Marquis Grissom

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. He grew up in Red Oak, Georgia in a house which his father built from scratch while working on the assembly line at a Ford plant. 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 the latter would join his youth baseball team.\n', '

Grissom attended Lakeshore High School in College Park, Georgia, just south of Atlanta. He was offered college scholarships in baseball, football and track and field. Grissom was drafted out of high school by the Cincinnati Reds and offered a $17,000 signing bonus but was convinced by…