Blast From the Past: Grissom and Wilhelm 1954

Seems like the Giants have always been known for strong relief pitching from the Fab Four or whatever their nickname was with the championship teams of the 2010's to Felix Rodriguez and Robb Nenn of the 2000's, Greg "Moon Man" Minton and Gary Lavelle in the 80's.  The World Series champion 1954 team had an elite pair in Closer Marv Grissom and setup man Hoyt Wilhelm.

Both players arrived in MLB in their late 20's due in part to service during WW II.  Grissom was given a tryout by the Giants because he pitched against a service team in Okinawa managed by Johnny Mize who recommended him to Giants management.  Wilhelm served in the European theatre and received a Purple Heart from the Battle of the Bulge.  He taught himself the knuckleball as a kid from a picture showing Dutch Leonard's grip.  He seemed to be on a career minor league track when he was noticed by Leo Durocher who thought he could find a MLB role for him.

Grissom and Wilhelm saved and won many a game for the 1954 Giants.  It was a career year for Grissom but the just the beginning of a legendarily long and successful career for Wilhelm who went on to pitch for many MLB teams in multiple roles and eventually set a record for games played with over 1000.  Both pitchers usually went more than one inning and averaged right around 2 innings per appearance.  Here are their pitching lines for the regular season:

Marv Grissom:  10-7, 2.35, 56 G, 122.1 IP, 19 Saves.

Hoyt Wilhelm:  12-4, 2.10, 57 G, 111.1 IP, 7 Saves.

Their combined 22-11 record was like having another SP and their combined Wins and Saves of 48 gave them roles in just under half of the team's wins.  The pair made a total of 3 Appearances in the 1954 World Series pitching 5 shutout innings with Grissom earning a W in Game 1 and Wilhelm a Save in Game 3.

*Biographical information from SABR website and Stats from Fangraphs and Baseball Reference.