Sad Day in Brewer Nation

Marquis Grissom retired from baseball today.

Grissom came to the Brewers in an infamous trade on December 8, 1997. The Brewers traded Ben McDonald, Mike Fetters, and Ron Villone to Cleveland for Grissom and Jeff Juden. Grissom was coming as the MVP of the 1997 AL Championship Series. At the time, I remember there were rumors the Brewers were going hard after free agent Kenny Lofton, but those possibilities were dashed when Milwaukee acquired Grissom. In hindsight, the Brewers really did not give up anything for him and Grissom actually played decent defense in center for those three losing seasons.

While his OBP was never anything to brag about, Grissom was a very nice player early in his career. His power/speed combination (296.9 – 18^th all-time) made him unique and Marquis actually finished in the top-10 in MVP voting in 1992 and 1993. However, his career OBP of .318 is terrible.

Grissom’s was a shadow of himself when he arrived in Milwaukee. By the time the Brewers traded him to Los Angeles for Devon White in 2001, he was a wreck. His OBP in 2000 was .288 and he had a sore buttocks (yes, you all remember) which caused him problems throughout the year. It is amazing to me that Grissom hung around MLB for five more seasons. I remember Jamie and I just shaking our heads during each Grissom at bat.

Was the $15 million the Brewers paid to Grissom between 1998 and 2000 a good investment? Hard to say, but at the time, for the production he gave, you could say he was well overpaid.

Let us hear about your Grissom memories.