Adam Daniel Greenberg (born February 21, 1981) is an American former
professional baseball player. He was an
outfielder for the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
of
Major League Baseball in 2005 and was best known for being hit in the head in his major league debut on the first pitch of his first plate appearance. He suffered a
compound skull fracture from the pitch.
Greenberg was one of two players in league history to be hit by a pitch in their only plate appearance without ever taking the field.
However, a successful online petition drive in 2012 led to him getting signed by the
Miami Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The franc ...
to a one-day contract. He had one at bat for the Marlins and struck out on three pitches. He agreed to a minor league contract with the
Baltimore Orioles for 2013, but the option wasn't pursued.
He also played parts of five seasons with the
Bridgeport Bluefish of the
Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...
near his hometown.
Early life and high school
Greenberg is the son of Wendy and Mark Greenberg. He is Jewish. He attended
Guilford High School in
Guilford, Connecticut and was a four-year
letterman on Guilford's
baseball,
basketball, and
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
teams.
Greenberg was baseball
team captain as a junior and senior, four-time All-conference and all-area, and was the first player in
Connecticut history to be named to four all-state teams.
Greenberg also served as soccer team captain for 1998 and 1999, and was a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
and four-year starter. Greenberg was a three-time all-conference, all-area, and all-state selection. He was named all-New England and
All-America in 1998, during which season he set the school season record with 17
assists. Greenberg was also the team and area most valuable player in 1998, and helped lead Guilford to the state soccer title in 1996. Greenberg holds the school record for career assists, with 33.
College and draft
Greenberg went to college at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
There, he played
college baseball for the
North Carolina Tar Heels
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...
in the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
(ACC). After the 2001 season, he played
collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...
with the
Chatham A's of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...
.
As a junior in 2002, he hit .337, stole 35 bases, scored 80 runs, homered 17 times, and again led the ACC with seven triples. He was named to the All-Conference Team. In 2002, he was named a ''
Jewish Sports Review'' College Baseball First Team All-American.
He was selected by the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
in the ninth round of the
2002 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 4 and 5.
It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book '' Moneyball''.
First round selections
Supplemental first round compensation selections
* ...
.
Minor leagues (2002–2005)
In 2002, Greenberg hit .224 for the
Lansing Lugnuts, and .384/.500/.575 in 21 games for the
Daytona Cubs, swiping 15 bases in 17 tries.
Greenberg spent the 2003 season with Daytona and put up a .299/.387/.410 line, stealing 26 bases in 35 attempts. In 2003, when Executive Editor of ''
Baseball America
''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...
'' Jim Callis was asked whether he thought Greenberg had a chance to be a starter, or was destined to be a backup, he responded: "Very good character guy, often compared to
John Cangelosi, more of a fourth or fifth outfielder."
In 2004, Greenberg hit .291 with a .381 OBP for Daytona, with 12 triples in 91 games (tying for the
Florida State League
The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...
lead), and moved up to the
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, where he put up a .274 batting average in 33 games. His season ended with the
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...
. Overall, his 14 triples tied him for third in the
minor leagues.
Greenberg began 2005 with West Tennessee, hitting .269 with a .386 on-base percentage with nine triples and 15 steals. He spent three months of the winter playing baseball in
Venezuela, playing center field and leading off.
Chicago Cubs (2005)
On July 7, 2005, Greenberg was called up to the Cubs' major league team from their West Tennessee Double-A affiliate.
Pinch hitting
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, American ...
in the ninth
inning
In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other team ...
against the
Florida Marlins, in a game on July 9, Greenberg was hit directly in the back of his head by a 92 mph
fastball on the very first pitch from
Valerio de los Santos.
Greenberg suffered a
concussion
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
as a result of the beaning, and was immediately removed from the game and taken to a hospital.
Carlos Zambrano was sent in to pinch-run for Greenberg, and eventually came around to score the Cubs' fifth run in an 8–2 victory.
De los Santos called to check on him and apologize. As a result of the injury, Greenberg couldn’t sleep upright, or even bend down to tie his shoes without losing his balance.
He spent the rest of the 2005 season on the 15-day
disabled list
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL).
General guidelines
...
, and continued to suffer from positional
vertigo, terrible headaches, nausea, double vision and dizziness.
Return to minors, Independent League (2006–2011)
In 2006, Greenberg hit .179 for the Diamond Jaxx and .118 for Iowa, and was released by the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
organization on June 2, 2006.
Mike Downey
Mike Downey (born August 9, 1951 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and raised in the nearby village of Steger, Illinois) is a retired American newspaper columnist.
From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the '' Chic ...
of the
Chicago Tribune, in an interview on 06/06/06, compared him to
Moonlight Graham
Archibald Wright "Moonlight" Graham (November 12, 1876 – August 25, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and medical doctor who appeared as a right fielder in a single major league game for the New York Giants on June 29, 190 ...
, who 100 years earlier had appeared in his only Major League game, only to not get an official at-bat, a story recounted in the film ''
Field of Dreams''. Greenberg said in the interview, "If that was the extent of my time as a baseball player, just that one very strange little moment, well, there's nothing more I can do about it."
