Elliott: R. I. P. Dick (The Legend) Groch
From Skinny Kid to HOFer
Former New York Yankees scout Dick (The Legend) Groch with first rounder SS Derek Jeter.
October 3, 2025
Former New York Yankees scout Dick (The Legend) Groch drafted SS Derek Jeter, who went from The Skinny Kid, to The Shortstop and eventually The Captain ... and soon Cooperstown came calling.
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
He was originally referred to as “The Skinny Kid,” by Don Mattingly when he arrived at spring training from high school.
When he made 56 errors at class-A Greensboro in 1993, there were discussions about making The Kid an outfielder.
And when given the job as the starting shortstop (Tony Fernandez had a broken elbow) New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner didn’t think The Rookie could handle it on an every day basis.
So, the Yanks talked trade with the Seattle Mariners, attempting to obtain Felix Fermin as a back-up in case The Kid didn’t work out. The cost was going to be a struggling starter. His name was Mariano Rivera. Obviously that didn’t come to fruition, but can you imagine if Steinbrenner had made that deal?
“The Skinny Kid,” was a “little bigger the next spring, then started to look like something,” Mattingly, then Los Angeles Dodger manager said. “Then he’s a star. Someone must have known what they saw.”
Yankee scout Dick (The Legend) Groch knew what he saw from the time he walked into an evaluation camp in Mount Morris, Mich. The Shortstop was in grade 11 and about the third ground ball Groch remembered one day driving I-75 north through Michigan ...
“He went into the hole, did that jump step of his and the ball sizzled to first,” peompting Groch to say aloud ‘I thought this camp was supposed to be kids. That was a big-league play.’ Then, he ran a 4.0 to first -- hey there’s the Mount Morris exit.”
Before the draft Groch asked The Shortstop some questions about his hitting style, “his approach was always to inside-out the ball.” So the scout asked the prospect why he went to right centre so often?
“That’s my choice,” The Shortstop told Groch, “my dad spent a lot of time teaching me to go where the ball is pitched.” And that was the right answer
“You saw the bat when he got that high fastball he could extend his arm,” Groch said. “He could pull the ball down the left field line -- the shortest distance in our park -- and he could hit the ball to right centre -- the second shortest distance in our park.”
The Shortstop hit 25 homers in 1999, 23 in 2004, 21 in 2001 and 19 in 1998 and 2005. He hit 18 in 2002, 2009, 2000 and 2012 ... 259 and counting.
Groch, right, makes a presentation to Jeter on his final trip into Milwaukee as Brewers GM Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.) looks on
* * *
Groch admits The Shortstop looked like a skinny underdeveloped player. He was at 6-foot-1, 159 pounds. The first five drafted in the 1992 players were collegians:
1. Astros, 3B Phil Nevin, California State Fullerton, who played 1,217 games in the majors.
2. Indians RHP Paul Shuey, North Carolina, who pitched in 476 games.
3. Expos LHP B.J. Wallace, Mississippi State, who peaked at double-A Harrisburg.
4. Orioles OF Jeffrey Hammonds, Stanford, who played 957 games.
5. Reds OF Chad Mottola, Central Florida, who played 59 games.
Jeter was next and he retired after 2,747 games, plus another 734 in post-season play, winning four World Series.
* * *
In his native Michigan, he’s known as “The Legend.’’ He built the St. Clair Community College into a powerhouse and a home for Ontario players, like Bill Byckowski,
And on diamonds across Canada, he earned the moniker for his scouting prowess. Except this spring he wasn’t around.
Groch, who used to cover Canada for the Yankees accompanied general manager Doug Melvin to the Milwaukee Brewers, was the winner of 2003 Canadian Baseball Network’s annual scout-of-the-year honour.
Besides scouting and signing Canadians, Groch spent six years coaching Team Canada under Bill MacKenzie until 1986.
The Mount Pleasant, Mich. resident helped the likes of Steve Wilson, Mike Gardiner and Kevin Reimer, who all went on to play in the majors, as well as Rob Thomson, the current Philadelphia Phillies manager, plus former Brantford Red Sox star Brian McRobie.
