Maryland Athletics 2022 Hall of Fame Spotlight: Bob Grossman

Bob Grossman only pitched once in high school. It was the first time he pitched in organized baseball at any level. 

"I struck out almost everybody on the other team," Grossman recalled. 

That one outing kicked off an illustrious pitching career for Grossman, who will officially become the newest member of the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame in October. 

"It was an unusual path to develop into the pitcher I was, but I wouldn't trade it," Grossman said.

Grossman had been a middle infielder since he first started playing baseball. At just 5-foot-8 for the first two years of his time at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, pitching never even crossed his mind. 

During the summer between his sophomore and junior season, Grossman grew eight inches. But, even then, it wasn't time for him to pitch.

"I was too gangly and weird at that point," Grossman said. "I hadn't grown into my body yet." 

As a senior, his team needed someone to fill in at pitcher for a game. Grossman, with his now athletic, 6-foot-4 frame, was the obvious choice.

"I always had a really strong arm, that's why I played shortstop," Grossman said. "Once I got that height, I was able to turn that arm into a pitching one."

Grossman wanted to pitch again in the playoffs of his senior season, but his team already had two experienced starters. Still, he could not get pitching out of his mind. 

"I was enamored by it," Grossman said. "I loved the control most of all. When you're pitching you have all the control."

Grossman joined a 19U summer league where he started pitching full-time. He recalls throwing two consecutive no-hitters, and he was so dominant that the Pittsburgh Pirates signed the 18-year-old to a contract, which was quickly voided when his father found out about it. 

"I was only 18 and it wasn't legal at the time for me to sign that by myself," Grossman said. "That was definitely a good thing."

As if Grossman's path to becoming a Maryland pitcher wasn't wild enough, there was one more hurdle. 

Grossman was also an accomplished football player who was set to play quarterback at William & Mary under head coach Lou Holtz. 

"I was always on the football path," Grossman said. "But once I started pitching, I couldn't give it up."

Grossman's decision then turned to where he should play college baseball. A couple of guys from his summer league were Terps, and they got Grossman excited about Maryland. 

"I knew that Maryland had a good and up-and-coming baseball team," Grossman said. "I basically sent out feelers and Coach (Elton) Jackson said 'Yeah, we want you.' Shortly after that, I was on campus."

Once he was officially a Terp, Grossman excelled on the baseball diamond. His junior season in 1972 was his best, and he was named First Team AACBA All-American and ACC Player of the Year. During that year, he threw a pair of no-hitters just two weeks apart, the first ones in program history besides Dick Reitz's perfect game in 1959. 

The first no-hitter came on March 25, 1972, in a 9-0 win against Syracuse. Grossman doesn't like to take too much praise for that one, chalking a lot of his performance to the weather conditions on that day.

"That game wasn't fair to anyone," Grossman said. "It was so cold outside, no one wanted to swing the bat."

The second no-hitter, however, still brings a smile to Grossman's face to this day. 

It came at North Carolina in a game where the Tar Heels were dedicating their brand new stadium. Yet, on what was supposed to be a day of celebration for North Carolina and its baseball program, not one of its batters was able to get a single hit against Grossman in Maryland's 6-0 win. 

"That's kind of perfect, isn't it?" Grossman asked with a laugh.

The no-hitters weren't the only memorable games for Grossman that year. 

His very last game in a Maryland uniform came at Navy. The Terps were losing by three runs in the eighth inning when Grossman, who frequently batted because there wasn't a designated hitter at the time, stepped to the plate and walloped a grand slam to put Maryland back in front by a run. 

Grossman's job wasn't done yet, however.

"I came back (on the mound) and somehow got the (complete-game) win," Grossman said.

Grossman is very proud of his no-hitter records and all he accomplished as a Terp. However, he also wants to ensure his teammates get plenty of credit.

"You don't get to accumulate any kind of records without good teammates," Grossman said. "It's just impossible. I was very fortunate I fell into a time when there were a lot of good players at Maryland."

In fact, Grossman's most memorable moments come from spending time around those teammates. 

"It's really the camaraderie and your teammates that make that experience for you," he said.

Grossman left Maryland for professional baseball after his junior year and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians). He spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, making it as far as AAA ball. 

"It took me a while, which surprised me, to kind of find my way in professional baseball," Grossman said.

In 1977, Grossman recalls feeling like he had hit his stride. He struck out 12 consecutive batters in one game, and noise started to build that he would soon be called up to the majors. Grossman struck out the first two batters in the next game and felt good again. However, Grossman threw three straight pitches into the backstop after getting the next guy down 0-2. That's when he realized he couldn't bend his elbow.

Grossman was diagnosed with a torn musculocutaneous nerve in his elbow, which required approximately nine months of recovery time for the nerve to reinnervate. Once he completed rehab, Grossman's arm, which had always been lauded for its strength, had lost most of its muscle. After a short attempt at making a comeback, Grossman was forced to retire from baseball.

"(The arm) was never going to be what it was before," Grossman said.

Though the injury news was brutal and the recovery time long, Grossman found a source of light through all the bad.

"I just found the entire physical therapy process that I went through really fascinating," Grossman said.

Grossman was so inspired that he decided to go back to school to become a physical therapist himself. 

After getting his degree, Grossman dedicated the next 40 years of his life to physical therapy, 34 of which came at his own practice, Sports and Orthopaedic Therapy Services, in Silver Spring. Grossman recently retired and has been spending time in California, where he is completing a book on procedures he's performed over the years. 

"I did a lot of teaching, especially to young interns," Grossman said. "It's always been really important to me to teach. The book will have pretty much everything I know in it." 

In a short period, Grossman's name will officially be listed alongside other Maryland greats in the Hall of Fame.

"It's a huge honor to have a member of the baseball program inducted into Maryland's prestigious Hall of Fame," head baseball coach Rob Vaughn said. "Bob's pitching performances and records set a standard of excellence for the program. He is incredibly well-deserving of this honor." 

For Grossman, the induction came as a bit of a shock.

"I was surprised," he said. "It's been 50 years since I played there."

At the same time, however, Grossman sees the honor as him taking his rightful place in Maryland history. 

"I'm honored and I feel validated for what I did at the university," Grossman said. "It really is a big honor for me."