three wins in April. After a couple of losses at the beginning of May, he pitched a two-hit shutout against New York at Yankee Stadium on May 17. Grim logged a complete game against Chicago on May 23, but the A’s lost, 2-1.

The loss against Chicago proved to be the last start of Grim’s big-league career. He experienced pain in his right elbow again and was sidelined until June 18.51 Used only in relief for the rest of the season, he finished the year with a 6-10 record (4.09 ERA) and five saves.

Traded to Cleveland for Leo Kiely before the start of the 1960 season, Grim appeared in only three games before he was sold to Cincinnati in May. He made 26 relief appearances for the Reds before being placed on waivers at the end of July.52 Claimed by St. Louis, he pitched another 15 games in relief for the Cardinals, finishing the year with a combined 3-3 record and a 4.22 ERA.

Grim split time in 1961 between two of the Cards’ Triple-A affiliates but pitched in only seven games before he was placed on the disabled list in mid-June.53 He was released the following week.54

Signed by the A’s before the start of the 1962 season, Grim pitched reasonably well in his first 10 relief appearances (2.25 ERA in 12 innings). However, in his next two games, both at Yankee Stadium, he allowed six runs, retiring only three of the 11 batters he faced. He was released on May 26.55 Only 32 years old, he announced his retirement from professional baseball a month later.56 “Baseball was fun while it lasted. I got a nice little pension for my seven years and a few months. I got to pitch in a couple of World Series games. I lost both of them – but I was in them.”57

Grim returned to Brooklyn to work in his dad’s bar, but later moved to Key West to pursue his love of fishing. After a couple of years, he moved to the Kansas City area and took a job with Kansas Distributing. “When the Yankees traded me to Kansas City, I was let down,” he said several years later. “Maybe it was lucky because I got to know the area – and I got to enjoy it. That’s why I’ve settled down here.”58

Grim married Marilyn Groom in 1977.59 Although he never had any children, he was close to his two nephews who lived in the New York area. “He’d come back to visit every year for two or three weeks in the summer and it was great,” said his nephew, Bob. “He’d take us fishing, to a ballgame, and he’d pitch to us.”60

Grim passed away on October 23, 1996, at the age of 66. He suffered a fatal heart attack after throwing snowballs with neighborhood children.61 Survived by his wife, Marilyn, and brother, Anton, he was buried at Kansas City’s Maple Hill Cemetery.62

Acknowledgments

This article was reviewed by Rory Costello and Rick Zucker and fact-checked by Don Zminda.

Sources

The author accessed Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org. for box scores/play-by-play information, player, team, and season pages, pitching game logs, and other data:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grimbo01.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pgrimb102.htm

Ancestry.com provided the 1929 marriage license that showed Veronika Grim’s maiden name.

Notes

1 C.C. Johnson Spink, “Moon and Grim Named Top Rookies,” The Sporting News, October 6, 1954: 2.

2 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops,” The Sporting News, July 21, 1954: 1-2.

3 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.”

4 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.” The Brooklyn Bushwicks played at Dexter Park from 1918 through 1951. The semi-pro team played exhibition games against Negro League teams and against major leaguers. Per Baseball-Reference.com (https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Brooklyn_Bushwicks, accessed June 23, 2023), several big leaguers played for the Bushwicks over the years, including Dazzy Vance, Waite Hoyt and Lefty Gomez.

5 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.”

6 “Grim A.L. Rookie of the Year,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 21, 1954: 13.

7 Alan Cohen, “The Summer of 1947 in New York: The Hearst Sandlot Classic and Brooklyn Against the World,” WordPress.com, October 25, 2016 (https://alancohenbaseball.wordpress.com/2016/10/25/the-summer-of-1947-in-new-york-the-hearst-sandlot-classic-and-brooklyn-against-the-world/. Accessed September 11, 2023).

8 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.” Although Grim later claimed he was not a Dodger fan, he had a try-out at Ebbets Field, but the Dodgers did not show an interest in signing him. In a later interview he said he was signed by Krichell. Don Zirkel, North Country Catholic (Ogdensburg, NY), August 27, 1954: 6.

9 Sid Bordman, “Grim’s Fairy Tale was 20-6,” Kansas City Star, May 2, 1976: 212.

10 “Grim A.L. Rookie of the Year.” It was noted in the article that Grim was working behind the bar at his father’s tavern when he received the news that he was named ROY. Before he signed with the Yankees, he helped out behind the bar as a bartender occasionally. The Yankees’ front office, reacting to a story that they had a “professional mixologist” on the club, felt the story was bad for Grim’s image. As a result, Grim announced that he was never a professional bartender and would never work behind the bar again. Dan Daniel, “Grim Big-City Boy Who Made Good,” The Sporting News, October 6, 1954: 2.

