Rookie of the Year: Ben Grieve, 1998

 Outfielder, Oakland Athletics

Age:  22 (May 4)

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’4”    Weight: 200

 

Prior to 1998:

The son of former major league player Tom Grieve, who became general manager of the Texas Rangers, Grieve was a native of Arlington, Texas and was playing baseball at James W. Martin High School when his father’s friend Tom Robson, the hitting instructor for the Rangers, began to work with him. He developed into a top prospect and was taken by the A’s as the second overall pick in the 1994 amateur draft (giving him a unique distinction as the son of a former first round amateur draft choice who was also taken in the first round). The 18-year-old outfielder was initially assigned to Southern Oregon of the short season Class A Northwest League where he batted .329 with 7 home runs and 50 RBIs in 72 games. He was named to the league All-Star team. With teams at the A and high Class A levels in 1995, Grieve appeared in a total of 130 games and hit .262 with 21 doubles, 6 home runs, and 76 RBIs. The highly self-disciplined outfield prospect returned to Modesto of the advanced Class A California League in 1996, which had been his second stop in ’95, and batted .356 in 72 games with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs, garnering league All-Star recognition, and advanced to Huntsville of the Class AA Southern League where he added 8 home runs and 32 RBIs in 63 games. With Huntsville again in 1997 Grieve hit .328 with 24 home runs and 108 RBIs and moved on with Edmonton of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League where he hit .426 in 27 games. In a late-season call-up to the A’s he batted .312 in 93 at bats and went into 1998 as the starting right fielder.

 

1998 Season Summary

Appeared in 155 games

RF – 151, DH – 3, PH – 2

 

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

 

Batting

Plate Appearances – 678 [18]

At Bats – 583

Runs – 94

Hits – 168

Doubles – 41 [7, tied with Garret Anderson, Will Clark & Todd Walker]

Triples – 2

Home Runs – 18

RBI – 89

Bases on Balls – 85 [10]

Int. BB – 3

Strikeouts – 123 [13]

Stolen Bases – 2

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .288

OBP - .386 [11, tied with Rusty Greer]

Slugging Pct. - .458

Total Bases – 267

GDP – 18 [9, tied with six others]

Hit by Pitches – 9 [13, tied with four others]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 1

 

Midseason snapshot: HR - 12, RBI - 55, AVG - .311, SLG - .508

 

---

 

Most hits, game – 5 (in 5 AB) at Cleveland 4/29

Longest hitting streak – 8 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Texas 6/16

HR at home – 5

HR on road – 13

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 4 at Texas 6/16, at Colorado 6/26

Pinch-hitting – 0 of 2 (.000)

 

Fielding

Chances – 271

Put Outs – 262

Assists – 7

Errors – 2

DP – 0

Pct. - .993

 

Awards & Honors:

AL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

All-Star

 

AL ROY Voting (Top 4):

Ben Grieve, Oak.: 130 pts. – 23 of 28 first place votes, 93% share

Rolando Arrojo, TB: 61 pts. –4 first place votes, 44% share

Mike Caruso, ChiWS.: 34 pts. –  24% share

Orlando Hernandez, NYY: 25 pts. – 1 first place vote, 18% share

 

---

 

A’s went 74-88 to finish fourth (last) in the AL Western Division, 14 games behind the division-winning Texas Rangers.

 

Aftermath of ‘98:

Grieve, who moved over to left field, overcame a poor start in 1999 to finish at .265 with 28 home runs and 86 RBIs for an Oakland club that posted its first winning record since 1992. The A’s won the AL West in 2000 and Grieve contributed 40 doubles, 27 home runs, 104 RBIs, and a .279 average, but also grounded into a league-leading 32 double plays. Traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the offseason, Grieve played in both corner outfield spots in 2001 and batted .264 with 30 doubles, 11 home runs, and 72 RBIs, while drawing 87 walks and striking out 159 times. Hindered by injuries in 2002, his production dropped off to .251 with 19 home runs and 64 RBIs. An injury-riddled 2003 season resulted in Grieve appearing in only 55 games (mostly as a DH), during which he hit .230 with four home runs and 17 RBIs. Moving on to the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent in 2004 he batted .261 with 7 home runs and 29 RBIs until he was traded to the Chicago Cubs at the end of August. Appearing primarily as a pinch-hitter, Grieve hit .250 with three extra base hits that included a home run and six RBIs. Signing with Pittsburgh for 2005, he was released at the end of spring training and re-joined the Cubs with a minor league contract. He spent most of the year with Iowa of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League and had some brief call-ups to the Cubs in which he hit .250 in 23 games. He then retired at age 29, his initially promising career having come to an injury-riddled end. Overall, for his major league career, Grieve batted .269 with 864 hits that included 192 doubles, 5 triples, and 118 home runs. In addition, he scored 471 runs and compiled 492 RBIs. With the A’s the totals were .280 with 492 hits, 108 doubles, 3 triples, 76 home runs, 278 runs scored, and 303 RBIs. In five postseason games he hit .118 with two RBIs. His All-Star selection in 1998 was the only one of his career.

 

--

 

Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.