27
May
Connected media - Linked media Grote was “a tough catcher who pushed his teammates to throw harder, who could assault reporters and official scorers,” sports columnist George Vecsey of the New York Times wrote in 1981. He quoted Grote as saying, “I had a red neck. I was red all over.” Gerald Wayne Grote was born on October 6, 1942 in San Antonio, Texas. He was the eldest of three children of Clarence and Leila Rittmann Grote. In high school he pitched, caught and played third base, then enrolled at nearby Trinity University. Del Baker, a former Major League catcher,…