From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marquis Grissom
Marquis Grissom
Marquis Grissom Center fielder Born: April 17, 1967 (1967-04-17) Atlanta, Georgia Batted: Right MLB debut August 22, 1989 for the Montréal Expos Last MLB appearance July 31, 2005 for the San Francisco Giants Career statistics Batting average Home runs Runs batted in Teams • • • • • • Montreal Expos (1989–1994) Atlanta Braves (1995–1996) Cleveland Indians (1997) Milwaukee Brewers (1998–2000) Los Angeles Dodgers (2001–2002) San Francisco Giants (2003–2005) .272 227 967 Threw: Right
June draft, as part of that draft’s third round. He had been considered a prospect as both a pitcher and an outfielder, but the Expos decided to have him abandon the mound and work solely as a position player. He made his professional debut with the Jamestown Expos of the New York-Penn League that fall and advanced quickly through the system, first appearing in the majors on August 22, 1989. He showed steady improvement for the next few seasons, gradually developing into a star as Montreal’s leadoff hitter and center fielder. He led the National League in stolen bases in 1991 and 1992, was a member of the NL All-Star team in 1993 and 1994, and won four consecutive Gold Gloves, the first coming in 1993.
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. In April 1995, the Expos traded Grissom to the Atlanta Braves, in exchange for pitcher Esteban Yan and outfielders Roberto Kelly and Tony Tarasco. 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 Atlanta 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.
Career highlights and awards • 2x All-Star selection (1993, 1994) • World Series champion (1995) • 4x Gold Glove Award winner (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996) • 1997 ALCS MVP
Marquis Deon Grissom, nicknamed "Grip" (first name pronounced /mɑrˈkiːs/) (born April 17, 1967 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former Major League Baseball player who is currently the first base coach for the Washington Nationals. He excelled in baseball at Lakeshore High School, under the tutelage of baseball coach Mike Juenger. He currently resides in College Park, Georgia.
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 Cleveland Indians. Hoping to save money that had been committed to long-term contracts, Atlanta traded Grissom and two-time All-Star David Justice to the Indians, receiving in return three-time All-Star Kenny Lofton and setup man Alan Embree. The deal worked out well for
Baseball career
Montreal Expos
Grissom played baseball at Florida A&M University, and in 1988, the Montreal Expos selected him with the 76th overall pick in the
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Preceded by Vince Coleman Preceded by Bernie Williams National League Stolen Base Champion 1991-1992 American League Championship Series MVP 1997
Marquis Grissom
Succeeded by Chuck Carr Succeeded by David Wells
Cleveland, as the team went all the way to the World Series, ultimately losing to the Florida Marlins in seven games. Grissom performed exceptionally well in that postseason, winning the MVP award in the ALCS, and completing a 15 game World Series consecutive game hitting streak spanning 3 World Series, the 2nd longest of all time next to Hank Bauer of the New York Yankees.
Coaching career
He was hired to become the Washington Nationals first base coach for the 2009 season.
Off-the-field
Dubbed a ’Class Act’ and ’Clubhouse Leader’ by his Giants teammates during the 2005 season, Marquis Grissom leads by example off the field. Grissom has bought farmland for his folk and a tractor for his father. He sponsors 12 Little League teams and helps fund a home school that provides food and shelter for kids without parents.
Later career
That offseason, however, the Indians resigned 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, and 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. 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.
[1]
See also
• Top 500 home run hitters of all time • List of major league players with 2,000 hits • List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs • List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions • List of Major League Baseball players with 400 stolen bases
References
[1] "Cubs invite Grissom, two others to camp". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/ NASApp/mlb/news/ article.jsp?ymd=20060103&content_id=1290870&vk Retrieved on 2008-08-01. [2] "Grissom retires after 17 seasons". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/ mlb/news/ article.jsp?ymd=20060328&content_id=1365106&vk Retrieved on 2008-08-01.
Retirement
On March 28, 2006, Grissom retired after a 17-year career. [2]
External links
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube • Grissom’s minor league statistics at The Baseball Cube
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquis_Grissom"
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marquis Grissom
Categories: 1967 births, Living people, Major League Baseball center fielders, Atlanta Braves players, Cleveland Indians players, Los Angeles Dodgers players, Milwaukee Brewers players, Montreal Expos players, San Francisco Giants players, National League All-Stars, Major League Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state), African American baseball players, National League stolen base champions, Gold Glove Award winners, American League Championship Series MVPs, Indianapolis Indians players, Jamestown Expos players, Florida A&M University alumni, People from Atlanta, Georgia This page was last modified on 21 May 2009, at 02:11 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3