# Johnny Grabowski

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{{Short description|American baseball player (1900–1946)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Johnny Grabowski
|image=Johnny Grabowski.jpg
|position=[Catcher](/source/Catcher)
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1900|1|7}}
|birth_place=[Ware, Massachusetts](/source/Ware%2C_Massachusetts), U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1946|5|23|1900|1|7}}
|death_place=[Albany, New York](/source/Albany%2C_New_York), U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=July 11
|debutyear=1924
|debutteam=Chicago White Sox
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 21
|finalyear=1931
|finalteam=Detroit Tigers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball))
|stat1value=.252
|stat2label=[Home run](/source/Home_run)s
|stat2value=3
|stat3label=[Runs batted in](/source/Runs_batted_in)
|stat3value=86
|teams=
*[Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox)  ({{mlby|1924}}–{{mlby|1926}})
*[New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees) ({{mlby|1927}}–{{mlby|1929}})
*[Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) ({{mlby|1931}})
|highlights=
*2× [World Series champion](/source/World_Series_champion) ({{wsy|1927}}, {{wsy|1928}})
}}

'''John Patrick Grabowski''' (January 7, 1900 – May 23, 1946) was an American [baseball](/source/baseball) player. He played professional baseball for 12 years from 1922 to 1933, including seven years as a [catcher](/source/catcher) in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) with the [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox) (1924–1926), [New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees) (1927–1929), and [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) (1931). He was a member of the [1927](/source/1927_New_York_Yankees_season) and [1928 New York Yankees](/source/1928_New_York_Yankees_season) teams that won consecutive World Series championships. Grabowski was one of a number of American athletes in the first half of the 20th century to be [nicknamed "Nig"](/source/Nig_(nickname)), being referred to as such in newspaper reports as early as October 1924.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77400812/joe-neidl-signed-by-all-dorp-five-for-co/ |title=Joe Neidl Signed by All-Dorp Five for Court Labors |newspaper=[The Post-Star](/source/The_Post-Star) |location=[Glens Falls, New York](/source/Glens_Falls%2C_New_York) |page=6 |date=October 10, 1924 |accessdate=May 9, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

==Early years==

Grabowski was born in [Ware, Massachusetts](/source/Ware%2C_Massachusetts), in 1900 to a family of [Polish descent](/source/Polish_Americans).<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Johnny Grabowski Major League Statistics|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=March 27, 2016|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/grabojo01.shtml}}</ref>

==Professional baseball==
Grabowski began his professional baseball career in 1922 with the St. Joseph Saints, then spent 1923 and 1924 with the [Minneapolis Millers](/source/Minneapolis_Millers) of  the [American Association](/source/American_Association_(20th_century)).<ref name=BR2>{{cite web|title=Johnny Grabowski Minor League Statistics|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=March 27, 2016|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=grabow002joh}}</ref> He was traded to the [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox) in July 1924 and made his major league debut that month.<ref>{{cite news|title=Grabowski Is New White Sox Catcher, Secretary States|newspaper=Arizona Republic|date=July 7, 1924|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4764708/grabowski_is_new_white_sox_catcher/|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} </ref> Grabowski played for the White Sox for three years, from 1924 to 1926, appearing in 89 games, 78 of them as a catcher.<ref name=BR/> One of the games Grabowski caught was [Ted Lyons](/source/Ted_Lyons)' [no-hitter](/source/no-hitter) on August 21, 1926. <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1926/B08210BOS1926.htm|title=Retrosheet Boxscore: Chicago White Sox 6, Boston Red Sox 0}}</ref>

In January 1927, the White Sox traded Grabowski to the [New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees).<ref>{{cite news|title=Yankees Trade Aaron Ward To White Sox|newspaper=Pittsburgh Gazette Times|date=January 14, 1927|page=11|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JIxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-GgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4323%2C4335911|via=Google News Archive}}</ref> He had his best season for the 1927 "[Murderer's Row](/source/Murderer's_Row)" [New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees), considered by some to be the best baseball team in history. Grabowski appeared in 70 games for the 1927 Yankees, sharing the catching duty with [Pat Collins](/source/Pat_Collins_(film_critic)) and [Benny Bengough](/source/Benny_Bengough) in 1927. Grabowski had a .350 on-base percentage for the 1927 Yankees. He remained with the Yankees through the 1929 season and won two [World Series](/source/World_Series) championships with the Yankees in 1927 and 1928.<ref name=BR/>

After spending 1930 with the [St. Paul Saints](/source/St._Paul_Saints), Grabowski returned to the major leagues in 1931 with the [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers).<ref>{{cite news|title=Johnny Grabowski Conspicuous By His Silence|author=Harry Bullion|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=March 1, 1931|page=25|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4764942/johnny_grabowski_conspicuous_by_his/|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} </ref> He appeared in 40 games with the Tigers, 39 as a catcher. He appeared in his last major league game in September 1931. In seven major league seasons, Grabowski appeared in 296 games, 282 as a catcher, and compiled a career .252 batting average and .295 [on-base percentage](/source/on-base_percentage).<ref name=BR/>

Grabowski concluded his playing career playing for the [Montreal Royals](/source/Montreal_Royals) of the [International League](/source/International_League) in 1932 and 1933.<ref name=BR2/>

==Later years==
After retiring as a player, Grabowski became an umpire in the [Canadian–American League](/source/Canadian%E2%80%93American_League) (1937), [Eastern League](/source/Eastern_League_(1938%E2%80%932020)) (1938–1939), and International League (1940–1941). He suffered severe burns in 1946 after a fire at his home in [Guilderland, New York](/source/Guilderland%2C_New_York). He died of his injuries at St. Peter's Hospital in [Albany, New York](/source/Albany%2C_New_York), at age 46.<ref>{{cite news|title=Grabowski, Former Yankees Catcher, Dies|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=May 23, 1946|page=20|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4764504/grabowski_former_yankees_catcher_dies/|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}} </ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{baseballstats|mlb=|espn=|br=g/grabojo01|fangraphs=|brm=grabow002joh|retro=G/Pgrabj101}}
*{{findagrave|13653430}}
*[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/johnny-grabowski/ Johnny Grabowski] at [SABR](/source/Society_for_American_Baseball_Research) Bio Project

{{1927 New York Yankees}}
{{1928 New York Yankees}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grabowski, Johnny}}
Category:1900 births
Category:1946 deaths
Category:Chicago White Sox players
Category:Detroit Tigers players
Category:New York Yankees players
Category:Major League Baseball catchers
Category:Baseball players from Hampshire County, Massachusetts
Category:Accidental deaths in New York (state)
Category:St. Joseph Saints players
Category:Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Category:St. Paul Saints (AA) players
Category:Montreal Royals players
Category:People from Ware, Massachusetts
Category:People from Guilderland, New York
Category:Deaths from fire in the United States
Category:American people of Polish descent
Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Category:20th-century American sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Johnny Grabowski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Grabowski) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Grabowski?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.