As we move into the summer months of our birthday series here at PSA, we are once again brought to a perhaps lesser known player in the deep history of baseball in the Bronx. Despite that less-than-household-name status, today’s entry highlights a 14-year big league career, an accomplishment in its own right, and a player with an all-time record to call his own. Buddy Groom only had a brief tenure with the Yankees, but throughout the early 1990s and early 2000s, the lefty was a staple in plenty of bullpens.
Wedsel Gary “Buddy” Groom Jr.
Born: July 10, 1965 (Dallas, TX)
Yankees Tenure: 2005
Wedsel Gary Groom, born in Dallas 61 years ago, did his college pitching two hours south in Belton at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The left-handed hurler made enough of a name for himself there to earn selection in the 12th round of the 1987 Draft, a pick made by the White Sox.
Before he could work his way all the way through Chicago’s minor league system, he was traded to the Tigers, where he would finally break into the big leagues. He’d pitch there for three seasons, with mostly forgettable returns, and would eventually be traded to the Marlins mid-year in ‘95, his first season with a fuller workload. Still, ERA marks above seven don’t move the needle much.
Groom signed with the Athletics prior to the 1995 season, and would pitch four full seasons with the A’s. His first year there was his best, when he posted a 3.84 ERA in a career-high 77.1 innings of work. Most notably, his tenure in Oakland established him as a durable left-handed option out of the ‘pen. His four years there marked the beginning of seven consecutive seasons in which he would make 70 or more appearances on the mound. From 1996-2002, Groom’s 511 appearances were the third most in all of baseball.
The reliever’s scenery changed for the 2000 season, when he signed with the Orioles, beginning a four-season run in Baltimore. His 2002 season with the O’s was by far the best of his career, when he posted a sparkling 1.60 ERA across 62 innings of work. One of the fun things about relief pitching, is that sometimes a guy can just find it, and clearly Groom did so during that ‘02 campaign.
The lefty pitched with Baltimore through the 2004 season, before hitting free agency once again in the following offseason. In February of 2005, Groom signed with the Yankees to pitch in the Bronx for his age-39 season.
Now in his late-30s, Groom’s stuff had diminished, and he only pitched 25.2 innings across 24 appearances for the Yankees to begin the season. Not necessarily bad, but a 4.91 ERA and an unimpressive strikeout rate makes it awfully difficult to stick around in any Major League bullpen. At the end of July, Groom was designated for assignment by the Yankees, and eventually sent off the the Diamondbacks. The 23 appearances he would make for Arizona in 2005 would be the final of his career, as it marked the end of a solid 14-year career, during which his left arm was called upon more than almost any other’s.
Despite the lack of accolades on his resume, it would be far from fair to call Groom’s career insignificant. He led the league in pitching appearances in 1999 with 76, and is the all-time leader in games played without ever taking an at-bat in the Major Leagues. Beyond all else, Groom was depended on for nearly a decade and a half as a dependable lefty out of the bullpen, an asset almost any team would sign up for.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
