2009 highlights

• Playing both for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs, Grabow went 3-and-0 with a 3.36 ERA
• Held opposition to a .233 batting average
• Successfully held lead 24 times
• Pitched in a career-high 75 games

Career highlights (as of 2009)

• Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3^rd round of the 1997 draft (92^nd overall)
• 8^th in leads held, NL (2009)
• 11^th in games pitched, NL (2009)
• Ranks 8^th in Pittsburgh Pirates history for most games pitched, with 390 (Emerald Guide to Baseball 2010)

MLB career bests, by statistic

• ERA: 2.84 (2008)
• Wins: 6 (2008)
• Saves: 4 (2008)
• Holds: 23 (2009)
• Strikeouts: 66 (2006)
• K/9 innings: 9.34 (2004)
• K/BB ratio: 2.29 (2004)
• Opponent AVG: .218 (2008)
• Opponent OBP: .307 (2008)

On being Jewish

• “His mother’s side is Jewish, his dad’s is not. Which makes Grabow himself wonder how people know he’s Jewish. Even if some people thought Grabow sounded Jewish, it’s not.” (Jewishsports.com; September 2004)
• “Grabow’s grandmother’s maiden name is Mizrachi and they used to call  Beirut, Lebanon home. ‘I still have some family in Lebanon and some in Israel. I’ve also got some Jewish family in Panama.’”(Jewishsports.com; September 2004)
• Grabow welcomed being put on a Jewish Major Leaguers baseball card. “That would be something that would be cool. My grandmother would really like that.” (Jewishsports.com; September 2004)
• Grabow was one of Team USA’s three Jews in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, along with Ryan Braun and Kevin Youkilis. (MLB.com)

For more information

• Click here for Jewish Baseball News articles and blogs about John Grabow
  

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Career stats