BY FAIZAL KHAMISA – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Until Tuesday, you may never have heard of Adam Greenberg. No one would blame you, here was a kid whose story was getting swept under the rug because of some other great ones – notable baseball pennant races – but also for a lot of bad – referee strike, NHL lockout. Far be it for sports to sometimes evoke emotion right?
Adam Greenberg made his second MLB debut Tuesday, seven years after his first and only plate appearance. Greenberg was drafted in the ninth round of the 2002 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, following a semi-decent spell at the University of North Carolina. He was hardly touted to be a superstar, more of a “fourth or fifth outfielder” according to Baseball America’s Jim Callis. Regardless of the label, Greenberg worked his way through the minors, improved his game in Venezuela through winter baseball, and on July 7, 2005, got a call up to the Majors by the Cubs.
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On July 9th he got his first, and until yesterday, only plate appearance as he pinch-hit in the ninth inning against Valerio de los Santos of the Florida Marlins. On the very first pitch he faced, Greenberg was hit in the back of the head by a fastball and was immediately concussed. The resulting injury caused him to spend the entire 2005 season on the DL. His life had been turned upside down, literally, as he says he had to sleep upright to tolerate the excruciating headaches he faced.
He was released by the Cubs in 2006, after a brief appearance with a minor-league affiliate, and since got picked up by the Dodgers, Royals, Angels and Reds, though not once making up the big leagues. He signed on with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Independent League and in 2011 led the team in walks, triples and stolen bases.
In 2012, a Chicago Cubs fan started an online petition to get Greenberg is first official Major League Baseball at-bat. It succeeded when he was picked up by the Miami Marlins on a one-day contract to play in an October 2nd game against the New York Mets. Greenberg entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth while Aerosmith’s “Dream On” blared through the speaker. The 33-second at-bat ended with a strikeout on three pitches, but it hardly matters.
What matters is Greenberg’s resiliency. What matters is his perseverance. What matters is his attitude. What matters were his desires to never give up his dream. That’s the lesson that’s so often overlooked in sports. We idolize the superstar, the one who, for the most part, has been gifted a path to stardom. We forget the stories like Greenberg, the guys who had a chance, and because of bad luck, or fate, or whatever, had it taken away from them. It would have been easy for Greenberg to give up the game. I know many have.
But he didn’t.
Before the game Greenberg didn’t know if the situation he was in was reality or simply a dream.
Well Adam, because of your willingness to keep dreaming, many of us will now do so as well.
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