The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame announced that Wayne Granger passed away on February 25th at the age of 81.
Born on March 15, 1944, Wayne Granger got his professional career started when he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965. He would pitch in the minor leagues for the Cardinals from 65-68 before making his MLB debut in June of 1968. The right-handed reliever would go on to pitch 34 games and post a 4-2 record with four saves and a 2.25 ERA in 44.0 innings that year.
After his rookie season was over he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with Bobby Tolan for outfielder Vada Pinson. It was in the 1969 season that Wayne Granger really established himself. The Reds used him and they used him a lot. He led the National League in games and games finished in his first full season in the big leagues. Over the course of his season he appeared in 90 games and finished 55 games, racking up 27 saves. That season he pitched 144.2 innings, went 9-6, and posted an ERA of 2.80.
The next season he worked a bit less, throwing 84.2 innings in 67 games. He led the league with 59 games finished and he led the league with what was then a team record 35 saves to go along with a 6-5 record and a 2.66 ERA. In what turned out to be his final season with the Reds in 1971 he once again led the league in appearances as he took the mound 70 times and had 11 saves with a 3.33 ERA while throwing 100.0 innings.
Cincinnati would trade him in December of 1971 to the Minnesota Twins for Tom Hall. Granger would spend 1972-1976 bouncing around the league as he would go on the pitch for the Twins, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, and Montreal Expos. In those five seasons he would pitch in 190 games and throw 265.1 innings with a 3.56 ERA. He would sign with Atlanta in the spring of 1977, hoping to return after an arm injury he suffered in the middle of the previous season but he was released at the end of spring training and would retire.
He would finish his career having pitched in parts of nine season across Major League Baseball. He went 35-35 with 108 career saves. Over his 638.2 innings he posted a 3.14 ERA in 451 games.
In 1982 Wayne Granger was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. In his three seasons with Cincinnati he threw 329.1 innings with 73 saves and had a 2.92 ERA while going 22-17.