Donald Grate (August 27, 1923 – November 22, 2014) was an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

and pro basketball player. He played both

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), ...

as a

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(seven

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

over two seasons, 1945–1946) and NBA basketball as a

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

for the

Sheboygan Redskins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

(two games played during the 1949–1950 season). Grate was listed at tall and .

College career

Born in

Greenfield, Ohio Greenfield is a large village in Highland and Ross counties, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,639. Since the population declined to under 5,000, the Census Bureau may still call it a city, but by Ohio's laws it is ...

and nicknamed "Buckeye", Grate was a two-sport star at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, lettering in both baseball and basketball in the 1944 and 1945 seasons. As a pitcher, he had career totals of 95

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s and only 25 walks in just 89

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. In basketball Grate was a two-time all-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection and earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors as a senior after scoring 272 points in 21 games. He was the captain of the 1944 team, leading the Buckeyes to a conference championship. Grate was inducted into the

Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame The Ohio State Varsity "O" Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for The Ohio State University. Its purpose is to recognize individuals who have contributed to the honor and fame of the university in the field of athletics. An athlete must hav ...

in 1996.

Professional baseball

In baseball Grate was known for his throwing arm, including throwing the ball . He appeared with the Phillies during each of his first two pro seasons, splitting both 1945 and 1946 between the Phils and their Class A Eastern League

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, the

Utica Blue Sox The Utica Blue Sox was the name of two minor league baseball teams based in Utica, New York. In the 2010s, the ''Utica Blue Sox'' is the name of a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) based in N ...

. He was treated very roughly during his 1945 trial with Philadelphia, surrendering 16 runs, all earned, 18

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, and 12 walks in 8 innings pitched over four appearances. He won 14 games for Utica in 1946, prompting a September call-up to the Majors, during which he was far more effective. He pitched three

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings of

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during his first two appearances, and was credited with his only MLB win on September 22 against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

. In his final big-league game, six days later, he allowed only one run in five innings pitched, also against the Giants. In seven MLB games and 16 innings pitched, all in relief, Grate allowed 22 hits, 17 earned runs, and 14 bases on balls, with eight strikeouts. He had a long minor league career, playing for 13 seasons (1945–1957), winning 50 of 88 decisions as a pitcher and converting to an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in 1951 to take advantage of his skill as a hitter. He batted over .300 several times.

Professional basketball

In addition to his time playing baseball, Grate had also spent some time playing for the

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion C ...

for the National Basketball League. Grate later appeared in two games for the 1949–1950

Sheboygan Red Skins The Sheboygan Red Skins (or Redskins) was a professional basketball team based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which was an original National Basketball Association franchise during the 1949–1950 season. History Overview The Redskins played in th ...

in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, with one

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

and two points in six attempted shots.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grate, Don 1923 births 2014 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Baseball players from Ohio Basketball players from Ohio Chattanooga Lookouts players Dallas Eagles players Hartford Chiefs players Indianapolis Kautskys players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Chickasaws players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Ohio State Buckeyes baseball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from Greenfield, Ohio Philadelphia Phillies players Sheboygan Red Skins players Utica Blue Sox players American men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards