You would have made a hell of a pitcher Marquis Grissom

If Star Tournament Strat-O-Matic baseball was real-life. The veteran outfielder announced his retirement today.

As I blogged before, I played in Star Tournaments from 1996-2002. Arguably my biggest memory other than my two tournament victories was a game I played at the 1996 Worlds played in Los Angeles January of 1997. My opponent was veteran Bruce Leyton and it was the last game of the evening.

The game saw Bruce jump out to an early 5-1 lead but I rallied and tied the game at 5-5 and the game went to extra innings. Twice in extra innings I took the lead, once in the 11th, once in the 17th, only to see Bruce come back to tie the game and send it to more innings. The second time on 1-1 or 1-2 roll on a 20 sided dice!

The game continued on past the 20th inning. In like the 21st or 22nd inning I outsmarted myself pinchhitting Gregg Jeffries for Rafael Palmiero against a left-handed reliver. If I had left Palmiero at the plate, the die roll I had rolled for Jeffries would have produced a homer instead of an out. Those are the breaks.

By the 23rd inning Bruce was out of relievers. Star Tournament rules say a pitcher can only pitch so much and all of Bruce's pitchers were either used or ineligible. Into the game came Marquis Grissom to relieve.

In Strat-O-Matic a position player can relieve, but their card is a hitter's wet dream. Hits, homers, walks galore and few outs. I was certain victory was mine, for I still had a pitcher left.

It wouldn't happen. Grissom threw three innings of spotless relief taking the game into the 25th inning. Then it was my turn to be out of pitchers, so in came Kirby Puckett for my team. Kirby faced three batters, one he got out but the last he faced was Robin Ventura who hit a homerun to end the marathon. Final score Bruce 9, TFM 7.

This game still holds the record for the longest game at any Star Tour Worlds. It was a great game if a disappointing finish. Thanks for the memory Marquis and good luck in retirement.

Open Post- Bright & Early, Adam's Blog, Outside the Beltway,

MESA, Ariz. - Marquis Grissom, a non-roster invitee to spring training with the Chicago Cubs, announced his retirement Tuesday after a 17-year major league career.

The 38-year-old Grissom signed a minor league contract in January and had hoped to make the team as a backup outfielder. But he batted just .200 in 17 spring training games.

Grissom leaves as one of seven players with 2,000 hits, 200 home runs and 400 stolen bases, joining Craig Biggio, Roberto Alomar, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor and Joe Morgan.

He finished with 429 stolen bases, including a career-high 78 in 1992. He was a two-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner during a career that saw him play in the majors with six teams.

Grissom batted .272 with 386 doubles, 56 triples, 227 homers and 967 RBIs, and he compiled .988 fielding percentage in 2,165 major league games. He also batted .317 in 52 postseason appearances with 20 RBIs. Has the MVP of the 1997 AL championship series in his only season with the Cleveland Indians.

Grissom broke in with Montreal in 1989 and also played for Atlanta, Milwaukee, the Dodgers and the Giants.