The Great "Lefty" Grove
Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove was the flame-throwing,
left-handed pitching ace for the Philadelphia Athletics'
dynasty of 1929 to 1931. With an astonishing 79-15 record
over those three Triple Crown seasons, Detroit's Hall
of Fame second baseman Charlie Gehringer once said of
him, "His fastball was so fast that by the time you'd
made up your mind whether it would be a strike or not,
it just wasn't there anymore".
He topped the American League in wins four times, for
winning percentage five times and for strikeouts seven
consecutive times. Most impressive are his nine ERA
titles, easily the greatest total in history. He won
112 games for the minor-league Baltimore Orioles in
addition to his 300 Major League victories. In 1931,
Lefty won 31 and lost only 4, with a 2.06 ERA and 27
complete games, winning the American League's Most Valuable
Player award. This is his contract from 1931: the most
awesome of his awesome career.
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