Eli Grba (August 9, 1934 – January 14, 2019) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher 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). He pitched for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in 1959 and 1960 and for the

Los Angeles 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 h ...

from 1961 through 1963. Grba began his professional baseball career in the

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 eigh ...

' organization, and was traded to the Yankees in 1957. After two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, Grba made his major league debut on July 10, 1959. He was the first selection of the 1960 MLB expansion draft by the

, and started their first game in 1961. He last pitched in MLB in 1963, and worked as a Minor League Baseball coach, scout, and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

from 1969 through 1971 and from 1982 through 1997.

Early life

Grba was born to Joseph and Eva Grba, Serbian immigrants who lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. He grew up on Chicago's South Side. His father left the family when Eli was young and he was raised alone by his mother, who worked as a waitress during the day and in a factory at night. Grba attended Bowen High School, where he starred in three sports.

Career

After he graduated from Bowen in 1952, Grba signed a professional baseball contract with the

(MLB). He made his professional debut in 1953 for the Salisbury Rocots of the Class D Tar Heel League, and was named an All-Star. He spent the 1954 season with the Corning Red Sox of the Class D Pennsylvania – Ontario – New York League (PONY League), and was again named an All-Star. He led all pitchers in the PONY League in strikeouts,

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is li ...

, and innings pitched. The Red Sox promoted Grba to the San Jose Red Sox of the Class C California League for the 1955 season, and then to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1956.

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Eddie Joost Edwin David Joost (June 5, 1916April 12, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball for all or portions of 17 seasons between 1936 and 1955. In , Joost became the third and l ...

began to use Grba as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

in deference to more veteran pitchers on the San Francisco pitching staff. During spring training in 1957, the Red Sox traded Grba and

Gordie Windhorn Gordon Ray Windhorn (December 19, 1933 – May 21, 2022) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in 95 games played over parts of three seasons (, and ) in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the New York Yankees, L ...

to the

for Bill Renna. He was drafted into the

before the end of spring training, and spent the next two years stationed in Fort Jackson and Fort McPherson, playing baseball and basketball on base teams. Grba began the 1959 season with the Richmond Virginians of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League, and made his major league debut for the Yankees on July 10, 1959. He finished the season with the Yankees and had a 2–5

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

and a 6.44

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). Grba began the 1960 season with Richmond. He started the season pitching to a 7–1 win–loss record and was again promoted to the Yankees in July. He had a 6–4 win–loss record, a 3.68 ERA, and one save for the Yankees in 1960. The Yankees included Grba on their roster for the

1960 World Series The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League (NL) and the New York Yankees of the American League (AL) from October 5–13, 1960. In Game 7, Bill Mazeroski hit the series winning ninth-inning home run, ...

. He appeared in one game as a pinch runner. The Yankees did not protect Grba in the 1960 MLB expansion draft, held after the 1960 season. On the advice of former Yankees' manager

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

, the

chose Grba with the first selection. Grba started the first game in club history on April 11, 1961, pitching nine innings in a 7–2 victory over the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. He had an 11–13 win–loss record in 1961, and an 8–9 win–loss record and a 4.54 ERA in 1962. In 1963, Grba had a 0–1 record in 12 games for the Angels, who tried to trade him to other MLB teams, unsuccessfully. The Angels sold Grba to the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

of the Pacific Coast League during the 1963 season. He played for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the International League in 1964, and was named an All-Star. He returned to Hawaii in 1965 and pitched for the

Charros de Jalisco The Charros de Jalisco ( en, Jalisco Horsemen) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Their home ballpark is Estadio Panamericano, and has a capacity of 16,500 people. Their initial season was 2 ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in 1966. Grba attempted to make a return to the major leagues in 1967 with 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 ...

. He pitched for the Indianapolis Indians of the Pacific Coast League, and retired after the 1967 season. He had a 28–33 win–loss record and a 4.48 ERA in MLB. Grba worked odd jobs before working for the Oakland Athletics as a scout from 1969 through 1971. He managed the Lodi Crushers of the Class A California League in 1969. Grba returned to baseball in 1982 as a pitching coach in minor league baseball for the

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

in the Milwaukee Brewers' organization. He also served as a manager of the Reno Silver Sox of the California League in 1989, and the Princeton Patriots of the Appalachian League in 1990. Grba then joined the Philadelphia Phillies organization as a manager and pitching coach in the minor leagues and became a scout for five years, until retiring in 1997.

Personal life

Grba was married four times. Grba and his first wife, Bonnie, had two children. He met his third wife while he worked in Vancouver. Grba and his fourth wife, Regina, married in 1993, and they lived in Florence, Alabama. Grba died on January 14, 2019, at age 84, from pancreatic cancer. Grba drank heavily during his career, and developed

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...

. He was arrested five times for driving under the influence of alcohol and suffered six

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with l ...

s relating to his alcohol use. In 2016, Grba published a memoir, ''Eli Grba, Baseball’s Fallen Angel'', cowritten by Doug Williams, which discussed his alcohol use and recovery.

References

External links

Eli Grba
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grba, Eli 1934 births 2019 deaths Deaths from cancer in Alabama Deaths from pancreatic cancer American people of Serbian descent Baseball players from Chicago Charros de Jalisco players Corning Red Sox players Estrellas Orientales (VPBL) players Hawaii Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Licoreros de Pampero players Lodi Crushers players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers New York Yankees players Richmond Virginians (minor league) players Oakland Athletics scouts Philadelphia Phillies scouts Salisbury Rocots players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players San Jose Red Sox players Military personnel from Illinois Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Writers from Chicago