Dick Groat

**Richard Morrow Groat** (Nuwamba 4, 1930 - Afrilu 27, 2023) ya kasance ɗan wasan ƙwallon ƙafa da ƙwallon kwando na Amurka, wanda ya kasance ɗan gajeren lokaci na All-Star sau takwas kuma ya zama zakara na World Series sau biyu a Major League Baseball . Ya kasance daya daga cikin 'yan wasa biyu da suka fi cancanta a tarihin wasanni na Amurka, kwalejin All-America a wasan baseball da kwando da kuma daya daga cikin 13 kawai da suka buga duka a matakin kwararru.

A shekara ta 1960 Groat ya lashe lambar yabo ta National League tare da matsakaicin .325, ya kasance dan wasan da ya fi dacewa a gasar, kuma ya lashe gasar zakarun duniya tare da Pittsburgh Pirates. Ya gama aikinsa na shekaru 14 tare da matsakaicin batting .286 da 2,138 hits tare da kungiyoyi hudu. A cikin yanayi bakwai daga 1956 zuwa 1962, Groat ya haɗu da dan wasan Hall of Fame na biyu na gaba Bill Mazeroski don ba Pirates ɗaya daga cikin mafi kyawun Haɗin maɓallin a tarihin baseball. Ya kasance na tara a tarihin manyan wasanni a wasannin da aka bugawa a gajeren lokaci (1,877) kuma na huɗu a wasanni biyu.

Groat ya halarci Jami'ar Duke, inda ya kasance dan wasan Amurka sau biyu, wanda ya lashe lambar yabo ta McKelvin sau biyu a matsayin dan wasan Kudancin Kudancin na shekara, kuma dan wasan kwando na farko da ya yi ritaya da lambar sa (10) a tarihin makaranta. A shekara ta 2011, an shigar da shi cikin Hall of Fame na Kwalejin Baseball na Kasa, ya zama mutum na farko da aka shigar da shi a cikin majami'ar kwando da kuma majami'un baseball na kwaleji

## Rayuwa ta farko da ilimi
An haifi Groat a Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, ga Martin da Gracie Groat, ƙarami cikin yara biyar. Ya girma ne a Swissvale, Pennsylvania, kuma ya halarci makarantar sakandare ta Swissvale inda ya sami haruffa a wasan kwando, baseball, da volleyball.

## Ayyukan wasanni na kwaleji
Groat ya sami tallafin karatu na wasanni Kwando don halartar Jami'ar Duke inda ya kasance dan wasa na wasanni biyu. A wasan kwando, ya kasance dan wasan kwando na kwaleji sau biyu All-American (1950-51, 1951-52) kuma sau ɗaya mai karɓar Helms Foundation Player of the Year (1950-51). Ya kasance dan wasan Kudancin Kudancin na Shekara da kuma dan wasan kasa na United Press International (UPI) a kakar 1951-52, lokacin da ya kafa rikodin National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), tare da maki 839 da aka zira.

A wasan karshe na kakar wasa ta yau da kullun, Groat ya zira kwallaye 48 a kan Jami'ar Arewacin Carolina mai ziyara, mafi yawan abokin hamayyar Tar Heels. Blue Devils sun ci nasara a cikin nasara ta 94-64 don nasarar da suka samu a karo na 13 a jere. Nasarar da aka samu a kan Maryland da West Virginia sun kara yawan zuwa 15 a Gasar Kudancin kafin Jihar North Carolina ta kori Blue Devils 77-68 a zagaye na zakarun don samun nasara daya ba tare da samun Gasar NCAA ba.

A ranar 1 ga Mayu, 1952, Groat ya yi ritaya da lambar jersey dinsa ta 10 zuwa tashar Cameron Indoor Stadium a harabar. Zai kasance shi kaɗai ne makarantar ta yi ritaya har tsawon shekaru 28. A ranar 18 ga Nuwamba, 2007, an shigar da shi cikin Hall of Fame na Kwallon Kwando na Kwalejin Kasa.

