Let’s talk about something fun for a change (i.e., not the Cubs).
As you all will recall, Matt Murton and Adam Greenberg were called up from AA Tennessee at the same time. Back then, we all thought Murton’s red curls hung the moon and we were all excited to see him hit (oh, 2005 Julie . . there’s so much I would like to go back in time and warn you about, yet I cannot). Greenberg came along as his travel buddy, and made his first and last plate appearance on July 7, 2007. Greenberg stepped up the plate, dug in, and was promptly beaned in the noggin by by a 92-mile-per-hour fastball by Valerio de los Santos.
Career over.
Sure, Greenberg kicked around the minors for a little bit, but he never made it back to the show.
After a few weeks of rehab he returned to West Tennessee with the intention of rejoining the big-league organization shortly. A couple of games at the Double-A level made Greenberg realize that the effects of the pitch had not yet faded.
“Just bending over to tie my shoe left me with headaches for hours,” he said. For weeks, Greenberg slept upright, the only way to tolerate the excruciating headaches.[He spent the rest of the 2005 season on the 15-day disabled list, and still suffers from positional vertigo.
So yes, the Cubs have their very own Moonlight Graham, and we can help him recapture the magic one last time without having to raze any corn fields or build anything or disturb J.D. Salinger (RIP).
(follow me below the fold for exciting details!)
Thanks to the power of the internets, there’s a Change.org petition going around to get Adam Greenberg one last at bat:
Of the 17,500 people to ever play Major League Baseball, only one had his career end on the very first pitch: Chicago Cubs player Adam Greenberg. Adam had to put his life and his career on hold after a tragic accident during his first plate appearance.
Batting in the ninth inning in a nationally televised game against the Florida Marlins in 2005, Greenberg was drilled in the back of the head by a 92 mile-per-hour fastball. The accident forced Greenberg out of the game immediately, causing a concussion that had lasting side effects for years.
Due to Major League rules, when Adam was hit, his at bat was recorded as a plate appearance, not an official at bat. That means that there is no record that Adam Greenberg had an at bat in a Major League game, despite the years of hard work and dedication he put into being a ball player in high school, college, and in the Minor Leagues.
So don’t be a jerk and sign the petition. It’ll take you 10 seconds and, more importantly, it will enable Adam to tell his grandkids that he “officially” batted in the major leagues. Consider your good deed for the day accomplished.
In somewhat related news, the Cubs lost yesterday (though Jeff Samardzija pitched well AGAIN), Chris Rusin starts today, and someone named Miguel Socolovich is now in the bullpen.
Also, Jorge Soler hit a homerun Sunday night that apparently had to be seen to be believed. You can watch it here, with thanks to our buddy Harry Pavlidis.
The Cubs will take another shot at the Nats tonight at 6:05 pm CT on CSN. Can you wait? I can’t even wait.
So far, Soler has been pretty impressive. Reports coming from the minor leagues have been nothing but positive. His stats so far show that he’s stealing bases, taking walks and not striking out very much…all of which is almost unheard of for a Cubs prospect.
I hope he keeps improving and playing well at the higher levels.
Don’t worry, the Cubs can take care of all that when he makes it up to THE SHOW
Why would the fact that kittens have whiskers be anyone’s favorite thing? I never quite got that.
Another thing-if you like raindrops on roses, you will get bees, and they will sting….
I’m not saying that I don’t like that song. I mean, geez, a young Julie Andrews and Charmian Carr running around in nightgowns? Heck yeah!
Agreed.
Thank goodness football starts this week.
The rest of this baseball season is pointless until the last couple days of the season and the playoffs, so I’m focusing on football this month.
I’m only watching college football, since there is so much other baseball to watch, and it’s too hot to solely concentrate on pro football…
College football? Bah humbug.
In CA, they are trying to stick LA with either the Oakland Raiders or SD Chargers,neither of which are very impressive. So rooting for Stanford,UCLA, or anyone but USC is a better way to go for your football. Besides it was neat,seeing the football game from Dublin on Sat…
The Raiders are turning it around. With Al Davis gone they have made some very impressive off season moves. They need to get out of Oakland it’s a gang infested shit hole. I wont even go to games there anymore. Give me a sky box on the 50 and I still wont go. Not much different then when the Dodgers and Giants hook up. I wont go to those games either. I couldn’t stand going to Dodger stadium when I was a kid I could still remember being scared and that was 30 something years ago. It reminds me of Oakland. But if the new stadium is located in the proper place and done correctly I would go to Raider games in LA again.
