Kelly Gruber turns 61 today. Gruber was a Rule 5 pickup from the Rangers in 1983. Since we didn’t have 7 or 8-man bullpens back then, a Rule 5 pick could be hidden on the bench. Gruber had all of...
Gruber was a Rule 5 pickup from thein 1983. Since we didn’t have 7 or 8-man bullpens back then, a Rule 5 pick could be hidden on the bench. Gruber had all of 16 at-bats in 1984 while staying on the roster all season. It took until 1986 that he played much at the MLB level, getting into 87 games mainly as a defensive replacement. 1987 was the first season Kelly had a real role on the team, taking Garth Iorg’s spot as the right-handed half of the third base platoon with Rance Mulliniks.
In 1988 he took over the full-time third base job when Rance became DH. Kelly was much better, hitting 278/.328/.438, with 16 home runs, 81 RBI and 23 stolen bases. 1989 was our first playoff season, and Gruber was a large part of our success despite a couple of trips to the DL . Kelly got selected to the All-Star team and hit .290/.328/.448 with 18 homers and 73 RBI. Even his defense improved as he showed a bit more range. And on April 16th, he became the first Jay to hit for the cycle.
1990, Gruber’s best season, with 31 home runs and 118 RBI, hitting .274/.330/.512 for an OPS+ of 127. He had career highs in at-bats, runs, doubles, triples, homers, and RBI. He won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and made the All-Star game, taking a walk and stealing 2 bases in two plate appearances. He also was 4th in the MVP vote. He was 6th in the AL in slugging average, 2nd in total bases and 2nd in RBI.
That favourite fan status took a beating when he was drunk at a Pitch Talks event and made an ass out of himself. Alcohol and an over-inflated ego are a bad combination.Towers pitched for us for five seasons, winning 37 and losing 42 from 2003 to 2007. His best season was 2005, when he went 13-12 with a 3.71 ERA in 33 starts. Unfortunately, the following year wasn’t as good, 2-10 with an 8.42 ERA.
He was one of those guys I had high hopes for, but it never worked out for him. He had 263 games for us over three seasons, hitting .235/.300/.336 with 2 home runs. He was in the Nationals system last year.
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