What years did Johnny Groth play?

Johnny Groth played in Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1960.

Was Johnny Groth a pitcher?

No. Johnny Groth was a position player (Outfielder).

How many home runs did Johnny Groth hit?

Johnny Groth hit 60 career home runs with 1064 hits.

What was Johnny Groth's career batting average?

Johnny Groth batted .279 over his career, with 1,064 hits in 3,808 at bats.

How many RBI did Johnny Groth have?

Johnny Groth drove in 486 runs in his career.

Is Johnny Groth in the Hall of Fame?

No. Johnny Groth has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Johnny Groth

Outfielder · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1946-1960)

Johnny Groth was an outfielder who played in Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1960 for 5 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 15 seasons. In 1,248 career games, he hit .279 with 1,064 hits, 60 home runs, and 486 RBI. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 2,610.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 12, 2026

AVG .279

HR 60

RBI 486

H 1,064

OPS .746

PIV 2,610

Position: Outfielder
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 182 lb
Born: 7/23/1926 in Chicago, IL, USA
Died: 8/7/2021 in Palm Beach, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 1946-09-05
Last Game: 1960-07-28

Full name: John Thomas Groth

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Career Batting Statistics

Johnny Groth — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
1,248	3,808	480	1,064	197	31	60	486	19	419	329	.279	.352	.395	.746	2,610

Career AVG .279 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — +7.6% above league average.

Career OBP .352 vs. league average .333 across their career seasons — +5.7% above league average.

Career SLG .395 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OPS .746 vs. league average .719 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Groth Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1946	DET	AL	4	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1947	DET	AL	2	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1948	DET	AL	6	17	3	8	3	0	1	5	0	1	1	.471	—	—	—	—	0.0
1949	DET	AL	103	348	60	102	19	5	11	73	3	65	27	.293	.262 (+12%)	.343 (+19%)	.384 (+23%)	.727 (+21%)	1543.1
1950	DET	AL	157	566	95	173	30	8	12	85	1	95	27	.306	.265 (+15%)	.346 (+18%)	.401 (+12%)	.747 (+15%)	2030.1
1951	DET	AL	118	428	41	128	29	1	3	49	1	31	32	.299	.260 (+15%)	.336 (+4%)	.385 (+2%)	.721 (+3%)	188.4
1952	DET	AL	141	524	56	149	22	2	4	51	2	51	39	.284	.252 (+13%)	.326 (+6%)	.369 (-3%)	.696 (+1%)	186.2
1953	SLA	AL	141	557	65	141	27	4	10	57	5	42	53	.253	.264 (-4%)	.335 (-8%)	.397 (-7%)	.733 (-8%)	-753.0
1954	CHA	AL	125	422	41	116	20	0	7	60	3	42	37	.275	.261 (+5%)	.333 (+2%)	.390 (-5%)	.723 (-1%)	-46.2
1955	CHA	AL	32	77	13	26	7	0	2	11	1	6	13	.338	.258 (+31%)	.332 (+13%)	.393 (+29%)	.726 (+22%)	256.2
1955	WS1	AL	63	183	22	40	4	5	2	17	2	18	18	.219	.258 (-15%)	.332 (-14%)	.393 (-17%)	.726 (-15%)	256.2
1956	KC1	AL	95	244	22	63	13	3	5	37	1	30	31	.258	.258 (avg)	.331 (+1%)	.397 (avg)	.728 (avg)	-2.6
1957	KC1	AL	55	59	10	15	0	0	0	2	0	7	6	.254	.257 (-1%)	.323 (+3%)	.391 (-35%)	.715 (-18%)	-133.5
1957	DET	AL	38	103	11	30	10	0	0	16	0	6	7	.291	.257 (+13%)	.323 (+3%)	.391 (-1%)	.715 (+1%)	-133.5
1958	DET	AL	88	146	24	41	5	2	2	11	0	13	19	.281	.257 (+9%)	.324 (+5%)	.394 (-3%)	.719 (+1%)	28.5
1959	DET	AL	55	102	12	24	7	1	1	10	0	7	14	.235	.256 (-8%)	.323 (-12%)	.392 (-10%)	.715 (-11%)	-194.4
1960	DET	AL	25	19	3	7	1	0	0	2	0	3	1	.368	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 17 seasons			1,248	3,808	480	1,064	197	31	60	486	19	419	329	.279	—	—	—	—	3,225

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1248 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Groth — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	635	1890	224	544	28	261	.288
Away	613	1917	255	520	32	226	.271

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Groth — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO
1960-07-28	DET	MIN	L	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
1960-07-27	DET	MIN	L	4	0	2	1	1	0	1
1960-07-26	DET	MIN	W	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
1960-07-24	DET	BAL	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1960-07-08	DET	KC1	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1960-07-06	DET	KC1	L	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
1960-07-03	DET	NYY	L	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1960-06-25	DET	MIN	L	1	0	1	0	1	0	0
1960-06-22	DET	NYY	L	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1960-06-21	DET	NYY	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Groth — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
OF	1155	343	2566	82	36	23

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Groth — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1946	DET	OF	4	0	6	0	0	0
1947	DET	OF	1	0	5	0	0	0
1948	DET	OF	4	0	8	1	1	1
1949	DET	OF	99	0	247	8	9	3
1950	DET	OF	157	0	374	9	6	0
1951	DET	OF	112	0	266	12	2	3
1952	DET	OF	139	0	329	14	5	3
1953	SLA	OF	141	0	425	18	4	5
1954	CHA	OF	125	121	314	7	4	3
1955	CHA	OF	26	21	61	1	0	0
1955	WS1	OF	48	46	122	2	2	1
1956	KC1	OF	84	61	140	8	0	3
1957	KC1	OF	50	16	37	0	1	0
1957	DET	OF	36	24	73	0	0	0
1958	DET	OF	80	31	95	2	1	1
1959	DET	OF	41	21	58	0	1	0
1960	DET	OF	8	2	6	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Groth Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Left Field	123
Center Field	962
Right Field	84

Award Voting History

Johnny Groth — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1949	Rookie of the Year	AL	4th	1.0	24	1

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Johnny Groth (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Johnny Groth: the record in brief

Johnny Groth played a first major league game on September 5, 1946 and a last one on July 28, 1960. Groth played for the Detroit Tigers (1946 to 1960), the St. Louis Browns (1953), the Chicago White Sox (1954 through 1955), the Washington Senators (1955), and the Kansas City Athletics (1956 to 1957). Groth, born on July 23, 1926, in Chicago, IL, USA, is listed as an outfielder and threw and hit right-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-0 and 182 pounds. Groth died on August 7, 2021, in Palm Beach, FL, USA. Johnny Groth was the playing name; the full given name is John Thomas.

Groth finished with 1,064 hits from 3,808 at bats in 1,248 games, which works out to .279; the totals also include 60 homers and 486 runs batted in. On-base and slugging figures of .352 and .395 give Groth a career OPS of .746. Measured against the leagues Groth played in, the .279 career average compares with a .260 league average over the same seasons, 7.6% above the league.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Groth

What years did Johnny Groth play?: Johnny Groth played in Major League Baseball from 1946 to 1960.
Was Johnny Groth a pitcher?: No. Johnny Groth was a position player (Outfielder).
How many home runs did Johnny Groth hit?: Johnny Groth hit 60 career home runs with 1064 hits.
What was Johnny Groth's career batting average?: Johnny Groth batted .279 over his career, with 1,064 hits in 3,808 at bats.
How many RBI did Johnny Groth have?: Johnny Groth drove in 486 runs in his career.
Is Johnny Groth in the Hall of Fame?: No. Johnny Groth has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.