Eddie Grant
From BR Bullpen
Edward Leslie Grant (Harvard Eddie)
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Weight 168 lb.
- School Harvard University
- Debut August 4, 1905
- Final Game October 6, 1915
- Born May 21, 1883 in Franklin, MA USA
- Died October 5, 1918 in the Argonne Forest, France
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[edit] Introduction and the Ultimate Sacrifice
"His memory will live as long as our game may last." - Kenesaw Mountain Landis
"Harvard" Eddie Grant died during deadly fighting in World War I, and is the most prominent major league baseball player to ever die in combat. (Several more prominent Japanese stars died in World War II, most notably Eiji Sawamura.) General John Pershing had ordered the troops to move forward against the Germans in their trenches. On the day in question, Grant's commanding officer had died, and Grant was put in charge of his battalion while searching for a lost battalion. Grant was hit by two shells and died in the Argonne Forest. A variety of articles have been written about Eddie Grant, the most recent of which appears in Smithsonian Magazine.
(A previous post states that others died in World War I) - there was also Bun Troy and Alex Burr, each of whom played one major league game. It may also be worth mentioning Ralph Sharman who drowned in training, and Larry Chappell and Harry Glenn who both died of influenza while in the Services in 1918.
[edit] Early life and schooling
Eddie Grant was an infielder for Franklin High School in Franklin MA; Dean Academy; Harvard University; various semipro; outlaw and minor league teams; and the Indians, Phillies, Reds and Giants for ten years until he retired to his law practice. He had attended Harvard Law School during the offseason of 1908-09 and Grant received his law degree and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar, and for the rest of his baseball career he practiced law in Boston during the winter months.
In 1902 he distinguished himself as the freshman basketball team's top scorer and, according to the Harvard Crimson, "a valuable team man and excellent left-handed batter" for the freshman baseball team. As a sophomore Eddie played varsity basketball and tried out for varsity baseball, but before the first game he was declared ineligible for having received money playing in an independent league the previous summer.
[edit] Major leagues
He was one of four players from Harvard University who broke into major league baseball during 1900-1910.
Eddie Grant was a typical Deadball Era third baseman: average offensively (as attested by his lifetime .249 batting average and .295 slugging percentage) but defensively reliable, particularly against the bunt. "As a batter [Grant] was noted for his ability to sacrifice."
Grant had a career of 10 seasons, appearing in 990 games. He finished in 1915, and was 32 when he retired from the major leagues. He appeared in one World Series, the 1913 Series. He scored a run as a pinch-runner in game 2. John McGraw was his manager from 1913-15 with the Giants.
[edit] France
Captain Grant led a mission in the Argonne Forest offensive to rescue the "Lost Battalion" trapped behind German lines. When he met with machine gun fire, he was first MLB ballplayer killed in wartime action in October 1918. A monument to his memory was placed in the Polo Grounds' deep centerfield, and each Memorial Day there was a wreath-laying ceremony at his plaque.
When the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, he became the first major leaguer to enlist (Hank Gowdy was the first active major leaguer). After four months of officer training in Plattsburg, New York, Grant was commissioned as captain of Company H of the 307th Infantry Regiment and sent to Camp Upton on Long Island for several months of training with the troops he would lead.
Arriving in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, Grant's division saw some combat before being assigned to the Meuse-Argonne offensive, the final great American drive of the war. On October 2, 1918, the 307th Regiment launched an attack in the Argonne Forest, a rugged, heavily wooded area with thick underbrush, deep ravines, and marshes.
By the morning of the third day, October 5, Eddie Grant was exhausted. He hadn't slept since the beginning of the offensive, and some fellow officers noticed him sitting on a stump with a cup of coffee in front of him, too weak to lift the cup. One of his troops, a former policeman at the Polo Grounds, remembered: "Eddie was dog-tired but he stepped off at the head of his outfit with no more concern than if he were walking to his old place at third base after his side had finished its turn at the bat. He staggered from weakness when he first started off, but pretty soon he was marching briskly with his head up."
Later that day the 307th was moving forward when Major Jay, as he was carried past on a litter, ordered Captain Grant, the highest-ranking officer left in his battalion, to assume command. The major had hardly spoken when a shell came through the trees, wounding two of Grant's lieutenants. Eddie was waiving his hands and calling out for more stretcher bearers when a shell struck him. It was a direct hit, killing him instantly. Grant was buried in the Argonne Forest, only a few yards from where he fell. Later his remains were moved to the Romagne Cemetery.
[edit] Remembrance
A monument in Grant's honor was unveiled at the Polo Grounds on Memorial Day 1921, and a highway in the Bronx, a baseball field at Dean Academy (now Dean College), and two American Legion posts still bear his name.
In the early stages of World War II, Judge Landis advocated Grant for the Hall of Fame to honor the courage and the sacrifice that Grant represented.
[edit] Related Sites
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