Signed by the
Los Angeles Dodgers a few days later, Greenberg was assigned to the
Jacksonville Suns, hitting .228, but had a .387 on-base percentage (his minor league average), as he had more walks than hits. He also hit well against lefties, with a .455 batting average, and hit .313 with runners on base. Following this stint in the Dodgers'
farm system, Greenberg played for the
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
organization. The Kansas City Royals agreed to terms with Greenberg on a minor-league contract on December 5, 2006.
Greenberg played the 2007 season with the Royals' Double-A
Wichita Wranglers in the
Texas League. He batted .266 with a .373 on-base percentage (10th in the league), a league-leading 11 triples, 13
sacrifice hits (second in the league), 74 walks (tied for fourth in the league), and 23 stolen bases (fifth in the league) in 467
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s, while leading the team with 73 runs scored.
In December 2007, the Royals signed Greenberg to a minor league contract for 2008. Unable to gain a spot in the Triple-A
Omaha Royals outfield, Greenberg was granted
free agency by Kansas City. After a brief stint with the Independent
Bridgeport Bluefish near his hometown of Guilford, in which he batted .289 with a .450 on-base percentage, Greenberg signed a contract with the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and was assigned to the Double-A
Arkansas Travelers. There, he batted .271 with a .361 on-base percentage, and 16 steals in 262 at-bats.
On February 23, 2009, Greenberg signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds and was invited to minor league spring training.
He did not make the team in spring training, and played with the Independent League
Bridgeport Bluefish. In an August 8, 2009, game, Jim Heuser's first pitch sailed behind Greenberg, who yelled out to Heuser. Greenberg was then drilled by a 2–2 pitch and went to charge the mound, but pulled back. Both benches cleared and there was a shove or two in the middle of the pack. He had 53 steals, the team's single season record.
Greenberg finished the 2010 season with the Bluefish batting .258 in 105 games, with a team-high 75 walks.
He played outfield for the Bluefish again in 2011, his fourth year with the team.
He faced De Los Santos, who was pitching for the
Long Island Ducks
The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...
, the same pitcher who had hit him in the head in his sole Major League at bat, and this time he singled.
Greenberg said:
It was a big deal. As much as I might try to pretend it wasn't. It's been five and a half years, and to face him again in a game that meant something and get the result, to get a hit off him, it was a special moment. ... You have the what-if stuff, 'what if he threw that first pitch for a strike five and a half years ago?'
Greenberg later went hitless in his seven remaining at bats against De Los Santos throughout the course of the season. He led the Bluefish in several categories in the 2011 season, including triples, walks and stolen bases.
Miami Marlins (2012)
In 2012, a Chicago Cubs fan started an online petition to get Greenberg another Major League plate appearance. The campaign succeeded when the Miami Marlins offered Greenberg a one-day contract to play in their October 2, 2012, home game against the
New York Mets. The contract was worth $2,623, which will be donated to an organization that researches brain trauma in athletes.
Prior to the game, Marlins manager
Ozzie Guillén considered making Greenberg the
leadoff hitter and starting him in left field, but then decided he would try to have him bat in the middle of the game and was not sure if he would allow him to run the bases.
Greenberg led off the bottom of the sixth inning as a
pinch hitter
In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...
.
The
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
song "
Dream On" was played through the stadium's public address system as Greenberg walked to home plate and the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
He was struck out by Mets knuckleballer and eventual Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...
winner R. A. Dickey on three pitches and was removed from the lineup at the end of the inning.[ Greenberg said after the game, "It was magical. The energy that was in the stadium was something that I have never experienced in my life, and I don't know if I'll ever experience that again." He also said he wanted to continue his Major League career and hoped he would be invited to a team's ]spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
in 2013, ideally the Marlins.
Topps made a Greenberg baseball card for their 2013 series.
Team Israel
Greenberg played for the Israeli national baseball team during the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier. Greenberg entered the first game of the tournament as a defensive replacement for left field, and walked during his sole plate appearance. During the second game, Greenberg once again entered as a defensive replacement in left field, and did not have an at bat. Greenberg did not appear in the third and final game.
Retirement
Greenberg officially announced his retirement from baseball in February 2014.
National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
In 2014, he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
Politics
In April, 2018, Greenberg announced his candidacy for Connecticut's 12th Senate district
Connecticut's 12th Senate district elects one member of the Connecticut Senate. The district consists of the towns of Branford, North Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, and Madison. Its current senator is Christine Cohen.
The district bo ...
as a Republican. Ted Kennedy Jr., son of former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, announced that he would not run for another term. He lost to Democrat Christine Cohen.
See also
* List of select Jewish Major League Baseball players
References
External links
MiLB bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Adam
1981 births
Living people
Arkansas Travelers players
Baseball players from New Haven, Connecticut
Bridgeport Bluefish players
Chatham Anglers players
Chicago Cubs players
Daytona Cubs players
Iowa Cubs players
Jacksonville Suns players
Jewish American baseball players
Jewish Major League Baseball players
Lansing Lugnuts players
Miami Marlins players
West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players
Wichita Wranglers players
21st-century American Jews