What Are The High Points of Curtis Granderson’s Career? How Much Is He Worth and Is He Married?

Quick Facts

Towering at a height of 6′ 1″ and weighing 194 pounds, the Major League Baseball star Curtis Granderson is like the proverbial golden fish that cannot be hidden. So, his presence is always conspicuous in any game he plays. His career records even tower higher than his physical height. He has played the game he is known for right from his high school days and through college. Thereafter, he plied his trade as an outfielder with four minor league teams and seven major league teams.

Curtis was born on March 16, 1981, in Blue Islands, a city south of Chicago, IL. His father Curtis Granderson Sr. was a former softball player who also taught physical education at Nathan Hale Elementary School in Illinois. As such, young Curtis was prepared from day one to become an accomplished athlete. He developed an early interest in the game of baseball, becoming a fan of the Atlanta Braves as a kid. Eventually, when the future MLB star enrolled at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing, IL, he featured prominently in sporting activities like basketball and baseball.

The Accomplishments of Curtis Granderson’s Career

Right from his days in high school, Curtis Granderson has been a fine baseball player. In his senior year, he made it into the All-State selection after he got a .369 batting average with 11 home runs.

It may also interest you to know that Curtis used his high school career to pay a glowing tribute to his father’s softball career. How did he do this? He chose to wear the number 14 jersey which his father wore. Many years after Curtis left high school and while he was playing for New York Yankee in 2011, T.F. South retired the number 14 jersey in his honor as an alumnus they are proud of.

Highlights of His College Career

When Curtis Granderson was graduating from high school, he had many college baseball programs knocking at his door due to his good records. Out of all of them, he chose the University of Illinois at Chicago, not just because it was in his home state but also because they allowed him to play in both the college basketball and baseball teams. However, when he got in, the commitment was so heavy that he decided to focus on baseball.

In his freshman season with UIC Flames, Curtis achieved 7 home runs and 45 walks. As a sophomore, he led the team in home runs and walks, hitting .304. From the summer season following his sophomore year, he began to play for the summer collegiate league team, The Moondogs (then known as Mankato Mashers) and batted .328 in 44 games.

The next season at UIC, his junior year, he batted .483 which came second in the entire NCAA League for that season. This got him a place in the second-team All-American list.

Curtis Granderson wore jersey number 28 while playing for UIC Flames. It is worthy of note that, two years after his high school retired his jersey number 14, his college followed suit and retired his jersey number in honor of his contribution to the team.

His Professional Baseball Strides

Curtis has played in both the minor and major leagues as already stated. He played for the minor league teams Oneonta Tigers (where he batted .344 in 52 games), Lakeland Tigers, Eerie Seawolves (21 home runs, 93 runs batted in), and Toledo Mud Hens (15 home runs and 65 runs batted in).

In the major league, Curtis Granderson has played for 7 teams since 2004: Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins. Over the years, he has featured in the Midsummer Classic (All-Star Game) thrice (2009, 2011, and 2012). Also, he has won the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award four times (2009, 2016, 2018, 2019). The 2011 Silver Slugger Award winner was the American League Runs Batted In Leader of that same year and he equally bagged the Roberto Clemente Award in 2016.

How Rich Is Curtis Granderson?

It is believed that the athlete has an estimated net worth of $58 Million. The major sources of his wealth are his salaries and bonuses. According to Baseball-Reference, during his 6-year stay with the Detroit Tigers, he earned a total salary of $5,245,000. Then, he earned $38,750,000 in 4 years playing for New York Yankees; $60,000 in 4 years at New York Mets; $5,000,000 in his one season with Toronto Blue Jays, and $1,750,000 in a year with Miami Marlins. We could not get his earning figures during his one-season stay at Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.

Curtis Granderson has also earned from other sources such as his bestselling 2009 book, All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It. Although we cannot tell exactly how much he got from the publication, it contributed to his worth.

Marital Status of The Baseball Player

Granderson’s fans expect him to have a wife or at least, a girlfriend. After all, he is old and rich enough to get involved in such kind of relationship. However, there are no records of his dating history as of this writing. He may be focusing all his energy on his career for now. Otherwise, he might be keeping his love life secret.

Or, is it possible he is gay? We tried to dig up any information in this respect also but our research yielded nothing.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.