John Robert Marzano (February 14, 1963 – April 19, 2008), commonly referred to as "Johnny Marz", was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, Texas Rangers, and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

, from to and to . Generally utilized as a backup catcher, Marzano was a member of division champions with the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Red Sox, and the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Mariners, for whom he posted a .287

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. During his playing days, he stood tall, weighing . Marzano batted and threw right-handed.

Early life

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Marzano graduated from its Central High School, and briefly attended Holy Family College, studying radiologic technology. He attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, where he played catcher for the

Owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vi ...

' baseball team from 1982 to 1984. In 1982, 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

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fi ...

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 ...

. Marzano finished his collegiate career with a .413 batting average. Named an All-American by three different organizations in 1984, he batted .448, with 15 home runs, and 61 RBI. Marzano finished his career as the all-time Temple University leader in batting average, slugging percentage, and home runs. In the

1984 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1984 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable players *Jeff Blauser†, 1st round (secondary phase), 4th overall by the Atlanta Braves * Greg Maddux‡, 2nd round, 31st ...

, Marzano was selected in the first round, 14th overall, by the Boston Red Sox of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

(AL) and was a member of the silver medal-winning Team USA at the 1984 Olympic Games.

Professional career

As a reserve catcher with the Mariners in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, Marzano became a cult hero in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

when he threw a haymaker at

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

outfielder Paul O'Neill during a game in the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

on Wednesday, It occurred after O'Neill complained to the umpire about a pitch from reliever was high and inside; the ensuing brawl in the eighth inning resulted in six ejections , including Marzano‘s own. In later years, Marzano was a frequent guest of Phillies Post Game Live on

Comcast SportsNet NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...

. He co-hosted a show with Rob Charry on Saturdays, and was also a regular guest on WIP's morning show. Marzano also appeared often on '' AT&T Daily News Live'' with

Michael Barkann Michael Barkann (born April 30, 1960, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States) is an American sports host, anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia. From 2011-2016, he co-hosted the "Mike and Ike" show on 94 WIP weekdays from 10am - 2pm ...

, on Comcast SportsNet. The Marzano Baseball Academy, founded in 1991, bears his name. At the time of his death, Marzano was in his second year of work with Major League Baseball's BaseballChannel.tv. He co-hosted the show ''Leading Off'' with Vinny Micucci every weekday morning.

Death

Marzano died unexpectedly, April 19, 2008, at age 45, at his home on Passyunk Avenue, in the city's

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, but the Medical Examiner's Office revealed in its July 17 report that Marzano‘s death was actually caused by

positional asphyxia Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia which occurs when someone's position prevents the person from breathing adequately. People may die from positional asphyxia accidentally, when the mouth and nose are blo ...

, due to the way his body landed after the fall.Medical examiner says a fall killed John Marzano , Philadelphia Inquirer , 07/18/2008
His last public appearance was on ''Daily News Live'', on Thursday, April 17, from the

Wachovia Center The Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the ...

. Marzano is survived by his wife, two daughters, and two grandchildren. He is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in

Yeadon, Pennsylvania Yeadon is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It borders the city of Philadelphia. The population was 11,443 at the 2010 census. Geography Yeadon is located in eastern Delaware County at (39.932862, -75.251540). It is bordered on the sou ...

References

External links

John Marzano Baseball Academy / Tribute Site
at The Deadball Era * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marzano, John 1963 births 2008 deaths Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Pennsylvania Baseball players at the 1983 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Baseball players from Philadelphia Boston Red Sox players Burials in Pennsylvania Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni Charlotte Knights players Charlotte Rangers players Deaths from asphyxiation Major League Baseball catchers Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics New Britain Red Sox players Oklahoma City 89ers players Oklahoma RedHawks players Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pawtucket Red Sox players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Seattle Mariners players Temple Owls baseball players Texas Rangers players Wareham Gatemen players All-American college baseball players Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games