Thomas Raymond Grant (born May 28, 1957) is a former Major League Baseball player who played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in . He was primarily used as an outfielder but was also used as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

Early life and education

Grant graduated from

Nipmuc Regional High School Nipmuc Regional High School is a public high school in Upton, Massachusetts, United States, part of the Mendon-Upton Regional School District. Nipmuc Regional High School is located on a fifty-acre wooded lot in Upton, Massachusetts, in the Black ...

in Upton, Massachusetts and then attended the University of New Haven. While at the University of New Haven, Grant played on three NCAA College World Series teams and hit 26 home runs for UNH from 1976 until 1979. A power hitter, Grant helped take UNH to four NCAA postseason berths. and was inducted into the university's hall of fame in 1991. In 1977, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Falmouth Commodores of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, and returned to the league in 1978 with the Wareham Gatemen.

Professional baseball career

Grant was signed by the Chicago Cubs on June 9, 1979 and made his major league debut on June 17, 1983, when the Cubs called him up from Iowa after Leon Durham suffered an injury and was placed on the disabled list. "He's earned the opportunity," Cubs manager Lee Elia said of Grant at the time. Grant was sent down to the minor leagues two weeks later but returned to the Cubs in September. In late September 1983, Grant collected his first major-league hit. In total, during his time with the Cubs in 1983, Grant had 20 major league at-bats and notching three hits. In 1984, Grant returned to the minor leagues, playing a full season for the Cubs' AAA affiliate. He played again for Iowa in 1985. On July 26, 1985, the Cubs traded Grant to the Cleveland Indians for

Dave Beard Charles David Beard (born October 2, 1959) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers from 1980 to 1989. Following his high school days at Sequoyah ...

, and Grant was assigned to the Indians' AAA affiliate in Maine. He left baseball after the 1985 season.

After baseball

Since 1999, Grant has worked for

Covidien Covidien was an Irish-headquartered global health care products company and manufacturer of medical devices and supplies. Covidien became an independent publicly traded company after being spun off from Tyco International in 2007. It was purcha ...

in Massachusetts as a director of accounting related to integrations.

Personal life

Grant currently lives in Mendon, Massachusetts.

References

External links

1957 births Living people Major League Baseball outfielders Chicago Cubs players Falmouth Commodores players Wareham Gatemen players Baseball players from Massachusetts Geneva Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Iowa Oaks players Maine Guides players Midland Cubs players New Haven Chargers baseball players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1950s-stub