11 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.”

12 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.”

13 Charley Peet, “Bob Grim Named Triple Cities ‘Athlete of the Year’,” Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), December 31, 1951: 12.

14 J.G. Taylor Spink, “Looping the Loops.”

15 “Stengel to Watch 35 Prospects at Yankees’ School in February,” New York Times, December 29, 1953: 26.

16 John Drebinger, “Yankees Retain Grim, Freeman,” New York Times, February 22, 1954: 24. The other prospects retained were pitcher Mark Freeman, who started one game for the Yankees in 1959 and pitched for the Cubs in 1960, infielder Bob Meisner, a career minor leaguer, and shortstop Woodie Held, who appeared in 5 games for the Yankees before being traded. Held hit 179 home runs during his 14-year big-league career. Grim was the only member of the 1954 Prospect School to make the Yankees’ opening day roster.

17 “Grim, Young Boro Twirler, Signed to Yankee Pact,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 11, 1954: 26.

18 Joe Trimble, “Yanks Laud Bob Grim as Year’s Top Rookie,” New York Daily News, August 22, 1954: 27.

19 “Grim, Young Boro Twirler, Signed to Yankee Pact.” Returning veterans were not counted against a club’s 25-player limit for one year. In addition to Grim, returning veterans Tom Morgan and Jerry Coleman did not count against the Yankees’ roster limit. (Dan Daniel, “’Better Infield Play — or Else’ Ultimatum Laid Down by Casey,” The Sporting News, May 5, 1954: 11.)

20 Dan Daniel, “Stengel Cheered by Rivals’ Rating of New Yank Talent,” The Sporting News, April 14, 1954: 6.

21 Joe Trimble, “Nats Left-Wing Yankees, 9-3; Mantle Clouts 470-Ft. Triple,” New York Daily News, April 19, 1954: 391.

22 Louis Effrat, “Bombers Notch 101st Triumph in Defeating Washington, 3 to 1,” New York Times, September 22, 1954: 36. Through 2023, Grim remained the last Yankee rookie to win 20 games.

23 C.C. Johnson Spink, “Moon and Grim Named Top Rookies.” Grim polled 134 votes, with Jim Finigan of the A’s second with 14.

24 “Grim A.L. Rookie of the Year.” Grim received 15 votes, with Finigan second with 8, and Al Kaline named on one ballot.

25 “6,000 See Lopat’s All-Stars Win, 10 to 4, in Las Vegas,” The Sporting News, October 20, 1954: 22.

26 Dick Young, “Grim, Rookie of Yr., Pegs Pact at Yanks,” New York Daily News, December 22, 1954: 108.

27 “Grim has Chance to be Top Yank Pitcher in ’55 – Casey,” The Sporting News, October 20, 1954: 20.

28 Joe Trimble, “Same Old Athletics, So Yankees Triumph, 11-4,” New York Daily News, April 29, 1954: 68.

29 Edgar Munzel, “Yankees’ Tactics Stir White Sox to Vow of Reprisal,” The Sporting News, June 1, 1955: 23.

30 Joseph M. Sheehan, “Yankees Beat White Sox and Take Second Place,” New York Times, May 19, 1955: 37.

31 Edgar Munzel, “Yankees’ Tactics Stir White Sox to Vow of Reprisal.”

32 “Miñoso Has a Fractured Skull as Result of Stadium ‘Beaning’,” New York Times, May 25, 1955: 42.

33 Dan Daniel, “Miñoso Beaning Called Accidental; Plate-Crowding Minnie Plunked Often,” The Sporting News, June 1, 1955: 23.

34 Lou Miller, “’I Not Afraid,’ Says Minnie, Back After 50th Plunking,” The Sporting News, June 15, 1955: 4. Miñoso returned to action on June 4. Miñoso led the AL in HBP in 10 out of the 11 years from 1951 through 1961.

35 “Konstanty, Richardson Dropped, Making Room for Coleman, Grim,” New York Times, August 15, 1955: 11.

36 Dan Daniel, “Daniel’s Series Notebook,” The Sporting News, October 12, 1955: 10.

37 Louis Effrat, “Stengel Shoulders Blame for Home-Run Pitches That Led to Brooklyn Victory,” New York Times, October 3, 1955: 31.

38 John W. Fox, “Bob Wasn’t Grim Enough for Stengel,” Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), October 12, 1955: 47.

