Adam Greenberg Gets His Shot
The Marlins will be giving former Chicago Cubs farmhand the at bat he lost seven years ago. According to multiple sources, the Marlins are signing Adam Greenberg to make an appearance in their series against the New York Mets:
Pretty cool news: The Marlins are going to give Adam Greenberg an at-bat next week. Nice gesture by Jeffrey Loria and David Samson…
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 27, 2012
Greenberg, on July 9, 2005, was hit in the back of the head on the first pitch from Marlins reliever Valerio de los Santos, giving Greenberg a severe concussion and effectively ending his MLB career. I was watching the game with my mother. I remember it well.
And now, after a public campaign to get Greenberg another shot at the majors, the long-time minor league and independent league 31-year-old player will get his chance.
On July 8, the Cubs had called up both Greenberg and fellow rookie Matt Murton from Double-A to replace Jason Dubois and the struggling Corey Patterson. By July 9, these four men were already walking towards destinies worlds apart.
Matt Murton spent much of the remainder of the season as a starting outfielder for the Cubs. He put up a 101 wRC+ over his five seasons in the majors before being released, which lead to him signing with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan’s NPB league, where he broke Ichiro Suzuki‘s hit record. Murton became a celebrity in Japan, and he plays there to this day.
Corey Patterson, ironically enough, is the only player still in the MLB. He finished the 2012 season with the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, and he has — despite not becoming the Sammy Sosa every Cubs fan thought he would be — put up and average of 1.5 WAR per 600 PA over the course of 12 MLB seasons and 4499 PA.
Jason Dubois, by July 9, had only 14 more MLB games coming his way. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians later that summer and then spent the next five seasons either struggling in the International League (AAA) or dominating in the Pacific Coast League (AAA).
Valerio de los Santos, then a 32-year-old LOOGY, appeared in 12 more games — 10 in the 2005 season and then 2 more as a 35-year-old with Colorado. De los Santos, like many players who still have baseball skills but not necessarily MLB skills, went to the independent leagues. In 2011, he signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. The same league Adam Greenberg had been playing in since 2009 as an outfielder for the Bridgeport Bluefish.
On April 29, 2011, Adam Greenberg hit a single off de los Santos in a losing effort for the Bluefish.
If baseball is all about numbers, if all that matters are the uniforms and stadiums and rules, if the players — the people — are not the key element, then there is nothing worthy about this sport. Adam Greenberg is not the first player to have fate or bad luck undo years of work. As Craig Calcaterra said this morning, “Lots of guys never even get the one plate appearance.”
I imagine many of us know a player — a washed-out prospect we went to high school with, a former college standout, an independent league all-star — who missed the cut, who had an injury at a key time or who had one bad season in a year where someone younger made them obsolete.
This sport is a children’s game, but it is also a multi-million dollar business. The two dovetail about as well as an intersection with only green lights. We want the storybook fantasies to play out, but every year a hundred books get closed, unfinished.
When someone like Greenberg enters the scene and leaves so abruptly, so violently, our hearts fight against it. It’s the tragedy we see that haunts us the most. I know there are countless dead dreams in the minors, but Shane Funk and Gordie Gronkowski haunt me the most — because I saw them in person and knew they were real.
Almost everyone is hoping Greenberg will hit a home run — at least a double — in his upcoming plate appearance. For the players who never had the chance, I imagine a lingering taste of jealousy exists — that Greenberg of all the unfinished stories would get his happy ending. But that’s just the thing. Every one of these stories has a chance for a fairy-tale ending.
If Greenberg’s story ended with a single on April 29, 2011, then the story finished well. If Rich Thompson’s story ended with a quiet retirement and years spent toiling for an unrealized dream, then the story still ended well — it ended with a man of dedication, a man of perseverance.
The plot may have been tragic, but the character was good. And that is all that matters.
what if he gets walked again?
He’s never been walked in an MLB game. He got one pitch in the back of the head, that’s it. That being said I’d like to see him play a game.
Cool!
Nice touch, Bradley. I got emotional for Adam Greenburg reading this, and I look forward to his at bat.
A feel-good story.
If only there were a television production company backing this effort and planning to film the whole thing as the final episode in a piece on Greenberg’s inspiring story. Oh, wait….
Good luck to Greenberg, though. My justified cynicism should in no way reflect upon him as he pursues his dream. The Astroturfing conducted on his behalf was not of his
doing.
Well done, Bradley.
Like Selig would say no to this one. Ha.
I love this story. It really illustrates that no matter what kind of quantification FanGraphs comes up with, there will never be statistics on the human factor.
It is a great story. But I’m not sure I would classify a token AB in a meaningless game as a “storybook ending.” It is a nice thing, and certainly better than NOT getting the AB, but I’m sure if you asked 25 year old greenberg what his storybook ending would be, this wouldn’t be it.
I imagine there’s a bit of embarrassment for him over this whole thing, simply because it’s receiving a lot of attention, and people are going out of their way to make it happen. I’m sure anyone would feel a little weird having all the recognition and expectation building so quickly.
But I imagine he’ll take it for what it’s worth, and enjoy what he can. It won’t be the same, but it is what it is.
I hope someone somewhere buys Tagg Bozied a beer and sits and watches that game with him.
Odds on him getting HBP?
Does anyone else get a bad taste in their mouth with regards to this narrative? I mean he is taking a 40 man spot from someone else well more deserving, I really feel for Greenberg, and I was a Cubs fan watching that game when it happened, and his dream and career were over just like that, but he had his chance, and it was a horrific outcome, baseball is about the best players occupying a roster, not the player with the most heartbreaking story.
Yeah, a bit. This is MLB silly, total unnecessary story number 2 of the last week or so to accompany the ridiculous notion of Melky Cabrera withdrawing his candidacy for the NL batting title. I suppose I could throw the shutdown Strasburg in there as a 3rd one. What’s next? Is MLB morphing into the WNBA?
Call me heartless and cynical, but if you’re not good enough to make the team on merit, you should not see action in an MLB game. Period.
It sounds to me like he needs to let go of the past. He had an opportunity that millions of people want and never get. Is getting what amounts to a pity at-bat really gonna bring this guy closure? I bet some of this is financially motivated & he signs a book deal within a week of playing.
OK, I will: You’re heartless and cynical.
I’ll join.
You’re an asshole, and your friends are probably assholes too.
Hey “Hey Oooh” – Sorry you don’t agree with me, but there’s no need to be insulting and hostile. Read your post again, and then look in the mirror.
Can’t they just remove him from their 40 man and add someone else after the game if the spot is so important?
Of course they can. People are just making up random arguments because they don’t like the idea of him getting an AB like this.
It figures the whole thing would be started by a Cubs fan. After all, they’ve been giving AB’s to players who don’t deserve them pretty much every season since 1946.
I read that his one at-bat is coming against knuckleballer/Cy Young candidate R.A. Dickey. Is this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or cruel and unusual punishment?
I predict a strikeout.
What a great story. Baseball is about the best players playing but All sport is about sportsmanship and this is a class act. The ki deserves it-no doubt exciting. He is the only reason I am watching the marlins game tonight. Go Adam!
Ask Clayton Kershaw what he feels about this charade. RA Dickey finished up 1 strikeout ahead of him because of this AB. I imagine that affected bonus money for both pitchers.