Tom Grieve

Tom Grieve
Grieve (right) alongside former Rangers commentator Josh Lewin
Outfielder
Born: March 4, 1948 (1948-03-04) Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 5, 1970 for the Washington Senators
Last MLB appearance
May 1, 1979 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Batting average	.249
Home runs	65
Runs batted in	254
Teams
Washington Senators (1970) Texas Rangers (1972–1977) New York Mets (1978) St. Louis Cardinals (1979)
Career highlights and awards
Texas Rangers Hall of Fame

Thomas Alan Grieve (born March 4, 1948 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts) was a Major League Baseball player from 1970-1979 for the Washington Senators, Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Nicknamed "TAG", which are his initials, Grieve's best season was 1976 with the Rangers when he hit .255 and belted 20 home runs and had 81 runs batted in.

Biography

Baseball career

On December 8, 1977, he was involved in a rare four-team trade that involved the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Texas Rangers. Grieve and a player to be named later (Ken Henderson) were sent to the Mets, who also received Willie Montanez from the Braves. Texas sent Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs and Eddie Miller to Atlanta and Bert Blyleven to the Pirates. The Pirates sent Al Oliver and Nelson Norman to the Rangers, who also got Jon Matlack from the Mets. Finally, the Mets sent John Milner to the Pirates.

Primarily an outfielder and a designated hitter, the right-handed batter finished his career with a .249 average, 65 homers and 254 RBIs in 670 games.

General Manager

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1979 season, Grieve joined the Rangers' front office, and did his first work as a color commentator for Rangers television broadcasts during the 1980 season. In 1984 Grieve became general manager of the Rangers, and served in that capacity until 1994. In December 1988 Grieve made one of the best trades in team history, acquiring Rafael Palmeiro and Jamie Moyer from the Chicago Cubs for Mitch Williams. That same winter he acquired future batting champion Julio Franco. However, he also traded away several future stars, including Sammy Sosa in 1989 and Robb Nen in 1993.

Broadcasting career

Grieve currently is a broadcaster for the Rangers televised games. His son Ben Grieve is a former Major League Baseball player who played 976 games for the A's, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs. He now is on Fox Saturday Baseball since John Rhadigan replace Josh Lewin(Then Dave Barnett replaced John Rhadigan a month later as play-by-play announcer).

Legacy

The Grieves were the first father-and-son combo to be selected in the first round of the MLB draft. Tom was chosen sixth overall by the Senators in 1966 while Ben was the second overall selection by Oakland in 1994.

Tom Grieve was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in a ceremony held July 24, 2010.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference
• Official Broadcaster Bio on Texas Rangers Site

Preceded by Joe Klein

Texas Rangers General Manager 1984–1994

Succeeded by Doug Melvin