Orval Grove - Prime Years

Prime Years

As the 1943 season began, the White Sox held strong doubts about Grove's status as a pitcher. They were so doubtful of his recovery from knee surgery that Grove was signed to a $1 contract until he could prove that his playing ability was back on par with the abilities of the other White Sox pitchers. After Grove proved himself in spring training, manager Jimmy Dykes gave him his first major test of the season against the New York Yankees in relief of Eddie Smith. He won the game in extra innings, and was placed in the starting rotation. In 1943, Grove had to deal with issues related to World War II and the selective service. He was originally classified as 3-A, meaning that registration was deferred due to hardship to dependents, but was ordered to take the selective service screening examination in Cleveland in mid-May. After the examination, Grove was classified as 4-F, making him ineligible for military service, which meant that he could continue his baseball career.

Grove took advantage of his place in Chicago's starting rotation by winning nine consecutive decisions to start his season and by not losing a game until a contest against the Yankees, which he lost as the result of a balk. At the time, Grove became the second member of the White Sox to win nine consecutive decisions to start a season. The first pitcher to win nine straight games for the team was Lefty Williams in 1917, and the only one to do it since Grove was LaMarr Hoyt in 1982. On July 8, 1943, Grove nearly became one of the few pitchers in baseball history to pitch a no-hitter. In a game against the Yankees, he was one out away from pitching a no-hitter when Joe Gordon came up to bat. Gordon hit a double to left field that was fair by inches, ending Grove's closest bid for a Major League no-hitter. Grove finished the season with career bests in ERA (2.75), wins (15), and complete games (18). He led the White Sox that season in ERA, wins, innings pitched, complete games, and strikeouts; at the time, Grove was the youngest pitcher on the team's staff. Grove's personal life improved along with his career. On January 8, 1944, he married Catherine Sloan, having met her at a party thrown for the White Sox by her father, Francis Sloan, a year and a half earlier.

Grove started the 1944 season with an interesting honor: he was assigned to the 4-F All-Star team, a group of 25 major league players who were the best of those exempt from military service. Grove was given the job of being the Opening Day starting pitcher for the White Sox. He pitched the first game of the season against the Cleveland Indians and their starting pitcher, Al Smith, on April 19, 1944, and won 3–1. Grove also managed to shut out the Yankees on May 18; it was the first time the Yankees had not scored a run in 1944. By mid-season, Grove had seven wins, six losses, five complete games, and a 3.40 ERA. Because of these statistics, he was selected to the American League All-Star team, his first and only career appearance. Five American League pitchers pitched in the All-Star Game on July 11, although Grove was one of the four on the roster who did not; therefore, his lone All-Star appearance was indeed only an appearance. During the second half of the season, Grove performed well at Comiskey Park, but struggled on the road, at one point losing five straight games despite good run support from the White Sox. Grove finished the season with 14 wins, 15 losses, an ERA of 3.72, two shutouts, and a career best of nearly 235 innings pitched.

There was a sense of closure for Grove before the beginning of the 1945 season, as he was awarded $310 ($3,953 today) in damages for the auto accident in 1941. He held out for a new contract in the off-season, and finally signed with the White Sox a couple weeks before the beginning of the season after becoming the last remaining holdout. Grove was the workhorse of the White Sox, leading the team in games pitched (33) and started (30), while remaining the youngest pitcher on the roster. He finished the season with 217 pitched innings, a career best four shutouts, a 14–12 record, and a 3.44 ERA.

The 1946 season saw Grove persist as a stable part of the White Sox pitching rotation. He pitched in 33 games during the season, second to closer Earl Caldwell, and started in 26, second to Ed Lopat's 29. His best outing of the season occurred on August 3 against the Washington Senators. Grove pitched a complete game and threw to the minimum 27 batters, allowing three hits and a walk, all of which were negated by double plays. He finished the season with more losses than wins because he was eager to succeed and was trying too hard, and because of this the coaching staff planned to make Grove into "as good a pitcher most of the time as he is some of the time". At the end of the 1946 season, Grove had eight wins and 13 losses, a 3.02 ERA, 10 complete games, and a league-leading 10 wild pitches.