MLB WORLD SERIES: INDIANS v MARLINS

October 20, 1997

Marquis Grissom

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I really didn't care who won, between the Braves and the Marlins. I had to concentrate totally on this team and what I needed to do to get myself prepared just to get to the World Series. We went through a tough task playing the Yankees, they played us well, and the Orioles played us well, too. We had to focus all our attention on ourselves and not worry about anybody else. That was the key there. With David Justice, me and him coming at the same time. It definitely made it easier. You come off with a friend firsthand, a guy you've been playing with two or three years and a guy you've known eight years, it definitely made it easier knowing somebody.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Well, I know when we came here in '95 the fans, they were awesome. They were behind their team 100 percent. For myself, I didn't have too good an idea what the American League was like. I came over with the attitude of trying to continue to win, work hard and win. And with the team we had, though, I can tell by the team we played in '95 that that was a great team, and to add myself, David Justice, Pat Borders and Matt Williams, I knew we had a good chance to win it right off the bat. I knew we had to get some pitches and swing the bat. With the pitching we had we could do it and with a great bullpen, I knew we had a good chance to win it.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: My mom.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: She was a little hysterical for a minute and couldn't believe it for a minute. But she got over it. I told her I'm going to go up there and play baseball, too, and don't worry about it. I think she was more upset than I was, by far. I had to sit down and explain it to her for a few minutes, she didn't understand.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I came here with the attitude to be myself. I knew there was going to be a lot of talk about me getting traded -- for being traded between me and Kenny Lofton. I came here with my work habits and came here to try to win and not fill nobody's shoes. Kenny is a great player and a good friend of mine, too. I knew if I came here and be myself, not change, I haven't changed since I made it to the Minor Leagues, so you just keep the same attitude, keep treating people the way you want to be treated.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Not really. I think I was trying too hard, pressing too hard, wanted to do too well, too quick and too soon. I went to the game and didn't let the game come to me. Bobby Cox did the same thing, Felipe Alou did the same thing, I played for those guys. I think you want to get a different look. But they pretty much pitch you the same. And you've got to go out there and work hard. I remember when I played Little League, the coach put you anywhere, you go out there and play, as long as you're in the ballgame.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I don't know. I think, number one, I'm going out there, I'm having fun. From having a rough season, and the way the season went for us, up and down, up and down, up and down, to get to the postseason play and definitely get to the World Series, it's definitely exciting. You don't put any pressure on yourself, you go out and try to do the things you know how to do. I reflect back on being a kid and playing the game. Things just happened for me to be on a great team.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Well, Bobby Cox and I, we got called into the office, and it was real short and brief, told me I'd been traded for Kenny Lofton and Embree. Definitely I was shocked. The difficult part was saying good-bye to my teammates right there early in the morning. Couldn't believe it. But after that, as I packed my things and got on, I realize I've got to go over here and try to win, go over here and do a job, and finish up. This is my baseball career, I can't let any time pass me by.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I think it would have happened. I think -- I don't know what became of it, but I think none of the guys could sign during that period, so nobody did. And so they stopped that off. But I definitely had the intention of going to the Florida Marlins. It was a good contract for myself, going to another winning team. And I was all happy. Then it came the situation where the Expos still had part of the control of myself, and so they made the decision just to trade me to Atlanta.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Eddie drafted me out of Florida, because I went to a small college, Division 1, AA and there I played pretty good. And I think he scouted me a lot more than he scouted any other guys, because I was 10 or 15 minutes away from him. And being drafted is something very special. I thought that was -- I was real fortunate and happy for myself to get drafted. He's meant a lot to me because he's been behind me ever since day one. He didn't stop after he drafted me, he stayed behind me and supported me, when things were going bad and good. I really have to thank Ed a lot.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I think everybody perceived David Justice wrong. He's the same person today as he was in Atlanta, because a guy may go out and speak his peace or speak his mind, tell people how he feels, doesn't mean he's a bad person or wrong. But David Justice, he loves to work hard, hits extra every day, and he goes out and plays the game hard. I don't see anything wrong with David Justice.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Can't run, can't hit. If I can swing the bat and get around, I figure if I'm hurting and I can run just as fast as anybody else on the field. I just love to play the game. This is big-time baseball. To be in the playoffs, I don't want to let that opportunity go by, not being in the line-up, not playing, because some guys play all their career and never get a chance to go to postseason play or the World Series, so I'm taking total advantage.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Me and Dave Justice talked about that exact same thing. I was thinking they were going to pitch around me and not give me anything to hit because of the eight spot. But somehow he talked that out of me, and I blocked it out of my mind. I think maybe if they got ahead they would try to pitch to me, and if they didn't, they wouldn't. But I think a couple of balls I hit they definitely weren't strikes, two of the hits definitely weren't strikes. I can't tell. But I'm going to go up there tomorrow with my same approach.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I don't know. I'm looking at it now because you guys are bringing it up. But I just go out there and play. I'm trying to help my team as much as I can, because those guys have picked me up all season, and it takes a total team effort to go out and win. And I really never looked at a batting average or anything. It's about going out there, how 25 guys can come together and win. It takes more than just skills and talent and having a great ball club.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: No, I'll leave that for Reggie Jackson.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Those guys are a little bit before my time. And I had to play against Andre Dawson back in 1989, when he was a real great player. And he still is. But I don't think I can ever be the player he was, though.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I think Mike has done a great job with his ball club, moving guys in and out and up and down. But you don't brag about it. You just go out there and play ball. And the way I got to .400 or whatever I'm hitting, I hit 8th or 9th the last other two games. I got there this way, and just go out there and try to continue. But the work ethics, they come from home. That's where I learned to work hard and good things happening. I think you go out there and you continue to work hard. You've got to work at this game, it's already hard enough to go out there and just play.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: At that time, a five year deal for myself where I never had a big contract was good. And not only that, going to a team that was on the verge of having a winning ball club who had played well for the first two years of expansion, and all the guys in their front office, general manager, the head scouting guys, Gary Hughes, Frank Wren, Dave Dombrowski, I knew them from the Expos experience. They knew my game and in and out. It was a situation where I was pretty much going where I knew everybody, and a good situation with a good contract.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Pitcher, drafted as a pitcher, but I like to play every day, and that's the first thing I told Jerry Manuel, he was the bench coach, he's the guy I have to thank, too, because he gave me the opportunity to go in the outfield. When I first got the opportunity to pitch the first week, and he gave me the opportunity to go out and swing the bat.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Definitely. I think that's the reason why we're here today. I think we learned -- we got along, but we had to get along better than we did. We all had to come together and pull for each other, root for each other, and play the game. We have to talk about the game. If you don't like a person or get along with a person you're lacking in that situation. You've got to talk about the game and your approach on the game tonight. It definitely got us focusing and brought us together.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: If that's what you're missing, that's number one. If you're missing something else, it would be number two. And our aspect that's what we were missing, we were missing that cohesiveness, where we had to go out and play as a team and pull together and talk about the game. That's how you win, no matter how much talent you have, you still have to go out there and talk about the game and play as a unit.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: Well, it's pretty good, it's during a weekday. My mother, brother and sister have to work, so only a few can come. My family has been supporting me from day one. And it's pretty easy now to go out there and play. But the first couple of years of my career it was tough. I was trying to support everybody, make sure everybody had a good time, watch the games. And I learned my lesson in Atlanta.

MARQUIS GRISSOM: I have to go out now and play baseball first, and then worry about ticket requests, worry about making everybody else happy. I kind of got off track a little bit my first year in Atlanta.

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