Groch signed a number of Canadians over the years: Lefty John Picco (La Salle, Ont.), RHP Chris Kemlo (Oshawa, Ont.), RHP Reggie Laplante (Beauport, Que.) and OF Jason Wuerch (Leamington, Ont.).
His best sign, however, was a shortstop from his home state. Yankees scouting director Bill Livesey, who later worked for the Jays under J. P. Ricciardi, went around the table asking questions leading up to the 1992 draft and this exchange took place:
Livesey: “Where’s this kid going? University of Michigan?”
Groch: “No, he’s not going to Michigan.”
Livesey: “Well, where is he going to go?”
Groch: “This kid’s going to Cooperstown.”
The kid was Jeter, who signed an $700,000 US bonus to turn pro.
Groch also signed major leaguers Hal Morris, Scott Kamieniecki, Mark Hutton, Hensley (Bam Bam) Muelens, Drew Henson, Casey Close (who now represents Jeter), Tim Belcher and Tim Birtsas.
He was also known as a hoops stud ... with the Olivet Jets where in 1961 he was named to the Michigan NAIA all-state basketball team in 1961 for a third straight year. Witnesses say his best move was a two-hand dunk known as “Air-Groch.”
Our most favourite conversation -- out of many with The Legend -- came in 2002 on draft day. I answered the phone and Groch, the Michigan resident, said
“Hello Neighbour.”
“Hello Legend. You driving?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you headed?”
“Home to Michigan. I was in Toronto ... we were going to pick Joey Votto with our second-round pick but Cincinnati grabbed him first. His swing would have been perfect for Yankee Stadium. It’s going to be a long drive home. He’s going to be a great player. I thought we had a shot.”
* * *
“Back in 1992, a shortstop did not have to hit, if you could run, field and throw you were headed to the big leagues like Eddie Brinkman, Ray Oyler and Mark Belanger,” Groch said.
And at class-A Greensboro, Jeter turned 57 double plays, but had 56 clanks and an .889 fielding percentage.
“Some people thought he was not a prototypical shortstop because his legs were too long, but most of his errors were throwing,” said Groch, who became the Brewers general top scout.
Former Tigers scout Bill Schudlich remembers bumping into Yankees executive Bill Livesey in Texas one day.
Livesey told Schudlich: “I can’t believe it. All my coaches think he’ll never play shortstop. They think he needs to be an outfielder. Listen, he’s not moving off of shortstop; I don’t care if he makes 100 errors.’ ”
The Shortstop broke in May 29, 1995, was in the opening day lineup the next year and was there until he retired. He was durable save for the time he broke his left ankle in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers.
“That was the first time there was a dent in his armor, he showed he was infallible like everyone else,” Groch said. “Players were looking at each other: what do we do now? The Captain is down. It permeated from the dugout to the stands. The next day you could have dropped a penny at Yankee Stadium and hear it bounce in downtown Manhattan.”
Legendary scout Eddie Bane, who drafted Mike Trout and a ton of other Angels blue chippers once said that the shortstop “is 90% of scouts’ favourite player. Guys appreciate the way he plays the game every day all the time.”
The other night in Pittsburgh scout Jax Robertson leaned forward and told Groch that the shortstop “might be the greatest sign ever.” No one is sending The Shortstop an ice cream sandwich as a Seattle Mariners scout did to Jesus Montero at a minor-league game due to his battle with weight problems.
“I didn’t sign an all-star, I signed a franchise player,” Groch said. “They paid him a lot of money but he made the New York Yankees a lot of money.
“I give his parents -- Dorothy and Dr. Charles -- a lot of credit. They were as consistent and grounded as the way he handled this going back to when he was drafted.”
* * *
Plenty knock The Shortstop’s lack of range, arm and offensive numbers.
“There are different standards for different positions,” Groch said. “Take the batting average, on-base, OPS and toss it. What he did will never be duplicated in our lifetime. Mike Trout may make the Hall of Fame, but he won’t win five World Series.
