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If F. Scott Fitzgerald had envisioned Adam Greenberg, he might never have said, "There are no second acts in American lives."
Seven years, two months and 24 days after Greenberg's major league career began and seemed over on just one pitch, the now 31-year-old outfielder is to get another plate appearance on Oct. 2, thanks to the Miami Marlins and a longshot national campaign initiated by an imaginative fan on a lark.
Wendy Greenberg
Adam Greenberg faces de Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005.
"I'm ready," Greenberg said on the NBC Today Show Thursday, holding back tears as David Samson, general manager of the last-place Marlins, offered him a one-day contract.
Greenberg was struck in the head by a pitch from the Marlins' Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005 while playing for the Cubs and subsequently suffered from vertigo and vision issues. He never returned to the majors.
The Marlins had received approval from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to give Greenberg a plate appearance next Tuesday, when Miami has a home game against the Mets, who are scheduled to start knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
On the first and only pitch the left-handed hitting Greenberg faced in the majors he was struck by Marlins lefty Valerio de los Santos in the back of the head with a 92 mph fastball. Greenberg fell to the ground. Moments after the thrill of stepping to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, Greenberg had to be helped from the field and taken to the hospital.
In the days, months and years that followed that ninth inning pinch-hitting appearance, Greenberg dealt with post-concussion syndrome, vertigo, severe headaches, double vision, nausea and eventually the reality that the minor leagues might be the highest level of baseball he'd ever attain, other than that one fleeting experience in the majors.
But the Guilford, Conn., native continued to pursue his dream of a return, as he played for several minor league teams, most recently the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, for whom he singled against de Los Santos in a game last year in their first matchup since the '05 beaning. Greenberg didn't play this season, but saw brief action this month with Team Israel in qualifying competition for the World Baseball Classic. In his only at-bat, Greenberg drew a walk and later scored.
For months, filmmaker Matt Liston conducted an online drive to get a team to give Greenberg an at bat, first focusing his efforts on his favorite ballclub, the Cubs. Despite a compelling video, endorsements from the likes of Hall of Famer George Brett and more than 20,000 petition signatures at change.org , the efforts of Liston and co-campaigner Gary Cohen, a documentarian, failed to sway Chicago's management. But the Marlins, with time running out on the season, embraced the opportunity as a win-win for Greenberg and the team whose hurler abruptly ended his first major league career.
Greenberg agreed to a request by Today show host Matt Lauer to return to the show, no matter how the plate appearance turns out.
Seven years, two months and 24 days after Greenberg's major league career began and seemed over on just one pitch, the now 31-year-old outfielder is to get another plate appearance on Oct. 2, thanks to the Miami Marlins and a longshot national campaign initiated by an imaginative fan on a lark.
Wendy Greenberg
Adam Greenberg faces de Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005.
"I'm ready," Greenberg said on the NBC Today Show Thursday, holding back tears as David Samson, general manager of the last-place Marlins, offered him a one-day contract.
Greenberg was struck in the head by a pitch from the Marlins' Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005 while playing for the Cubs and subsequently suffered from vertigo and vision issues. He never returned to the majors.
The Marlins had received approval from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to give Greenberg a plate appearance next Tuesday, when Miami has a home game against the Mets, who are scheduled to start knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
On the first and only pitch the left-handed hitting Greenberg faced in the majors he was struck by Marlins lefty Valerio de los Santos in the back of the head with a 92 mph fastball. Greenberg fell to the ground. Moments after the thrill of stepping to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, Greenberg had to be helped from the field and taken to the hospital.
In the days, months and years that followed that ninth inning pinch-hitting appearance, Greenberg dealt with post-concussion syndrome, vertigo, severe headaches, double vision, nausea and eventually the reality that the minor leagues might be the highest level of baseball he'd ever attain, other than that one fleeting experience in the majors.
But the Guilford, Conn., native continued to pursue his dream of a return, as he played for several minor league teams, most recently the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, for whom he singled against de Los Santos in a game last year in their first matchup since the '05 beaning. Greenberg didn't play this season, but saw brief action this month with Team Israel in qualifying competition for the World Baseball Classic. In his only at-bat, Greenberg drew a walk and later scored.
For months, filmmaker Matt Liston conducted an online drive to get a team to give Greenberg an at bat, first focusing his efforts on his favorite ballclub, the Cubs. Despite a compelling video, endorsements from the likes of Hall of Famer George Brett and more than 20,000 petition signatures at change.org , the efforts of Liston and co-campaigner Gary Cohen, a documentarian, failed to sway Chicago's management. But the Marlins, with time running out on the season, embraced the opportunity as a win-win for Greenberg and the team whose hurler abruptly ended his first major league career.
Greenberg agreed to a request by Today show host Matt Lauer to return to the show, no matter how the plate appearance turns out.
Seven years, two months and 24 days after Greenberg's major league career began and seemed over on just one pitch, the now 31-year-old outfielder is to get another plate appearance on Oct. 2, thanks to the Miami Marlins and a longshot national campaign initiated by an imaginative fan on a lark.
Wendy Greenberg
Adam Greenberg faces de Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005.
"I'm ready," Greenberg said on the NBC Today Show Thursday, holding back tears as David Samson, general manager of the last-place Marlins, offered him a one-day contract.
Greenberg was struck in the head by a pitch from the Marlins' Valerio de los Santos on July 9, 2005 while playing for the Cubs and subsequently suffered from vertigo and vision issues. He never returned to the majors.
The Marlins had received approval from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to give Greenberg a plate appearance next Tuesday, when Miami has a home game against the Mets, who are scheduled to start knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.
On the first and only pitch the left-handed hitting Greenberg faced in the majors he was struck by Marlins lefty Valerio de los Santos in the back of the head with a 92 mph fastball. Greenberg fell to the ground. Moments after the thrill of stepping to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, Greenberg had to be helped from the field and taken to the hospital.
In the days, months and years that followed that ninth inning pinch-hitting appearance, Greenberg dealt with post-concussion syndrome, vertigo, severe headaches, double vision, nausea and eventually the reality that the minor leagues might be the highest level of baseball he'd ever attain, other than that one fleeting experience in the majors.
But the Guilford, Conn., native continued to pursue his dream of a return, as he played for several minor league teams, most recently the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, for whom he singled against de Los Santos in a game last year in their first matchup since the '05 beaning. Greenberg didn't play this season, but saw brief action this month with Team Israel in qualifying competition for the World Baseball Classic. In his only at-bat, Greenberg drew a walk and later scored.
For months, filmmaker Matt Liston conducted an online drive to get a team to give Greenberg an at bat, first focusing his efforts on his favorite ballclub, the Cubs. Despite a compelling video, endorsements from the likes of Hall of Famer George Brett and more than 20,000 petition signatures at change.org , the efforts of Liston and co-campaigner Gary Cohen, a documentarian, failed to sway Chicago's management. But the Marlins, with time running out on the season, embraced the opportunity as a win-win for Greenberg and the team whose hurler abruptly ended his first major league career.
Greenberg agreed to a request by Today show host Matt Lauer to return to the show, no matter how the plate appearance turns out.
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