Wow! I forgot Al Davis died. Thanks for reminding me.
I’m going to go and have a beer.
I know…terrible thing to say.But I really could not stand him and the “ethics” he stood for.
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer buys Lincoln Park house for $2.11 million http://trib.in/ThmyJe
Damn. I wanted to buy that place. I guess I’m stuck living in Wisconsin.
Stupid Hoyer. Bah humbug.
A block from my old apartment. No wonder I had to move out of the area.
Jorge Soler hit .338/.398/.513 with 3 HRs and 4 SBs in 20 Peoria games. Overall, Soler had 134 ABs between AZ and Peoria and hit .299/.369/.463 with 5 HRs and 12 SBs in 13 attempts.
Ya Doc it’s safe to say he’s been pretty impressive especially after sitting out of the game for almost a year last year. I don’t think I have seen a homerun hit in the minors that went that far in a very long time. His bat speed is phenomenal. The dude has huge long legs and reaches each base in like 3 steps. Well maybe not 3 steps but…
I am more excited to watch Soler’s progress then I am Baez and Almora. Look at what Yoenis Cespedes has done with the A’s .294/.353/.488
16 HR 65 RBI. It’s being said that Soler will out perform Cespedes eventually.
We have a lot to be excited about with this kid.
Until he gets to the Cubs, and they ruin him…:)
Well there is that.
There’s a lot of anger and angst out there today. What gives?
I’m in a fine mood. What you talkin’ bout’ Willis?
Spent a weekend listening to gurgling,backed up pipes,waiting for the plumber to come to fix said pipes, then dry-wall people to remove soaked dry-wall for broken pipes. Then will need repainting of wall, then can put everything not soaked back in cabinets. Not angry/angsty really. Just tired of summer heat,fires, and stuff…
Look at it this way Sloan. You have hot sweaty men running around your house. Crack open a beer, invite some friends over and enjoy the show. Don’t forget when they are finished to tell them “oh I think you missed a spot over in the corner over there”
The repair guys are not hot, are about a million years old, and only talk to the property manager…
Sounds to me that you are tired of California.
That’s the only reason I play Mega Millions/SuperLotto from time to time. I hope to win and establish the “get me out of here” fund, so I can move somewhere cold, and leave my mother with my sister so they can enjoy the CA sunshine…
You should move to Wisconsin.
That’s just cruel.
For Wisconsin or for me?
I would wish Wisconsin on no one.
Nope-I look longfully at the “Why Don’t You Move To..” Column in the Guardian. Full of stories of quaint little English villages, and thatched cottages that could be all mine for around 100,000 pounds.
Or I could move to Ireland,like about a quarter of our retirees….
“There is nothing quite so wonderful as money…”
Monty Python
I’m as happy and cheerful as I’ve ever been.
As you’ve ever been…hmmm………………ok
Still getting over the blue moon from last friday. By the way I finangled a free beer out of that.
Told the bartender to buy me a beer,”I’m broke”(wasn’t).She laughed and said “uh huh, sure”.
I said,”I know, on a blue moon,huh?”
“Yep”
Had her.
I’m seriously in need of a nap right now.
Me too. I wish I worked for Google. They have “nap pods.”
I feel like I need a hibernation pod today. Stupid 4 day weekend.
I used to love all those stories when the dot.coms started. They allowed pets at work, you could ride bikes in the halls, they had free food, nap areas,etc. I got to hear about them when the laid-off employees came to try to work for LA County. They usually either quit or failed to pass the written tests…
I miss the days of companies having ridiculous amounts of venture capital and absolutely no business plan for making money. Those were the days. It completely baffles me how that never worked out.
The bubble popped.
Cubs take a pass on Greenberg’s comeback:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-cubs-take-a-pass-on-greenbergs-comeback-20120904,0,4216882.story
The ONE TIME a publicity stunt might actually engender some goodwill, and the Cubs take a “pass.”
Greenberg has more major league experience than most of this roster did at the beginning of the season.
In a pointless season, why not let the kid play?
Maybe the Cubs were afraid he’d somehow get worse and them sue them…
The Cubs have pissed way so much money this year, another $100 million write off from a lawsuit really isn’t going to matter that much.
Another point I thought was,”can he make it any worse”? UH……..NO
When you see all of these…………………,it means I’m putting a lot of thought into my posts………………mmm hmmmm.
So- have the Cubs planned the Miguel Socolovich bobblehead night yet?
Thread posted.