“The Shortstop’s total value to the franchise because of the intangibles were immeasurable. Forget the baseball end of it. There are more of his jerseys than any other player. All those kids want to be like him, not only as a player but as human being.”
Both in Milwaukee when the Yankees made their final visit and again in Detroit, Groch had the chance to talk to The Shortstop. He told him how with the Brewers in the hunt he might not make the Yankees final game -- there are possible Brewers opponents to scout for October.
He told The Shortstop how many people wanted to be like him, how he gave the Yankees their image, gave them the energy, had the chance to affect 1,000s of lives.
“Forget the rest, just look at all those kids in the t-shirts, you gave the fans a superhero,” Groch told The Shortstop.
The scout told him how he appreciated the way The Shortstop always had the “same smile, always looked you in the eye, his eyes are riveted on the person he was talking to ... making you feel like you were the most important person in the world.” And how some guys would be “looking to see if their shoes are tied or to see whatever scouts were there. That’s class.”
Groch said The Shortstop answered with “thank you very much, I appreciate your comments, you made me a Yankee.”
* * *
Groch took his son Brian to see Mickey Mantle’s last name at Tiger Stadium in 1968.
And Groch took his grandson Ronin to see Derek Jeter’s final game at Comerica Park in 2014.
“Like I told George King (New York Post) the other day, I wanted my family to see the final games in Detroit of two great Yankees,” said Groch. “It was a memorable thing.”
And like in Detroit, grandpas took their grand kids to see Jeter’s final game at the Rogers Centre Sunday afternoon.
* * *
Groch said he’s been outside Yankee Stadium and spotting a father with two young boys wearing Jeter jerseys.
“Going inside to watch the Yankees?” Groch asked, like any scout -- he knew the answer to the question before he asked it.
“No sir, we’re going inside to watch Derek Jeter,” the father answered.
* * *
With the Brewers — with Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.) and assistant GM Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.) Groch set up a network of scouts from coast to coast including Dale Tilleman (Taber, Alta.), Jay Lapp (London, Ont.), Richard Clemons (Toronto, Ont.) and others they signed:
Brock Kjeldgaard (London, Ont.), Alexandre Periard (St. Eustache, Que.), Mark James (Toronto, Ont.), Mehdi Djebbar (Cap-Rouge, Que.), Chris Dennis (Windsor, Ont.), Cam Robulack (Toronto, Ont.). Adam Arnold (Kamloops, BC), Nicholas Bucci (Sarnia, Ont.), Marcus Knecht (Toronto, Ont.), Nick Fogarty (Richmond Hill, Ont.), James Kottaras (North York, Ont.), Chandler McLaren (Guelph, Ont.), OF Chad Stang (Surrey, BC), SS Kyle Dhanani (White Rock, BC), RHP Jordan Wong (Calgary, Alta.), RHP Joel Pierce (Windsor, Ont.), OF Rowan Wick (North Vancouver), C-3B Dustin Houle (Penticton, BC), INF Jalen Harris (Toronto, Ont.), OF Steve Adam (Tecumseh, Ont.), RHP Bryan Saucedo (Toronto, Ont.), C Chris Shaw (Winnipeg, Man.), OF Derek Jones (Brampton, Ont.), INF Taylor Green (Comox, BC), INF Charles Leblanc (Laval, Que.), LHP Ben Onyshko (Winnipeg, Man.), OF Demi Orimoloye (Orleans, Ont.) and of course INF Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) who went 16th overall in the first round in 2008.
* * *
The Yankees held a moment of silence in Groch’s honor before Game 3 of the American League wild-card series with the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
Groch, who also worked in front office of the Montreal Expos, Groch was inducted into the Port Huron Hall of Fame, the National Junior College Hall of Fame, the Olivet College Athletic Hall and the St. Clair County Community College Hall of Fame. He died Wednesday in the Port Huron area, where he lived for decades at age 84.
Sympathies are extended to his wife of 63 years, Nancy; daughter Julie Aucar and sons Brian and Nicholas Groch; nine grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Visitation is scheduled for Oct. 7 at Grace Memorial-Smith Chapel in Port Huron, and a funeral mass will take place Oct. 8 at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Marysville.