[2] An elder brother, Lee, was a left-handed pitcher for four MLB teams between 1934 and 1941;[3] in addition, a nephew, Jim Davis, also a southpaw, pitched for three National League clubs in the mid-1950s and was Marv Grissom's teammate with the 1957 New York Giants.

The Tigers selected him in the 1948 Rule 5 draft, and he spent all of 1949 on the Detroit roster, working in 27 games (all but two as a relief pitcher), and posting a poor 2–4 record and 6.41 earned run average.

But after a promising start to his 1953 campaign, Grissom's Red Sox career unraveled when he allowed 12 hits and 12 earned runs in only 2+1⁄3 innings over two outings against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park on June 24–25.

But in 1954, Grissom found his niche as one of Durocher's ace relief pitchers — Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm was the other — as he helped the Giants win the National League pennant.

[1] Then, in the 1954 World Series against the Indians, Grissom was the winning pitcher in Game 1, the contest marked by Willie Mays' classic, over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz' long drive to center field.

[1] After his playing career, Grissom had a 15-year-long tenure as a pitching coach for four MLB teams: the Los Angeles/California Angels (during three separate terms: 1961–66; 1969; 1977–78), White Sox (1967–68), Minnesota Twins (1970–71) and Chicago Cubs (1975–76).

[10] Alvin Dark recalled that while Grissom was with the Giants, he had a rule that if Hank Aaron was batting, the pitcher should throw a brushback pitch to try to move him off the plate.