39 Joe Trimble, “Grim’s Wallet hurts – Takes 1G Cut,” New York Daily News, February 29, 1956: 21.

40 Joe Trimble, “Yanks Rip White Sox, 5-1; 22 for Mick; Grim Fans 9,” New York Daily News, June 15, 1956: 21. Berry called the pitch a strike because rule 606 said he could if the batter delays the game. “He didn’t resume his regular batting position when he was ordered to do so and so I called him out when the pitch finally could be made.”

41 “Second Fine in Ten Days Makes Philley $350 Hitter,” The Sporting News, July 4, 1956: 9.

42 Joe Trimble, “Yanks in Grim Win, 3-1; Bob Hurts Arm,” New York Daily News, June 30, 1956: 27.

43 Baseball-Reference lists his ERA as 2.77 on the player page and 2.89 in the game log, as the game logs add up to one additional earned run.

44 Joe Trimble, “Elbow Trouble Hits Grim Again,” New York Daily News, July 11, 1957: 44.

45 Dana Mozley, “Casey Gives Credit to Grim for Keeping Yanks on Top,” New York Daily News, August 17, 1957: C16. The Cy Young Award was created to recognize the best pitcher in major league baseball. Don Newcombe won the first award in 1956. Warren Spahn won the award in 1957. Starting in 1967, the Cy Young was expanded to recognized the best pitcher in each league. The first reliever to win the Cy Young was the Dodgers’ Mike Marshall in 1974.

46 Dana Mozley, “Grim’s 1st Hit Is HR With 2 On, Yankees Win, 5-2,” New York Daily News, September 6, 1957: 65. Grim was the 19th pitcher since 1900 to hit a game ending homer. Wes Ferrell (1934 & 1935) and Kirby Higbe (1947 & 1948) each did it twice. David Vincent, “Pitchers Dig the Long Ball (At Least When They Are Hitting),” Spring 2012 Baseball Research Journal, https://sabr.org/journal/article/pitchers-dig-the-long-ball-at-least-when-they-are-hitting/ (accessed August 3, 2023).

47 “Fourth Game,” The Sporting News, October 16, 1957: 25.

48 Joe Trimble, “Grim Fizzles, Yanks Bow, 6-4,” New York Daily News, March 29, 1958: 17.

49 “A’s Fly Home Today,” Kansas City Times,” July 21, 1958: 18.

50 Grim was the 23rd American League pitcher to hit a grand slam homer. Keith Sutton, “Pitchers Hitting Grand Slams,” 1975 Baseball Research Journal,” https://sabr.org/journal/article/pitchers-hitting-grand-slams/ (accessed August 3, 2023). Grim’s major league batting average was .127. He hit three home runs, the only extra-base hits of his career. However, his game ending homer in 1957 and his grand slam in 1959 made him the third pitcher in American League history to accomplish both of those feats. Wes Ferrell and Red Ruffing preceded Grim, with Ruffing’s grand-slam on April 14, 1933 also being a game-winner. Ferrell had a career batting average of .280, with 38 home runs. Ruffing batted .269, with 36 career homers.

51 Joe McGuff, “A’s Felt No Trade Was Necessary Before the Deadline,” Kansas City Star, June 16, 1959: 24.

52 Earl Lawson, “Newk Is Sold to Cleveland,” Cincinnati Post, July 30, 1960: 8.

53 “Herrmann Chucks for Portland,” Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune, June 15, 1961: 30.

54 “Beavers Trade Koppe for Leek,” Medford (Oregon) Mail Tribune, June 19, 1961: 16.

55 “Sport Shorts,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 27, 1962: 76.

56 Joe McGuff, “Bob Grim Rejects Hanger-on Role,” Kansas City Star, July 5, 1962: 22. After posting a 20-6 record with a 3.26 ERA during his rookie season, Grim went 41-35 with a 3.74 ERA in his final seven big-league seasons.

57 Sid Bordman, “Grim’s Fairy Tale was 20-6.”

58 Sid Bordman, “Grim’s Fairy Tale was 20-6.” One of the customers Grim called on regularly was Hank Bauer, his former teammate and manager during his last season with the A’s. Bauer owned a liquor store in Prairie Village, Kansas, a south suburb of Kansas City.

59 “Marriage Licenses,” Daily News (Olathe, Kansas), March 23, 1977: 8.

60 Mark Liptak interview conducted with Bob Grim in July 2008. https://sabr.org/interview/bob-grim-2008/ (accessed May 2, 2023)

61 “Bob Grim, former Yankee pitcher,” Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), October 24, 1996: 17.

62 “Robert Anton Grim,” Kansas City Star, October 25, 1996: 32.