Florida State University Athletics
Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2023
Pedro Grifol signed with Florida State out of Columbus High School in Miami, where he was Florida's 1988 4A High School Player of the Year.
Grifol was a three-year letterman and starter behind the plate, earning second-team Freshman All-America honors after hitting .256 with 20 extra-base hits in his freshman campaign. Florida State reached the College World Series and finished third nationally in 1989.
After hitting .279 with 25 doubles, a triple and five home runs his sophomore season, Grifol was named to the All-Metro Conference Team.
Grifol was again named to the All-Metro Team and was a first-team All-American by Baseball America and the American Baseball Coaches Association as a junior in 1991. He started all 71 games at catcher his junior year, hitting .344 with 16 home runs, 18 doubles and 80 RBI. Behind the plate, he committed just one error in 653 chances for a .998 fielding percentage. FSU was again in the College World Series in 1991.
One of the best defensive catchers in college history, Grifol threw out more than 40 per cent of runners attempting to steal, and his quick release and accurate arm prime reasons he was a sixth-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in the 1991 MLB Draft.
Grifol spent 10 seasons as a coach in the Kansas City Royals organization and won a World Series in 2015, the Royals' first since FSU alumnus Dick Howser was managing Kansas City in 1985. In 2023, Grifol was named the 42nd manager of the Chicago White Sox.
