Baseball fans may be familiar with Marquis Grissom, a former centre fielder who played for six different Major League Baseball teams during the course of his 17-year career. He was a four-time Golden Medal winner, two-time All-Star, and International Baseball champion. He leading the National League in base stealers on two distinct occasions.
But do you know Vaughn Grissom, an upcoming infielder who got his MLB debut in 2022 with the Atlanta Braves? His bat and glove are proof how he is one of the most outstanding players in the Braves organisation.
Are they connected, though? No, is the response. Although they both play for the same team and have the same last name, Marquis Grissom and Vaughn Grissom are not related by blood or marriage. They are just two outstanding athletes that share a last name.
THE ASCENT OF VAUGHN GRISSOM TO THE MAJORS
On January 5, 2001, Vaughn Grissom was born in Orlando, Florida. He played baseball at Paul J. Hagerty High School with Riley Greene, who is currently one of the top prospects for the Detroit Tigers. He has a 0.82 ERA and a.389 batting average in his senior year of 2019.
In the eleventh round of the MLB draught in 2019, the Atlanta Braves selected him, and he signed a $250,000 contract, forgoing his plans to play collegiate baseball at Florida International University. With the Gulf Coast League Braves, where he played for 44 games, he made his professional debut, batting.288 with three home runs and 23 RBIs.
Due to the postponement of the minor league season in 2020, he was unable to play, but his performance at the Braves’ alternate training facility won the staff over. He started the 2021 campaign with the Low-A East’s Augusta GreenJackets, where in 65 games he hit.319/.418/.464 with seven home runs, 43 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. In September, he was promoted to the Rome Braves of the High-A East, where he continued to dominate with a slash line of.318/.424/.455 in 22 games.
He began the 2022 campaign with Rome once more, but in July he was promoted to the Mississippi Braves of the Double-A Southern League. He went in 22 games at the amateur level and hit.363/.408/.516 with three hits and 14 RBIs while being elevated to the majors on August 10. He makes his first appearance in Major League Baseball the next day as the Braves’ starting second baseman at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. He scored 2-for-4, and in addition to his two-run home run over the Green Monster, he further stole a base. He become the shortest player of either league’s history to rocket and sneak a base in his major league debut.
He manufactured a slash line of.286/.328/.429 at the finish of his first professional season, completing with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 49 games. He exhibited his versatility and fielding prowess in at the positions of third base and shortstop for the Braves.
Dansby Swanson was one of the candidates to start at shortstop for Atlanta in 2023 after he left the Braves in free agency. On March 20, he was transferred to Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers when Orlando Arcia won the job back. One of the Braves’ top prospects and potential stars, he is anticipated to return to the majors soon.
LEGACY OF MARQUIS GRISSOM
On April 17, 1967, Marquis Grissom was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He was one of Marion and Julia Grissom’s sixteen children. He performed baseball and other activities as a youngster in Red Oak, Georgia. After high school, he was picked in the first round by the Chicago Reds, but he selected to enrol in Florida A&M.
He bowled and competed as a centre for a decade at Florida A&M, where he posted a batting average of.408 and led the conference in bases per contest and quadruples per game in 1988. He was picked by the Quebec Expos in the third round of that year’s drawing, and he signed a $50,000 contract.
He made his debut as a professional that autumn with the Jamestown reveals of the New York-Penn League immediately moved up within the organisation. He made his debut in Major League Baseball on August 22, 1989, for Montreal against the San Francisco Giants
In 1990, when he started appearing continually for Montreal, he established himself as one of baseball’s leader protective centre fielders and baserunners. He was named to his first the All-Stars team in 1993, after having hit.298 with 19 home runs, 95 RBIs, and 53 stolen steals. He gained his first Gold Glove that same year. He once again accomplished both of these goals in 1994, when the season was sliced short by a strike, and lead the NL with 36 thefts.
He had been traded to the Atlanta Braves before the 1995 baseball began, where he reunited his home team and assisted them to their first World Series championship since arriving to Atlanta. He had a.305 slugging an average, 12 home runs, 42 RBIs, and 29 steals bases over the regular season. He hit.444 with three home runs and eight RBIs in the final World Series showdown with the Cleveland Indians.
He played with Atlanta for one more season in 1997 before being dealt to Cleveland. He enjoyed yet another fantastic season at bat with the Indians.22 stolen bases, 74 RBIs, 17 home runs, and 262 total bases. He also won the ALCS MVP award after hitting.474 with four home runs and seven RBIs against the Baltimore Orioles. His second career World Series appearance ended in defeat to the Florida Marlins after seven games.
He lasted one more season with Cleveland before joining on as free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998. He batted in 432 games over three seasons.Milwaukee hit 267 with 66 home runs, 211 RBIs, and 63 steals.
He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2001 season, where he played in 266 games and batted for the following two seasons.249 with 115 RBIs, 34 stolen bases, and 35 home homers.
He acquired the San Francisco Giants as a free agent beforehand to the 2003 season & spending his final three seasons with them. He posted a.272 batted average in 358 games with 35 home runs, 149 RBIs, and 37 stolen bases. He participated in his third World Series in 2003, but the Anaheim Angels win in seven games.
He ended his candidature in 2005 by announcing his resignation. He participated in 2,165 games, recorded 2,251 hits, 227 home runs, 967 RBIs, and 429 base steals for a batting average of.272. For the Montreal/Washington group of players, he ranks in the top ten in a number of categories, including hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, and games played.
Due to his total championship batting average of.317, hits (52), runs (31), doubles (11), triples (2), home runs (7), RBIs (25), and base thefts (11) he is among the top ten all-time leaders for the Atlanta club.
He acts as the Washington Nationals’ first base coach and outfield teacher.
CONCLUSION
Despite sharing the same last name, baseball players Marquis Grissom and Vaughn Grissom are unrelated. However, they each play or have played various positions and times with the Atlanta Braves. Both of them have accomplished great things on the pitch, but they have different playing styles and personalities off it.
Rising talent Vaughn Grissom has a promising career in front of him. Marquis Grissom is a retired sports hero with an enduring legacy. Both of them are a part of Atlanta’s and other places’ baseball heritage and culture.
