University of Georgia Athletics
In Search Of A Ring, Grimm Gets Two
November 11, 2016 | Baseball
By all accounts, 2016 will be a year Justin Grimm will never forget. There was the perfect pitch that resulted in a January wedding and then a memorable World Series title in November.
Born in Bristol, Tennessee, Grimm was the middle son of Mark and Tamara Grimm who excelled in baseball to the point he made the Virginia High School varsity as a freshman. By his senior year, colleges pursued the right-hander, gauging his interest on academics versus a professional career. Grimm was selected in the 13th round by the Boston Red Sox in 2007 but opted to honor his commitment to the University of Georgia. It was in Athens where he would meet his wife, Gina Nuccio, a standout student-athlete on the gymnastics team from Naperville, Ill.
Grimm spent three years with the Bulldogs, recording 172 strikeouts in 186.1 innings pitched. He was part of Georgia's 2008 Southeastern Conference championship team that advanced to the College World Series Finals. In 2010, the Texas Rangers drafted him in the fifth round, and two years later, on June 16, 2012, he made his Major League debut.
Grimm made 22 appearances for the Rangers, mostly as a starter, and then he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2013. He has become a reliable reliever in the seasons that have followed, going 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA in 2014, and then 3-5 with a 1.99 ERA in 2015. During the 2016 regular season, he often entered a game in tight situations with the Cubs needing an out. Grimm possesses a key trait baseball managers and executives are looking for, that is, swing-and-miss stuff. Over the past two seasons, he's averaged 11.6 strikeouts per nine innings, and in 2016, he tallied 65 strikeouts in 52.2 innings.
The Cubs were one of the favorites to make the World Series in 2016, yet this was a franchise that had been absent from the Fall Classic since 1945 and last won the title in 1908. Still, it was the goal of the Cubs, and really all teams in Spring Training, to win the World Series.
"Everybody got along and bonded really well, and I think that's what made us a great team," said Grimm. "We set expectations at the beginning of the year. We expected to win the World Series. Now, I think it will set in eventually."
After posting the majors' best record during the regular season at 103-58 and advancing past San Francisco and Los Angeles in the playoffs, the last roadblock was the Cleveland Indians.
As a reliever, Grimm has to be ready every day, and when it's been 108 years since your club has won the World Series, the manager needs to be able to count on everyone in the bullpen, especially in the playoffs. Cubs skipper Joe Maddon called on Grimm in games one, three and four of the World Series, and he had him warming up in the 10th inning of game seven.
In game one of the World Series, Grimm raced in from the bullpen with two outs in the seventh inning and the Cubs trailing 3-0. His first pitch was smashed to center field by Cleveland's outstanding shortstop Francisco Lindor for a double. Grimm regrouped as Mike Napoli stepped up to the plate. He was a familiar face, the catcher for the Rangers in 2012 when Grimm pitched six solid innings to beat the Houston Astros in his major league debut. Grimm closed out the seventh by getting Napoli to ground out. He returned in the eighth and recorded two outs before leaving with two aboard following a walk and single. Hector Rondon replaced him and promptly allowed a three-run home run. The Indians would take game one 6-0.
"There's definitely a lot of adrenaline flowing and something you can talk about controlling your emotions, but the only way to learn from it is to go through that experience," said Grimm. "It was awesome."
The Cubs evened the series with a 5-1 win in game two and the series shifted to Chicago. In the pivotal game three, Grimm entered the game for starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks in the top of the fifth inning with two outs and the bases loaded in a scoreless tie. The first batter he had to face? It was the dangerous shortstop and No. 3 hitter in the lineup again, Lindor.
Grimm jumped ahead in the count 0-2, a strikeout would be a huge out and momentum swing for the home team. However, Lindor worked the count full, 3 balls, 2 strikes. Then, Grimm did something he had not done all year. He got a batter to bounce into a double play as Lindor hit it to second baseman Javier Baez who fired to shortstop Addison Russell and back to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. The Wrigley Field faithful exploded with joy and Grimm pumped his fist and roared in approval. While Grimm was done for night, the Indians pushed across a run in the seventh, and it was enough for a 1-0 win and a 2-1 series lead.
In game four, the Indians claimed a 7-2 victory for a commanding 3-1 edge in the series. Grimm made another relief appearance, getting the final out of the sixth and started the seventh. For the second time in the World Series, he exited an inning with two men on, and the next reliever, in this instance Travis Wood, surrendered a three-run home run. While the Cubs faced a huge deficit, they would respond. Chicago sent the World Series back to Cleveland with a 3-2 win in game five and then after a 9-3 rout of the Indians in game six, forced a pressure-packed finale.
Game seven proved to be one of the greatest endings to any Fall Classic. It lasted four hours and 28 minutes. The contest featured among other things, a leadoff home run, two runs scoring on a wild pitch, a game-tying home run in the eighth, a 17-minute rain delay at the end of nine innings and three total runs scored in the 10th as the Cubs held on for an 8-7 series-clinching win. Chicago had become the first team to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit and win games six and seven on the road since the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
"I still don't think I've taken it all in," said Grimm. "It means a lot to a lot of people, especially in Chicago and all around, to their parents, their great grandparents. Somebody is always coming up to me and saying thank you so much. For me, the celebration after was a lot of fun. It was a good time, and something I'll definitely never forget."
From "I do" to World Series Champion, Georgia's own Justin Grimm has made 2016 a year to remember. He, and the rest of his Cubs teammates, won't soon be forgotten in the Windy City.
