Craig Allen Grebeck (born December 29, 1964) is an American former professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
middle infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.
Standard arrangement of positions
In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
. He played in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
,
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
,
Anaheim Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
,
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
, and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
.
In 1989, Grebeck led the
Southern League with 153 base hits.
Grebeck was mainly used as a backup in his career. Known for not wearing batting gloves, he hit .261, 19
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s, 187
RBIs
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
, and 518 hits in 752 major league games. Grebeck hit his first major league home run off of Hall of Famer
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...
, who then proceeded to plunk Grebeck in his ribs the following week, breaking a rib. As a member of the White Sox, the , 148 lb Grebeck had his locker right in between two of the biggest men in MLB history,
Frank Thomas and
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...
.
He started the 2001 season with the Red Sox while Nomar Garciaparra was out with a wrist injury.
Grebeck was nicknamed 'The Little Hurt to our offense' by White Sox announcer
Ken Harrelson
Kenneth Smith Harrelson (born September 4, 1941), nicknamed "The Hawk" due to his distinctive profile, is an American former professional baseball All-Star first baseman and outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 197 ...
.
References
External links
1964 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Anaheim Angels players
Baseball players from Pennsylvania
Birmingham Barons players
Boston Red Sox players
Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros baseball players
Chicago White Sox players
Florida Marlins players
Major League Baseball second basemen
Nashville Sounds players
Peninsula White Sox players
Sportspeople from Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Syracuse SkyChiefs players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Vancouver Canadians players
{{US-baseball-second-baseman-stub