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Eddie Grant (1905, 1907-1915) – When you look at Eddie Grant’s numbers nothing really sticks out for him, he was a career .249 hitter with very little pop in his bat evidenced by his five career home runs, his best year hitting was probably in 1909 with the Phillies when he batted .269 with one home run and 37 RBIs while showing off his speed with 28 stolen bases. While his bat was weak his glove was anything but that, former Giants teammate Mike Donlin said “he could lay back near third base and still throw out the fastest runners after they had bunted.”
But his accomplishments in life will not be remembered on the ballfield but the battlefield instead. In 1917 when the United States entered the Great War, Grant volunteered for the Army and was to no one’s surprise sent for Officers Training. After four months there he spent several months in basic training with his new unit he would leading into combat, Company H of the 307th Infantry Regiment.
The United States make one final big push to ending the war on October 2, 1918 with the Meuse-Argonne offensive in the Argonne Forest. Three days later on October 5th, Grant was killed by a mortar shell while trying to get first aid for several of his fallen troops. Grant was buried in the Argonne Forest and later his remains were moved to Romagne Cemetery. A monument dedicated to Grant was put up at the Polo Grounds in 1921 on Memorial Day but was discarded and lost when the Giants moved to San Francisco. In 2006 the Giants erected a new plaque at AT&T Park honoring Grant.