Grudzielanek was originally drafted by the New York Mets in the 17th round of the 1989 MLB Draft but did not sign. He was then drafted in the 11th round of the 1991 MLB draft by the Montreal Expos and signed on June 11, 1991.
In 1994, with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators he hit .322 in 122 games and was rewarded by being selected as a Double-A All-Star, Eastern League Most Valuable Player, and Expos Minor league player of the year.
He made his Major League debut on April 28, 1995, with the Expos against the Chicago Cubs, striking out as a pinch hitter against Mike Walker. He made his first start (at second base) the following day but did not record his first major league hit (a double) until May 4 against New York Mets relief pitcher Mike Remlinger. His first career home run came on May 16, 1995, against Kevin Jarvis of the Cincinnati Reds. He appeared in 78 games that season, hitting .245.
In 1996, Grudzielanek hit .306 in 153 games and was selected to appear in the 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game for his only appearance in the Mid-Summer Classic. In the All-Star game, he grounded out in his lone at-bat against Roberto Hernandez. In 1997, he led the majors with 54 doubles.
He hit .281 in 492 games for the Expos over four seasons.
After leaving the Cubs as a free agent after the 2004 season, Grudzielanek signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on January 6, 2005. He appeared in 137 games with the Cardinals, hitting for a .294 average. From the April 27 game against the Milwaukee Brewers until July 1, 2022, he was the only Cardinals player to have hit for the cycle until Nolan Arenado achieved the feat on the latter date.[1]
Grudzielanek signed a contract on December 16, 2005, to be the second baseman for the Kansas City Royals. He won the Gold Glove Award in 2006 for second basemen in the American League. He played with the Royals for three seasons, appearing in 336 games, with a .300 batting average.
Minnesota Twins
He became a free agent after the 2008 season but did not sign with a team until the Minnesota Twins offered him a minor league contract on July 19, 2009. After only 11 games (three with the Gulf Coast Twins and eight with the New Britain Rock Cats), he was released on August 10.
Cleveland Indians
On January 12, 2010, he signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians with a spring training invite.[2] He was added to the Major League roster on April 3. He appeared in 30 games for the Indians, hitting .273 but also spending several weeks on the disabled list. His 30 hits were all singles; this was the highest hit total without an extra-base hit in a single season since 1938.[3] On June 8, Grudzielanek was designated for assignment by the Indians to make room on the roster for Anderson Hernandez; he was released shortly after.
Grudzielanek retired from professional baseball on February 23, 2011.[4]
Grudzielanek was named the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks' Class A affiliate Kane County Cougars prior to the 2015 season.[6] Following the 2015 season, where the Cougars won the Midwest League Western division with a 48–22 record (.686 winning percentage), Grudzielanek was promoted to the Diamondbacks Player Development staff, with a title of Assistant Coordinator.[7]
He was the manager of the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, from 2017 to 2019. On June 20, 2019, he was one of four new inductees into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame located in Troy, Michigan.[8]
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