Alex Grammas

Alexander Peter Grammas (born April 3 1926 in Birmingham, Alabama) is a former Major League infielder and manager with a 10-year career from 1954 to 1963. Grammas family origins are from Agios Demitrios near Sparta, Greece. [http://www.baseballacropolis.org/didyouknow.htm] He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1954-56, 59-62), Cincinnati Reds (1956-58) and the Chicago Cubs (1962-63) all of the National League. He attended Mississippi State University and batted and threw right-handed. He was also a longtime coach under the legendary Sparky Anderson with the Reds from 1970 to 1975 and in 1978, and with the Detroit Tigers from 1980 to 1991. Grammas also coached for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1965 through 1969.

He played second base, third base, but most often shortstop, ending with a .969 overall fielding percentage. He was not usually an everyday player, playing as a reserve in all but three of his years (all with the Cardinals). In his career as a batter, he hit .247 with 12 home runs and 163 RBIs in 913 games. He had 512 career hits in 2073 at bats. Other stats include 17 career stolen bases, 90 doubles and 10 triples.

In his managerial career, he was brought in to finish out the Pittsburgh Pirates' season in 1969 when Larry Shepard was let go. Although, he went 4-1 he was not brought back the following year (Danny Murtaugh took over). In 1976 and 1977, he managed some bad Milwaukee Brewers teams, leading them to two last place finishes. He ended with a career record of 137-191.

Quote

*"I went to Greece in 1992 for the first time, and I liked Greece very much," said Alex. "All my life my father was telling me good things about Greece. When he was talking, I was laughing, but when I saw with my own eyes, I realized he hadn't said enough about Greece. I love Greece very much. In 1992, we stayed about three weeks. I am gonna tell you, when I walked up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, the hairs on my head were standing straight up. I couldn't believe it. [http://www.aegeanbooks.com/excerpts/body_excerpts.html#ab]

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grammal01.shtml Baseball Reference]