A native of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, Grob signed originally with the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1952 season and won 24 games (losing five) in his debut year in the Class D Wisconsin State League. After two years in military service, the Dodgers moved him up to the Double-A Southern Association and he responded by posting a winning record with the 1955 Mobile Bears. Washington then selected him in the Rule 5 draft that November.
