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Pittsburgh Pirates legend Dick Groat has died at age 92, the team announced Thursday

Groat was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, went to high school in Swissvale (a Pittsburgh suburb) and then played nine of his 14 MLB seasons with the Pirates. 

Signed by the Pirates out of Duke University in 1952, Groat finished third in Rookie of the Year voting that same season. He missed the next two seasons due to military service. Upon his return, he played the next eight years for the Pirates, making six All-Star teams and winning the 1960 MVP. 

In that 1960 season, Groat won the batting title (.325) and was the two-hole hitter for a Pirates team that shocked the heavily favored Yankees in seven games in the World Series. The series is most-famously known for the Bill Mazeroski walk-off home run in Game 7, but Groat was 2 for 4 with an RBI double in a Game 1 Pirates win. 

Earlier this year, the Pirates inducted Groat into their team Hall of Fame. 

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of such a beloved member of the Pirates family and Pittsburgh community," Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement. "The National League MVP and World Series Champion in 1960, Dick remained a very active and cherished member of our Alumni Association. We were honored to have just recently informed Dick and his family that he had been selected to the Pirates Hall of Fame. He was a great player and an even better person. Our thoughts go out to his three daughers, eleven grandchildren and the entire Groat family. His was a life well lived. He will be missed."

Groat also spent three seasons with the Cardinals, parts of two with the Phillies and 34 games with the Giants. He was an All-Star and finished second in MVP voting with the Cardinals in 1963, leading the majors with 43 doubles while hitting .319. In 1964, he was again an All-Star and was a middle-order hitter on the World Series champion Cardinals. 

In nearly 2,000 career MLB games, Groat hit .286 with an 89 OPS+. He collected 2,138 hits, 352 of which were doubles. He was well known for excelling at the hit-and-run and rarely struck out. 

While in college, he was also a two-time All-American basketball player for Duke. He is a college basketball Hall of Famer and his number 10 is retired by Duke. 

A Pittsburgh lifer, Groat was a color commentator on the radio for Pittsburgh Panthers college basketball games for 40 years, only recently retiring from the job (after the 2019 season). 

According to the Pirates, Groat is survived by his daughters Tracey, Carol Ann and Allison, along with 11 grandchildren.