Grant Gillis

Grant Gillis

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.
• School University of Alabama
• High School Clarke County High School
• Debut September 19, 1927
• Final Game June 25, 1929
• Born January 24, 1901 in Grove Hill, AL USA
• Died February 4, 1981 in Thomasville, AL USA

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Biographical Information

Grant Gillis played three years in the majors, getting 196 at-bats. He split his time between second base and shortstop, and also played a few games at third.

Gillis was at the University of Alabama in a decade when the school was sending a lot of players to the majors. Red Barnes was at Bama during the same two years as Gillis, 1925-1926, as were Verdo Elmore and Bruce Connatser. He was a late starter: he was born in 1901 and thus did not attend college until he was 24 years old.

He was a football star at Bama, throwing a touchdown pass in the 1926 Rose Bowl. Later, he coached the Colquitt County High School Packers football and basketball teams, leading the Packers to a state football championship in 1937. Source: Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber.

Grant played at Birmingham in 1926 and 1927. He came to the majors with the Washington Senators in September of 1927­. Although he played a few years in the minors for teams such as Minneapolis and Jersey City, most of his minor league career was spent in the South. He was also a player/manager for the Moultrie Packers in 1936 and 1937.

When Bobby Reeves got married in 1929, Sam West was the best man and Grant Gillis was an usher. The bride's maid of honor later married Joe Cronin. Source: SABR biography of Bobby Reeves.

Related Sites

• Grant Gillis at the SABR Bio Project