Lefty Grove Wins His 300th and Final Game

On July 25, 1941, Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox pitched a complete-game 10-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park to earn the 300th win of his career. It was the last game he would ever win.

Grove was 41 years old and had been trying to reach the milestone for weeks. He had lost his two previous starts, and the strain of chasing the number showed. The Indians tagged him for six runs and 12 hits on July 25, but the Red Sox gave him enough offense to survive. Ted Williams, in the midst of his legendary .406 season, hit a home run in the fifth inning to help Grove across the finish line.

Grove had entered professional baseball in 1920 with the Martinsburg club in the Blue Ridge League and quickly established himself as the hardest-throwing left-hander of his generation. He spent five years in the minor leagues with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League, not because he lacked talent, but because owner Jack Dunn refused to sell his contract until the price was right. The Philadelphia Athletics finally paid $100,600 for Grove before the 1925 season, making him the most expensive player in baseball at the time.

He was worth every penny. Grove won 20 or more games seven times with the Athletics, led the American League in earned run average nine times across his career, and won the league's Most Valuable Player award in 1931 after going 31-4 with a 2.06 ERA. He was the anchor of the Philadelphia dynasty that won three consecutive pennants from 1929 through 1931.

Grove came to Boston in 1934 after Connie Mack began dismantling the Athletics for financial reasons. His fastball had faded by then, and he reinvented himself as a control pitcher who used guile and changing speeds to stay effective. He won 105 games for the Red Sox over eight seasons.

The 300th win put Grove in elite company. He finished with a career record of 300-141, a winning percentage of .680 that remains among the best in history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947. The win on July 25 was the quiet end of a career that had been defined by fiery competitiveness and an overpowering fastball that made opposing hitters look helpless.