Top Blue Jays Player #21: Kelly
Gruber
Position: Third
base
Seasons With the
Jays: 9 (1984-1992)
MLB Awards: Silver
Slugger (1990)
Gold Glove (1990)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1989, 1990
Stats: Games Played 921 Batting Average .259
Base Hits 800 Runs
Scored 421
Home Runs 114 RBIs 434
Doubles
145 Triples 24
Stolen Bases 80
Walks 195
One of the most naturally-gifted
athletes in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays, Kelly Gruber would flourish
for his first few years with the club, only to suffer through enigmatic slumps
during his final years. He would also go from being one of the most popular
players on the club to the one everyone wanted to boo and call radio shows to
demand he be traded.
Gruber was drafted by the
Cleveland Indians in the first round (10th pick overall) in the June
Amateur Draft in 1980. He never played with the Tribe and was selected by the
Blue Jays in the Rule 5 Draft in December 1983. He got into 15 games with the
Jays in 1984, only making 16 plate appearances. And while he only got one hit,
it was a home run.
In 1985, most of his season was
spent in the minors and he only played five games with Toronto. He managed
three hits in 15 at bats. More playing time came his way in 1986, this time
appearing in 87 games. He batted .196, hit five home runs, added 15 RBIs while
playing every position on the field except pitcher, catcher and first base.
He finally broke into the starting
lineup as the team’s everyday third baseman in 1987. In 138 games, he batted
.235, hit 12 home runs, added 36 RBIs and stole 12 bases. Even more success
followed in 1988 as Gruber was beginning to develop into the best player on the
ball club. A .278 average was accompanied by 16 home runs, 81 RBIs and what
would be career best 23 stolen bases.
As the Jays were on their way to
winning the AL East title in 1989, Gruber became an All-Star for the first
time. His average of .290 would be the highest of his career. He had 18 home
runs and 73 RBIs. In the ALCS (a five game loss to the Oakland A’s) Gruber
collected five hits, stole a base and scored two runs.
His breakout season would be
1990 as he became an All-Star again while winning a Gold Glove Award for his
defensive play (.955 fielding percentage) and a Silver Slugger Award. His
average dropped a bit to .274 but he walloped 31 home runs and added 118 RBIs. He
even finished fourth in the voting for the AL’s MVP award. But the team
struggled to be competitive and changes were needed for the 1991 season.
After trades brought in Joe
Carter, Roberto Alomar and Devon White, Gruber made headlines in Spring
Training by boldly predicting the Jays would have the AL East Division clinched
by the middle of September. While the team played well, Gruber struggled with
injuries and his numbers dropped. A .252 average, 20 home runs and 65 RBIs were
a far cry from his performance from a year earlier. The Jays did indeed win the
division, but did so in the final week of the season. They lost the ALCS to
Minnesota in five games, although Gruber had six hits and four RBIs in the
series.
On a personal level, Gruber’s
1992 was horrible. Injuries plagued him again and he appeared in only 120
games. His batting average plummeted to .220, he only hit 11 home runs and 43
RBIs. Even worse, Toronto fans were getting on the former All-Star, constantly
booing him whenever he came to the plate. However, Toronto manager, Cito
Gaston, stuck with Gruber as the Jays won the division for the second year in a
row.
In the ALCS against the Oakland
Athletics, Toronto won in six games to advance to the World Series. But Gruber
only managed two hits in 22 at bats (a dismal .091 average) but one of the hits
was a home run to help win Game 2 of the series.
In the World Series against
Atlanta, despite having a .105 average (two hits in 19 at bats) he had quite an
eventful series. In the second game, he caught the final out in a Jays’ win and
then mocked the Atlanta fans by mimicking their Tomahawk Chop. In Game 3, he
was on the back-end of a play that should have been a triple play, but the
second-base umpire somehow missed his tag of Atlanta outfielder Deion Sanders.
In the same game, he hit a game-tying home run, despite having torn his rotator
cuff on the near triple play.
In the fourth game, his
head-first slide into home plate with what would turn out to be the
game-winning run was also memorable, as he banged his chin in the dirt when
making the slide, and appeared to be a bit concussed, but he stayed in the
game.
Even though the Jays would win
the World Series, Gruber’s time in a Toronto uniform was over. He was traded to
the California Angels before the 1993 season and only played in 18 games with
the Halos before being forced to retire due to a bone spur on his spine.
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