Grilli Grilled Rice (More than) Twice

Sometimes, familiar (slugging) faces aren't all that comforting

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1977 Topps Steve Grilli (#506) - Card of the Day

Steve Grilli began his baseball card career like many pitching prospects did in the 1970s — as a tiny head on one of those four-man Topps rookie cards that upped the odds for hobby success but didn’t do much for the family scrapbook.

It was an understandable beginning for Grilli, though, who first appeared on 1976 Topps card #591, along with Craig Mitchell, Jose Sosa, and George Throop.

After all, he had signed with the Detroit Tigers as an undrafted amateur free agent out of Gannon University in July 1970. From there, he spent parts of six seasons in Detroit’s minor league system, alternating between starting and relieving.

Though it was a long road, Grilli made steady progress toward the majors, regularly posting double-digit wins and ERAs around 3 — sometimes well under, only once over (4.13 in 1974).

Grilli went 11-4 with 12 saves and a 3.00 ERA for Triple-A Evansville in 1975 before finally getting the call to Detroit. On September 19, manager Ralph Houk brought Grilli in to finish off a 9-7 loss to the Red Sox. The right-hander gave up two hits and a walk but also struck out three in three innings.

He gave up one unearned run.

That performance earned Grilli two more appearances as the Tigers wrapped up a wretched 57-102 season, and also the leadoff spot on that 1976 Topps rookie card.

Oh, and also a full season in Detroit in 1976. During that Bicentennial summer, Grilli made 36 relief appearances, going 3-1 with a 4.64 ERA and three saves. That was actually good for second on the team to closer John Hiller’s 13 saves.

That was enough proof for Topps, who not only kept Grilli in their 1977 lineup but also gave him the solo card you see up above.

That same summer, 1977, Grilli was one of the older members on the Detroit pitching staff at age 28. Houk found a game spot for him 30 times, including two starts, and Grilli responded with a 1-2 record and 4.83 ERA.

That apparently wasn’t promising enough for a young Tigers team trying to build big things on the backs of prospects like Jack Morris, Dan Petry, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish, and others.

So in February of 1978, Detroit sold Grilli’s rights to the Blue Jays, who parked him down on the farm in 1978 and 1979. Grilli made it to Toronto for one September appearance in 1979, and that was the end of his major league career.

After 33 games at Triple-A for the Jays in 1980 and 32 split between the Jays and Orioles, Grilli was done in pro ball at age 32.

No doubt, though, that Grilli spent plenty of time in big league stadiums watching his son Jason Grilli, an All-Star reliever who spent 15 years in the bigs starting in 2000.

Today, the elder Grilli hurler turns 75 years old.

Slugging Symmetry

Can you guess who the first batter that Grilli faced in the majors was? If you said, “Jim Rice,” I applaud your ability to notice that 1982 Topps Rice card up there (#750).

And you’re right — Grilli struck out Rice looking in the top of the seventh inning on September 19, 1975, when they were both rookies (technically, Grilli was still a rookie in 1976, too).

Now, do you know who the last batter Grilli faced in the majors was?

Amazingly, it was also Rice.

Grilli coaxed the then-reigning American League MVP into a pop-out to second base to end the top of the fifth inning on September 17, 1979. By then, Grilli was with the Blue Jays, and Rice was still mashing for the Red Sox.

In between, Rice came to the plate ten other times against Grilli, and his 12 plate appearances v. the right-hander topped all MLB batters. Overall, Rice went 3-for-12 with two singles, a double, a walk, two strikeouts, and one RBI against Grilli.

By the way, I took that lunging-swing Rice to task in an article a while back, right here.

Along those same lines, we recently had a fun conversation on Twitter/X about the worst baseball card of a Hall of Famer — which one would you choose?

You can see the full thread here.

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The week’s almost over —have you spent enough time with your baseball cards? You can’t just stick ‘em in a dark corner and expect them to wait for you, you know.

Well, I mean, of course you can. That’s one of the beauties of this hobby…it’s always there when you want or need it.

But still, you really should show your cards a little love. They’re guaranteed to love you right back.

Thanks for reading.

—Adam