A wasan baseball, Groat ya taka leda a Duke. A cikin babban shekarunsa (1952), ya taimaka wajen jagorantar kungiyoyin zuwa rikodin 31-7 da kuma jerin duniya na farko na Kwalejin. A kakar, Groat ya buga .370 kuma ya jagoranci tawagar a cikin ninki biyu, bugawa, gudu a cikin, da kuma sata tushe. Ya kasance mai lashe lambar yabo ta McKelvin sau biyu, wanda aka ba dan wasa na shekara a Kudancin Kudancin . 

## Ayyukan wasan motsa jiki na sana'a
Groat, wanda ke da shekaru 21, ya shiga Pirates a ranar 17 ga Yuni a New York, ba tare da rana ta ƙwarewar ƙaramar ƙungiya ba. Ya fara buga wasan farko a washegari kuma daga baya ya buga .284 a sauran kakar, ya yi rikodin bugawa 109 da 29 da aka buga.

Bayan farawarsa ta MLB, Groat ya fara aikinsa na biyu, yana buga wasan kwando ga Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons na Ƙungiyar Kwando ta Kasa (NBA).  Watanni huɗu cikin kakar, ya shiga cikin Sojojin Amurka. Ya zaɓi wannan lokacin don haka sakin sa zai dace da farkon sansanin horar da baseball shekaru biyu bayan haka. A lokacin aikin soja, ya jagoranci kungiyoyin Fort Belvoir zuwa gasar zakarun Sojoji ta duniya a wasan baseball da kwando, karo na farko da wani tushe daya ya samu nasarar a wannan shekarar. Ya buga .362 a kan lu'u-lu'u kuma ya sami maki 35 a kowane wasa a kotu.

Lokacin da Groat ya koma Pirates a shekarar 1955, ya jagoranci tawagar karshe a cikin bugawa (139) da NL a cikin putouts a gajeren lokaci. Shekara guda bayan haka, ya kafa rikodin MLB mai shakka - mafi yawan bat (520) ba tare da gudu a gida ko sata ba a cikin kakar wasa daya. A cikin ƙoƙari na inganta dangantakarsu, kocin Bobby Bragan ya sanya shi kyaftin din tawagar a tsakiyar kakar. Groat ya buga .273 gabaɗaya, amma bayan matsakaicin sa ya ragu a cikin watanni biyu na ƙarshe, ya kwashe ƙarin lokaci a kan injiniyoyinsa a cikin kakar wasa.

Joe Brown shine babban manajan Pirates a cikin lokutan karshe bakwai da Groat ya yi tare da tawagar. A cikin labarin mujallar Sport na 1961, Brown ya bayyana darajarsa kamar haka: " (Groat) ya ba da misali ga sauran ƙungiyar. Idan ya tafi 5-da-5 kuma ƙungiyar ta rasa, ba shi da farin ciki. Idan ya je zero-da-5 kuma tawagar ta ci nasara, yana farin ciki. Yana da tunatarwa ga sauran 'yan wasan cewa ɗan'uwa zai iya sanya kansa tauraruwa ba tare da duk kayan aikin ba.

### Shekaru na ƙarshe
A shekara ta 1965, bayan shekaru 10 a jere a matsayin dan wasa na yau da kullun, Groat mai shekaru 34 ya sami mafi munin lokacin aikinsa a cikin nau'o'i da yawa. Ya buga .254 kuma ya kori gida 52 a wasanni 153. Bayan haka, a matsayin wani ɓangare na ma'amala na 'yan wasa shida, an sayar da shi tare da mai kamawa Bob Uecker da kuma dan wasan farko Bill White zuwa Philadelphia Phillies, wanda kocinsa Gene Mauch ya daɗe yana sha'awar ƙwarewarsa da jagoranci. Groat ya buga .265 a cikin cikakken lokacinsa tare da tawagar, bayan haka aka sayar da kwangilarsa ga San Francisco Giants a watan Yunin shekara mai zuwa. Ya shafe watanni na ƙarshe na kakar 1967 galibi a matsayin mai maye gurbin mai tsaron gida da kuma mai tsaron baya kafin ya sanar da ritayar sa.

A cikin aikinsa, Groat ya zira kwallaye 829, 707 da aka buga, 352 sau biyu, 67 sau uku da 39 a gida a wasanni 1,929 . Ya taimaka wajen juyawa sau biyu 1,237 a gajeren lokaci, na 14 mafi yawa a matsayi a tarihin MLB.

## Manazarta