Port Huron, MI. — Dick Groch, the longtime scout who convinced the New York Yankees to draft Derek Jeter and famously predicted his future greatness, died Oct. 1 in Port Huron, Michigan. He was 84.
Jeter honored Groch with a heartfelt message Thursday.
The former Yankees captain shared his thoughts on social media: “RIP Dick Groch. My Yankees scout who believed in me and signed me. Thoughts and prayers are with your family and loved ones.”
The Yankees recognized Groch’s passing with a moment of silence before Game 3 of their American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Groch secured his place in baseball history with one bold statement during a 1992 scouting trip to Michigan. The Yankees had interest in a talented high school shortstop from Kalamazoo Central, but scouting director Bill Livesey feared Jeter would choose the University of Michigan instead.
Groch responded firmly with his trust on Jeter. “He’s not,” he said. “The only place this player is going is Cooperstown.”
He was right. Jeter went on to play 20 seasons in pinstripes, win five World Series championships, earn 14 All-Star selections, and be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 with 396 of 397 possible votes.
The Yankees selected Jeter sixth overall in the 1992 draft after five teams passed on him. Groch believed they all made a mistake. “It’s the difference between going to the Kentucky Derby and the state fair,” he once said. “When you see Secretariat, it takes your breath away.”
A career built on dedication
Born Nov. 14, 1940, in Toledo, Ohio, Groch excelled not on the baseball diamond but on the basketball court. At Olivet College, he earned first team NAIA honors four years in a row. His path to baseball scouting started later, through coaching.
Groch began as a high school teacher and coach before moving to St. Clair Community College in 1964. There he coached basketball, baseball, and cross country. His baseball program produced more than 40 professional players and made three trips to the Junior College World Series. He was named Junior College Coach of the Year in 1970, 1972, and 1976.
His coaching career reached the international stage as well. Groch was part of Team USA’s staff at two Pan American Games and served as pitching coach for the 1984 Olympic team that earned silver in Los Angeles.
In addition to coaching, he authored two books, Baseball the Major League Way and Mastering Baseball, which shared his approach and knowledge of the game.
Building winners in two cities
Groch moved into professional scouting with the Montreal Expos before joining the Yankees. He remained in New York until October 2002, when he left to work with Doug Melvin and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers were in disarray when Groch arrived, coming off a 106-loss season. Over time, his scouting work helped reshape the roster into a contender. In 2008, Milwaukee reached the postseason for the first time in 26 years. Three years later, the Brewers won the National League Central and advanced to the NL Championship Series, their first since 1982.
Groch’s impact extended well beyond player signings. He mentored rising executives, including Giants general manager Zack Minasian, Brewers assistant GM Karl Mueller, and Angels pro scouting director Derek Watson.
Former Brewers GM Melvin praised his scouting style. “He gets the accolades for Jeter, and that he should, but I liked Dick because he created good debate in meetings,” Melvin said. “He didn’t just sit there and agree with everybody. He made you debate from the other side of the table to make sure you’re right.”
A throwback scout with modern impact
Groch was known as an old-school scout with unrelenting standards. He never left a ballgame before the last out and carried that discipline into his later years.
“He would go into his office at home at 8:30 in the morning, close the door and tell [his wife] Nancy, ‘I’ll see you at lunch time,'” Melvin said. “You’d better not interrupt him when he was doing reports.”
Even late in his career, Groch kept scouting simply because he loved the game. Living in Port Huron, he often drove an hour to Detroit to watch Tigers games. As recently as 2021, the Brewers still listed him in their media guide.
“He was a throwback, and these types of guys, there’s a lot of them out there who had great careers and helped a lot of teams,” Melvin said. “I still think teams can use those kinds of people.”
The philosophy that drove him
Groch believed conviction was the heart of scouting. He often spoke about the importance of selling players with absolute confidence.
“From a scouting standpoint, you’re always in a position to sell your players,” Groch once said. “If you don’t believe in your players, then the people who have to pull the card and make the decision aren’t going to have much strength and conviction in your player. They have to feel as strongly as you do.”
In 2020, Groch recalled the report he filed on Jeter as a high schooler. He rated him a 62 on the 20-to-80 scouting scale and famously wrote “A Yankee!” on the paper. That report later sold at auction for six figures.
“I’d never seen a player better than this in my life,” Groch said. “But the question was, ‘Is this kid going to Michigan?’ And I said, ‘No, the only place he’s going is Cooperstown.’ I said, ‘I can’t be any more definitive than that.'”
A lasting legacy that made Jeter a Yankees legend
Groch is survived by his wife of 63 years, Nancy; daughter Julie Aucar; sons Brian and Nicholas Groch; nine grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.
Visitation will be held Oct. 7 at Grace Memorial-Smith Chapel in Port Huron. A funeral mass is scheduled for Oct. 8 at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Marysville. The family has requested donations to the Blue Water Area Humane Society or Blue Water Hospice.
Groch devoted nearly six decades to baseball, including more than 40 years in the majors. His scouting eye changed the course of the Yankees and played a key role in reviving the Brewers. Yet his greatest triumph may always be his belief in a 17-year-old shortstop from Michigan — and his unshakable conviction that Derek Jeter was bound for Cooperstown.
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