September 25, 2012
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Adam’s Song
I’m nothing if not a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, pathetic as they might be. I’ve long watched them, win or lose. The 2005 season was not a particularly good one. In fact, they finished a disappointing 79-83. The season was not without some highlights for the Cubs though, they had the league batting champion that year in first baseman Derrek Lee. But for the most part, the season was not a good one, especially coming off the 2003 and 2004 seasons when they were among the best teams in baseball.
But, being the ever loyal fan, I was still watching on a boring Saturday night, July 9 when the Cubs were playing the second game of a three game series against the Marlins in Miami just before the All Star break. The game had gone to the 9th inning when manager Dusty Baker called upon fresh rookie Adam Greenberg to pinch hit. Greenberg had just been called up earlier that day. Whenever the Cubs call a new guy up, I’m always excited to see them play for the first time, so I paid close attention as he stepped to the plate for the first time ever in the big leagues. And the first pitch came in like a laser and hit him right on the head. I remember jumping in my seat a little and letting out an “OH” when I saw it. I’d like to say that was the first pitch he saw, but honestly, I don’t think he ever saw the damn thing, which is probably why he got hit. He left the game with a concussion. Sad way to end your first plate appearance in the majors. But, he would be back soon enough, or so I thought.
Here we are though, more than seven years later and sadly, he has never made it back to the majors. He missed the rest of the season with a concussion and vertigo symptoms brought on by the hit to the head. He struggled in spring training the next year and as thousands of other players can attest, it is not exactly easy to get back to the bigs. Soon he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and I believe eventually the Kansas City Royals but couldn’t make it to the big league club at either stop. Over 17,500 players have played major league baseball and Adam Greenberg is the only one who’s career ended on the first pitch. In fact, because he was pinch hitting, he never even got to play the field. He walked into the batters box, got set, then got hit in the head and that was the extent of his major league career. Jeez, how fucking awful is that? Can you imagine, working your ass off for all those years, your life long dream to play in the majors and it’s over before you even get a shot to do anything?
But another big Cub fan is stepping in to help get Greenberg an actual at bat in the majors. See, because he got hit by the pitch, it is not an official at bat, but instead just a plate appearance. So this fan started a website in which to help support Adam’s cause. While I certainly do not believe he should take the place of any other player who legitmately earned his way to a team this season, I also think that he probably deserves another chance. And what better team to give him a chance than the Cubs. After all, they are horrible this year and you can’t tell me he is going to do any worse than some of the players they have out there this season. But you can check out his story for yourself at this site:
