Johnny Grodzicki
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | February 26, 1917 Nanticoke, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | May 2, 1998 Daytona Beach, FL |
| Baseball Experience: | Major League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Technician Fifth Grade |
| Military Unit: | 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
“When I had Grodzicki at Columbus in 1941, I thought he was the
best minor league pitcher I ever saw.”
Eddie Dyer April 1946
John Grodzicki was born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, on February 26,
1917. He won a scholarship offered by The Sporting News to attend Ray
Doan's Baseball School in 1936, and his professional career began with a
brief stint with the Houston Buffs of the Class A1 Texas League, before
spending the season with the New Iberia Cardinals of the Class D
Evangeline League, where he was 16-12 in 40 appearances. In 1937, the
6-foot-1-inch right-hander was back with Houston and won 18 games
against 11 losses with a 2.88 ERA. During the Texas League all-star game
on July 17, 1937, at Houston, Grodzicki struck out six batters in a row.
He was again with Houston in 1938 and 12-21 in 46 appearances. He
advanced to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AA International League
in 1939, and spent two seasons with the club as a relief pitcher. In
1941, he made his major league debut with the Cardinals on April 18,
against the Cubs, but spent the majority of the year with the Columbus
Red Birds of the Class AA American Association, posting an excellent
19-5 record and 2.58 ERA.
Grodzicki was one of the top prospects in the Cardinals organization but
on January 14, 1942, he followed in the footsteps of his two brothers
and entered military service with the army. He was initially based at
Fort Knox, Kentucky, and on May 24, 1942, Grodzicki was selected by Bob
Feller – along with fellow servicemen Cecil Travis, Zeke Bonura, Emmett
Mueller and Ken Silvestri – to join Dizzy Dean’s all-stars in an
exhibition game at Wrigley Field against Satchel Paige and the Kansas
City Monarchs.
On July 7, 1942, Grodzicki was selected for an All-Service team that
played against an American League all-star squad at Cleveland’s
Municipal Stadium. Before 62,059 fans, the American League beat the
servicemen, 5-0.
Grodzicki later transferred to the paratroopers and joined the 513th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th
Airborne Division. The 17th Airborne Division was sent to England in
August 1944. They remained there until December, when they were flown to
the Reims area in France and took over the defense of the Meuse River
sector from Givet to Verdun. In January 1945, they marched through the
snow to Morhet, relieving the 28th Infantry Division. The 17th entered
the Ardennes campaign (better known as the Battle of the Bulge) on
January 4 at the Battle of Dead Man's Ridge.
On March 24, 1945, the 17th Airborne Division took part in their first
airborne assault. Taking off from marshalling areas in France, nearly
4,000 aircraft from the British 6th Airborne Division and the American
17th Airborne Division dropped fighting men – including Grodzicki -
behind enemy lines, into Westphalia in the vicinity of Weselon, which
was east of the Rhine River. Their mission was to capture key points and
so assist the advance of the ground troops. It was the first airborne
invasion over the Rhine into Germany itself. On March 25, the 17th
Airborne Division had secured bridges over the Issel River and had
entrenched itself firmly along the Issel Canal. Moving eastward, it
captured Haltern on March 29, and advanced on Munster the following day.
It was on this day that a shell exploded nearby, shrapnel flew, and a
large, jagged piece cut deep into Grodzicki’s flesh just below the right
hip, and another piece entered his lower right leg.
Grodzicki was removed to a field hospital. Examination disclosed that
the sciatic nerve had been badly damaged. There was danger that he would
never walk again. An operation was performed, and the shrapnel was
removed. Grodzicki was then sent to a hospital in England, and finally
to the United States for recuperation. He learned to maneuver with a
cane and steel brace on his right leg, and after receiving his honorable
discharge in October he went home to Nanticoke to rest.
But Grodzicki didn’t stay home for very long. In October he headed for
Panama where he pitched batting practice for the Colon club. The arrival
of the New Year found Grodzicki eager and ready for spring training.
Daily treatments were given his leg. Hot towels were applied, and
special massages administered in the hope that he would be able to play
again.
On April 11, 1946, in a spring training game against the Oklahoma City
Indians of the Texas League, Grodzicki made his post-war pitching debut.
Wearing his leg brace and with a perceptible limp, Grodzicki pitched the
last four innings and gave up four singles in the Cardinals’ 8-1 win.
Grodzicki made just three regular season appearances for the Cardinals
in 1946 as he continued on his road to recovery. In 1947, as a short
reliever, he made 16 appearances for the Cardinals. Sports writer, Bill
Corum, said of Grodzicki on April 21, 1948: “Johnny has plugged away and
plugged away, hour after hour and day after day. Kind hearted Eddie Dyer
has fretted over him and worked with him, and all but cried over him.
Not because Grodzicki looked like one of the greatest prospects in the
game before the war. But because Eddie loved his spirit and his stark
refusal to accept defeat in his ambition to make the big time.”
On April 13, 1948, Grodzicki was optioned to the Houston Buffs of the
Texas League, the team he had pitched for back in 1937. After a couple
of relief appearances he earned his first starting assignment on May 3,
and it was against the Oklahoma City Indians again. Grodzicki went the
distance and beat them 7-2, scattering eight hits with seven strike
outs. He also helped win the game with a single that drove in two runs.
“My legs didn’t get tired as I had suspected,” he said in an Associated
Press report on May 6, 1948, “but, boy, the rest of me was ready to call
it quits for a while after the last out. That’s the most pitching I’ve
done in many a year.”
In June 1949, Grodzicki left Houston and joined Rochester of the
International League – another team he had played for back in the late
1930s. He made his first start for the Red Wings on July 2, and
staggered to a complete game, 11-7, win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Through a working agreement with the Cardinals, the Geneva Redbirds of
the Class D Alabama State League acquired the services of Grodzicki as
their player/manager in 1950, but he was replaced in July and joined
Omaha in the Class A Western League where he pitched for the rest of the
season. He posted a 3-1 record with the pennant winners.
In January 1951, Grodzicki – who had been playing winter ball in Panama
for the last four years – was named player-manager of the Balboa Brewers
in the Canal Zone League. Returning to the United States at the end of
the winter season, Grodzicki started the 1951 season with the Columbus
Red Birds. He was sent back to Omaha in June, and in July 1951, he moved
on to the Winston-Salem Cardinals of the Class B Carolina League. He
remained with Winston-Salem through 1952.
Grodzicki became a pitching coach and scout with the Cardinals
organization in 1953, touring the United States and Canada instructing
young hurlers. He remained in that position until taking a coaching
assignment in 1963, with the Buffalo Bisons under manager and former
teammate, Whitey Kurowski.
After a season with Buffalo, Grodzicki left baseball for two years but
was enticed back by the Detroit Tigers, who hired him as a minor league
pitching instructor in 1966. He remained in that role until 1979, when
the 62-year-old returned to the major leagues as a coach with the
Detroit Tigers.
Johnny Grodzicki passed away on May 2, 1998, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
He was 82 years old.
Date Added December 23, 2017. Updated May 26, 2020
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