Oscar Ray Grimes Sr. (September 11, 1893 – May 25, 1953) was a
first baseman
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
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), ...
who played for 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 ...
(1920),
Chicago Cubs (1921–1924) and
Philadelphia Phillies (1926). Grimes batted and threw right-handed. He was born in
Bergholz, Ohio
Bergholz () is a village in northwestern Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 544 at the 2020 census. The village's name is German and translates to "mountain timber". It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan ar ...
.
Playing career
Grimes emerged as one of the first Chicago Cubs heroes of the early 1920s. He appeared in a game with the Boston Red Sox in 1920 before being traded to the Cubs in 1921. That season he hit .321 with 79
runs batted in
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 ba ...
, 38
doubles, and 91
runs in a career-high 149 games.
Record season (1922)
In 1922, while with the Cubs, Grimes set a major-league mark with at least one RBI over 17 consecutive games (from June 27 to July 23), a
record which still stands. As noted by baseball historian Clifton Blue Parker, "It is a little-known record, but perhaps one of the most enduring and challenging ones."
[Parker, CB: ''Fouled Away: The Baseball Tragedy of Hack Wilson''. Jefferson, North Carolina. McFarland & Company, 2000, p. 101. ] During the streak, Grimes drove in 27 runs and had 29 hits in 67
at-bats for a .433 batting average, including seven doubles, three triples and three home runs.
[.] He finished the 1922 season with 99 RBI, 99
runs, 45 doubles, 12
triples, 14
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, and hit .354, ending second in the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
batting race behind
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 193 ...
(.401).
His career declined after suffering a slipped disc in 1923. as he appeared in only 115 games with the Cubs during 1923 and 1924, and played 32 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926, his last major league season. In a six-season career, Grimes was a .329 hitter with 27 home runs and 263 RBI in 433 games.
Grimes was the twin brother of
second baseman Roy Grimes, who played briefly for the
New York Giants in 1920, and also was the father of
Oscar Grimes
Oscar Ray Grimes Jr. (April 13, 1915 – May 19, 1993) was a utility infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1938–1942), New York Yankees (1943–1946) and Philadelphia Athletics (1946). Grimes batted and thr ...
, an
infielder who played with the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...
,
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 ...
, and
Philadelphia Athletics between 1938 and 1946. Grimes died of a heart ailment in
Minerva, Ohio
Minerva is a village primarily in Stark and Carroll counties in the U.S. state of Ohio, with a small district in Columbiana County. The population was 3,684 at the 2020 census. Most of Minerva is part of the Canton-Massillon metropolitan area ...
, at age 59.
See also
*
List of second-generation Major League Baseball players
Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo ...
*
List of Major League Baseball individual streaks
References
External links
Baseball Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, Ray
Boston Red Sox players
Chicago Cubs players
Philadelphia Phillies players
Major League Baseball first basemen
People from Jefferson County, Ohio
Baseball players from Ohio
1893 births
1953 deaths
American twins
Twin sportspeople
People from Minerva, Ohio