Thomas Alan Grieve (born March 4, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1979 for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He was nicknamed "TAG", which are his initials, and most notably as "Mr. Ranger", as he was a member of the Texas Rangers' 1972 inaugural season. In 2010, Grieve was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame.

Biography

Baseball career

Grieve was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1966 MLB June Amateur Draft from Pittsfield High School. Before signing with Washington in the summer of 1966, Grieve played in the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) with the Chatham Red Sox. He hit .416 in 25 games, and in 2010 was inducted into the CCBL Hall of Fame.

Grieve's best season was 1976 with the Rangers when he hit .255, belted 20 home runs and had 81 runs batted in.

Grieve was traded along with Kim Seaman from the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Pete Falcone at the Winter Meetings on December 5, 1978. Primarily an outfielder and a designated hitter, the right-handed batter finished his career with a .249 average, 65 homers and 254 RBIs in 670 games.

General Manager

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1979 season, Grieve joined the Rangers' front office, and did his first work as a color commentator for Rangers television broadcasts during the 1980 season. In 1984 Grieve became general manager of the Rangers, and served in that capacity until 1994. In December 1988 Grieve made one of the best trades in team history, acquiring Rafael Palmeiro and Jamie Moyer from the Chicago Cubs for Mitch Williams. That same winter he acquired future batting champion Julio Franco. However, he also traded away several future stars, including Sammy Sosa in 1989 and Robb Nen in 1993.

thumb|right|Grieve (right) alongside former Rangers commentator [[Josh Lewin]]

Broadcasting career

Since 1995, Grieve has served as the color commentator for the Texas Rangers, which is the longest tenure of any TV broadcaster in Texas Rangers club history.

References

  • Baseball Reference (Minors)
  • Retrosheet