Early Career
Gruber played baseball at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas where his number was later retired. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1980 amateur draft but did not see time with the team. On December 5, 1983, the Toronto Blue Jays picked him up in the Rule 5 draft. Gruber saw his first Major League action shortly after, playing in his first game on April 20, 1984. Over the next three seasons, he split time between the Majors and the minors, eventually earning an every day spot in the Toronto line-up by 1987. The Toronto media quickly nicknamed him "Xanthos" (meaning blonde) after his long flowing blonde hair. During his stay in Toronto he was voted the city's most eligible bachelor.
Read more about this topic: Kelly Gruber
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or career:
“Yet, haply, in some lull of life,
Some Truce of God which breaks its strife,
The worldling’s eyes shall gather dew,
Dreaming in throngful city ways
Of winter joys his boyhood knew;
And dear and early friends—the few”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)