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John Thomas Groth
Kansas City Athletics
Outfield
Born: July 23, 1926, Chicago, IL
Signed: Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent, August 6, 1946
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1946-1952; St. Louis Browns 1953; Chicago White Sox 1954-1955; Washington Senators 1955; Kansas City Athletics 1956-1957; Detroit Tigers 1957-1960
Died: August 7, 2021, Palm Beach, FL (age 95)
Johnny Groth played 15 seasons in the majors, with 11 of those seasons spent with the Tigers. A highly touted prospect, Groth's best year professionally came in 1948 as a member of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He batted .340 that season with 30 home runs and 97 RBIs, marks he wouldn't attain again during his career. Groth was the opening day center fielder for the Tigers in 1949 and while he started off hot, a mid-season slump saw him lose playing time and a broken wrist in August ended his season early. He'd have his best season in the majors in 1950, batting .306 with 12 home runs and 85 RBIs. Dealt to the Browns in December 1952, Groth's playing time would steadily decrease over the next eight seasons. He returned to Detroit for four more seasons at the end of his career, serving as a back-up outfielder and pinch-hitter.
Groth batted .279 for his career, collecting 1,064 hits, 60 home runs and 486 RBIs. His 75 assists as a center fielder currently rank 83rd all-time. Following his playing days, Groth served as a long-time scout for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, ultimately retiring from baseball in 1990.
Building the Set |
| May 1997 - College graduation |
July 19, 1997 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #157
My Dad and I added this card to our set at the Ocean City baseball card show held inside the Music Pier. We purchased 11 cards that July day - Groth and eight other commons, along with the Warren Giles (#2) card for $10 and the Ray Boone (#6) card for $5.
I graduated college in the spring of 1997, and that summer was a good one as I worked on the Sea Isle Promenade at a few t-shirt stores. My days were spent jogging, barely working, reading and sitting on the beach. Dinner would usually come from Phil's on 37th and Landis Avenue, and ice cream was consumed nightly.
Dad was still working in Millville at the time, and we probably met up in front of the Music Pier prior to his show. The baseball card collecting landscape changed drastically in the ten year period between 1987 and 1997, with autographed cards making their way into packs and multiple parallel versions of the same card confusing us as "old school" collectors. Still, I'd give anything to be back inside the Music Pier with my Dad searching for the next 1956 Topps card to add to our set. I'm sure he was thrilled to find a dealer selling a bunch of '56s in good shape and at around $2 a card.
The Card / Athletics Team Set
Groth was exclusive to Bowman in 1954 and 1955, and this card marks his return to Topps sets. He wore #3 with the Tigers between 1949 and 1952, and with the Browns in 1953. He's likely wearing a Tigers jersey in the action photo, given the piping around the neck, which was found on Tigers' jerseys but not Browns' jerseys. Given the pinstripes on his jersey in the main photo, he's either wearing a White Sox or Nationals jersey.
The first cartoon on the back highlights his two home runs hit in his first start on April 19, 1949 against the White Sox. It's a little misleading as Groth had played two full games in September 1946, another full game in September 1947, and four more complete games in September 1948.
1956 Season
Groth was sold by the Washington Nationals to the Athletics on April 16th, the day before opening day. He'd play in 95 games for the 102-loss Athletics, making 44 starts in center field, 15 starts in right field and a pair of starts in left field. The Athletics shuffled outfielders in and out of the starting line-up all season with Gus Zernial (#45), Al Pilarcik and Harry Simpson (#239) receiving most of the starts. Groth batted .258 with five home runs and 37 RBIs.
1956 Season
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First Mainstream Card: 1950 Bowman #243
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1951-1953, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2011 Topps Lineage Autographs #RA-JG
47 - Groth non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/30/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
The Trading Card Database
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Order Collected: #244 Bob Buhl - Milwaukee Braves / #317 Al Aber - Detroit Tigers
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