Grant Dunlap

Grant Lester Dunlap
(Snap)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 180 lb.
• School Occidental College, University of the Pacific
• High School Stockton (CA) High School
• Debut April 21, 1953
• Final Game July 28, 1953
• Born December 20, 1923 in Stockton, CA USA
• Died September 10, 2014 in Vista, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

When Grant Dunlap was signed by the Cincinnati Reds at age 17 in 1941, he used the $870.00 bonus he received to pay for surgery for his mother. The Reds assigned him to the class C Riverside Reds of the California League for the 1941 year and the young infielder appeared in only 16 games his initial season. Before the 1942 season the Reds sent Grant to the Cleveland Indians. The Indians assigned him to the class D Appleton Papermakers where he appeared in 95 games at the shortstop position, hitting .323.

Dunlap joined the United States Marine Corps late in the year, serving in the South Pacific and China during World War II and did not return to baseball until 1947. He spent that season with the class B Meridian Peps, getting into 58 games and hitting .332 with 9 homers. A minor league outfielder in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he won the Texas League batting title with a .333 average for the Shreveport Sports in 1952.

Grant was 29 years old in 1953 when he had his only chance to play in the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was used exclusively as a pinch hitter, picking up five hits in 15 at bats off the bench, and going 1 for 2 in the only game he played in the outfield, for a .353 average. He was returned to the minors and left baseball before his 30th birthday, finishing up his career in 1955 with the Tulsa Oilers and the Birmingham Barons.

Dunlap had spent eleven active seasons in pro baseball from 1941 to 1955, he appeared in 1,075 contests, had 3,757 at bats with 1,149 base hits, including 83 home runs for a minor league career .305 batting average.

A graduate of the University of the Pacific who is a member of the Stockton, CA, Sports Hall of Fame in both baseball and basketball, he was a professor in physical education and athletic director at Occidental College, where he coached the baseball team from 1954 to 1984 and had a record of 525-311 with his teams winning 10 conference championships. He also coached the school's basketball team for a dozen years winning five conference titles.

Dunlap, who retired in Carlsbad, CA, had a book published titled Kill the Umpire, which combines fiction with real life baseball players in the Texas League, from his era. He died in 2014 at the age of 90.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s
SABR MILB Database:page