Marquis Grissom
Marquis Grissom | ||
---|---|---|
Runs batted in 967 | | |
Stolen bases | 429 | |
Teams | ||
| ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
|
Marquis Deon Grissom (born April 17, 1967) is an American former
between 1989 and 2005.With the Expos, Grissom led the
Early life and amateur career
Grissom was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the second-youngest of sixteen children of Marion and Julia Grissom. Grissom was one of fifteen children who survived infancy.[1] He grew up in Red Oak, Georgia, in a house which his father built from scratch while working on the assembly line at the Atlanta Assembly, a Ford plant.[1] Grissom could not afford to play organized baseball in early childhood. When Grissom was 8 or 10 years old, he struck a police officer's Cadillac with a rock thrown from a great distance. The officer, who was impressed by the throw, agreed not to charge Grissom if later he would join his youth baseball team.[2]
Grissom attended Lakeshore High School in College Park. He was offered college scholarships in baseball, football and track and field.[2][1]
Grissom played baseball at Florida A&M University as a pitcher and outfielder. He played two seasons with the Rattlers in 1987 and 1988 during which time he posted a .408 batting average. In 1988, he scored more runs per game and hit more triples per game than any other player in Division I. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of that season's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament after pitching two complete games and maintaining a .643 batting average. He was inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame in 2014.[3]
Baseball career
Montreal Expos
In
Against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28, 1991, Grissom caught Chris Gwynn's fly ball for the final out of Dennis Martínez's perfect game.[4]
Atlanta Braves
The Expos enjoyed success on the field, but a strike ended the 1994 season before the playoffs, and after baseball resumed the team was forced to trade many of their stars for financial reasons. Grissom was the last of the three highest-paid Expos players at the time to be traded when he was acquired by the Atlanta Braves for Tony Tarasco, Roberto Kelly and Esteban Yan on April 6, 1995. The Braves beat out the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox to land the deal.[5] The Braves were just beginning a run of dominance in the NL East, and in his first season in Atlanta, they won the World Series with Marquis (the only player on that Braves team who actually was born and raised in Atlanta) securing the final out by catching a fly ball by Carlos Baerga. They returned to the Fall Classic the next season, but failed to defend their title against the New York Yankees.
Cleveland Indians
Teams' financial motivations continued to affect the course of Grissom's career, and in March 1997, he was involved in a blockbuster trade with the
Later career
That offseason, however, the Indians re-signed Lofton as a free agent, subsequently trading Grissom and pitcher Jeff Juden to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitchers Ben McDonald, Ron Villone, and Mike Fetters. Grissom's production declined as he spent three seasons with the struggling club, and a trade in the spring of 2001 made him a Los Angeles Dodger, sending Devon White to the Brewers in return. Grissom continued to struggle that year, but he enjoyed a strong bounce-back season as a part-time player in 2002. On September 16, 2002, the Dodgers had a crucial game against the San Francisco Giants. In the top of the 9th inning, he robbed Rich Aurilia of a potential game-tying home run to protect the 7–6 victory. The Giants went on to make the playoffs and the Dodgers did not. As a free agent he subsequently attracted the attention of the San Francisco Giants, who had just been defeated in the World Series. San Francisco signed Grissom, and he enjoyed two more productive seasons as their starting center fielder. The Giants were successful as well, winning the NL West in 2003 and missing the wild card by one game in 2004. Marquis won the 2003 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership. On April 8, 2004, Grissom hit the first home run ever at San Diego's Petco Park.[6] Grissom's production dipped again in 2005, and in a season of struggles by the Giants, he was released. On January 3, 2006, the Chicago Cubs signed him to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training as a non-roster player.[7]
Retirement
On March 28, 2006, Grissom retired after a 17-year career.[8] He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he knew it was time for him to retire when he began spending more time preparing for games than playing in the games themselves.[9]
In 2011, Grissom received four votes in the
Coaching career
Following his retirement, Grissom became a youth baseball coach.[11] Among other Atlanta-area prospects, Grissom worked with family friend Michael Harris II from his youth through his early professional career. When Harris won the 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Award, he dedicated it to Grissom.[12][13]
Grissom was hired to become the Washington Nationals first base coach for the 2009 season on October 24, 2008.[14] In November 2009, he was replaced on the coaching staff by Dan Radison.[15]
Personal life
As of 2015, Grissom lived with his wife, Sharron, in
One year after retiring, Grissom founded the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association, a nonprofit which helps underprivileged youths in the
Grissom's younger brother, Antonio, played in the
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
References
- ^ a b c Montville, Leigh (September 28, 1992). "We Are Family". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ Washington Post. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- Florida A&M. November 11, 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Montreal Expos 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 0".
- ^ "Expos Continue Housecleaning, Trade Grissom," The Associated Press (AP), Friday, April 7, 1995. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ "Petco Park timeline: 20 yrs of MLB". The San Diego Union-Tribune. September 5, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Cubs invite Grissom, two others to camp". MLB.com. January 3, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
- ^ "Grissom retires after 17 seasons". MLB.com. March 28, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2008.
- ^ a b Rosenberg, I.J. (July 2, 2015). "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO: Marquis Grissom". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ "McGwire Loses HOF Votes". KMOX. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ Sanchez, Jesse (January 12, 2018). "Grissom gives back to game with Dream Series". MLB.com. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
- ^ O'Brien, David (May 28, 2022). "Michael Harris II shines in Braves' most anticipated debut since 2018". The Athletic. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- ^ Bowman, Mark; Ladson, Bill (November 14, 2022). "Harris wins NL ROY Award as Braves go 1–2 in balloting". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "Nationals complete 2009 coaching staff". MLB.com. October 24, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
- ^ "Nationals fill out coaching staff". Richmond Times Dispatch. November 21, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
- ^ "MLB Draft Day 3: Baltimore Orioles take 7-foot left-hander Jared Beck, would be MLB's tallest player ever". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
- Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Antonio Grissom Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet