Dan Grunhard

Daniel Charles Grunhard

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.
• School Northwestern University
• High School St. Laurence High School

• Born November 13, 1963 in Truth or Consequences, NM USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Dan Grunhard once hit over .300 in AAA yet never made the majors.

Grunhard roomed with Joe Girardi at Northwestern University. He hit .451 one year in college and was All-Big Ten Conference in 1985. The California Angels took him in the 26th round of the 1985 amateur draft. He made his pro debut with the 1986 Quad Cities Angels and hit .243/.380/.333 with 25 walks in 35 games. In 1987, he batted .306/.378/.428 for the Palm Springs Angels with 8 triples, 28 steals (in 38 tries) and 16 outfield assists (though he also had 12 errors). He led his team in steals, triples and average, ranking 5th in the California League in average (behind Jimmy Lester, Luis Lopez, Darryl Hamilton and Daryl Sconiers).

In 1988, Dan moved up to the Midland Angels and produced at a .286/.352/.400 clip. His steal rate was down (8 SB, 10 CS). In a return engagement with Midland in 1989, he improved to .304/.363/.505 with 8 triples in 1989. He finished 7th in the Texas League in average, between Warren Newson and Chris Cron. He had 10 errors.

He had a successful season playing winter ball in the Mexican Pacific League for the Obregon Yaquis, hitting .298/~.352/.519. He finished 6th in the league in average between Warren Newson and Alonso Téllez. Grunhard played alongside teammate Vinny Castilla. Grunhard was invited to the Angels' 1990 major league spring training and hit a three-run home run late in March against Padres left-hander Craig Lefferts, helping the Angels to an 8-6 win. Overall, he hit .350 that spring for the Halos. But his defensive plays in the outfield impressed the Halo Skipper Doug Rader as well.

"The way (Grunhard) plays defensively is very admirable," Rader told the Los Angeles Times, "but the thing I like best is he never received a scholarship for anything. Everything he's gotten in this organization he's earned. Some players have silver spoons in their mouths. Dan Grunhard has been eating with his fingers. It's great to see."

By early April, the Los Angeles Times was counting Grunhard among those players who might benefit from an expanded roster resulting from the lockout. Grunhard, though, wasn't interested in the talk. He was more interested in doing. "I actually haven't sat down and tried to figure out the numbers," Grunhard told the Times of the roster expansion. "It's not something that concerns me directly. I'm more concerned with what I do on the field."

Grunhard, though, ended up being sent back down to spend his first time at AAA Edmonton.

Grunhard did very well in his AAA debut, hitting .301/.381/.416 for the Edmonton Trappers. He had 17 outfield assists to 11 errors. He was second in the 1990 Pacific Coast League in assists by an outfielder (3 behind Tuffy Rhodes) while tying Beau Allred for the most miscues. The PCL was a high-offense league and he did not make the top 10 in average, though he did lead Edmonton's starters. Leading a AAA team in average often can mean a shot in the big leagues, but Grunhard never got that look.

After another winter in the Mexican Pacific League with the Yaquis, Dan was invited back to spring training with the major league club in 1991 and again returned to Edmonton where he put up a .267/.360/.420 line, down 15 points of OPS only. He also cut his error total from 11 to 4.

Shortly after his return from a third winter playing in Mexico, this time for the Mazatlan Venados (.277, .413 SLG) with Angels farmhand and future pitching coach Mike Butcher and Houston Astros prospect Jose Tolentino , Dan was traded to the Oakland A's for Rod Correia following his ex-Angels skipper Doug Rader to the A's in January 1992. After spring training with the the major league club, he split the summer in the A's organization between the Tacoma Tigers (.266/.338/.401 in 86 G) and Huntsville Stars (.286/.322/.417 in 23 G). His final professional game was in September 1992 in the Southern League playoffs against the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Overall, Grunhard had batted .288/.363/.424 in 711 minor league affiliated games, with 396 runs and 313 RBI.

In 2011, Grunhard returned to professional baseball as the hitting coach for the inaugural season of the Independent Frontier League Joliet Slammers. The team finished 3rd in the league in overall team batting average at .268 and won the 2011 Frontier League Championship. Grunhard credited the team's offensive success on a team approach to hitting and getting his players to focus on having quality at-bats rather than individual statistics. He based his successful teaching philosophy on a mental approach to the game using Steve Springer's concepts of Quality At Bats and Jeff Manto's ideas on hitting (Manto is the 2012 hitting coach for Chicago White Sox and teammate of Grunhard in the Angels system).

Grunhard didn't return to the Slammers for the 2012 season due to team budget issues and cuts in coaching staff, but he continues to help young players refining their hitting skills as an independent instructor.

Related Sites

• Slammers bio