RIP John Marzano
A man known more for his career as a baseball analyst than as a baseball player, John Marzano was found dead two days ago at the age of 45 at his home in Philadelphia.
I recall Marzano as being a very personable guy when I was a kid. He played for the Red Sox in the late '80s/early '90s, and I remember him chatting with fans before the games while doing his warmups, always signing autographs for kids around the dugout. He was a backup to Tony Pena for a few years, and that duo has always remained my favorite defensive catching tandem (with apologies to Varitek/Mirabelli, despite the two rings).
One of my all-time favorite memories is a game I attended on July 7, 1991, a game which saw the Red sox win 7-4 over Detroit. I was 11 years old at the time. In the second inning of this game, Roger Clemens gave up back-to-back moon shots to Pete Incaviglia and Rob Deer into the net above the Monster. So, in obvious retaliation, he nails the next batter (John Shelby, who batted .154 that season) in the back with a fastball that made an audible impact from the stands.
Shelby didn't just charge the mound--he sprinted out after Clemens (who stood there like a dumb lump) with a bat in his right hand. I was prepared for Clemens' head to be the next item whacked into the screen when Marzano leveled Shelby with an NFL-style tackle. The benches and bullpens then--of course--cleared, and what followed was a hilarious pushing-and-shoving match, followed by a jolly little pigpile on the mound. Instead of a Yankees-Sox boxing match, we got to see a fight worthy of an elementary school playground, with Cecil Fielder and Mo Vaughn sumo wrestling over by the first base bag. It culminated in a pile of bodies at the center of the diamond, who oddly didn't seem to throw any actual punches. When Clemens didn't get ejected, Sparky Anderson lost his mind and flipped out on the umpire. While 34,000 fans chanted "Throw him out!" in unison, the umps needed little swaying, and Shelby and Anderson got tossed, while Clemens went on to perhaps his weakest victory of his third Cy Young season.
It was a memorable game for an impressionable kid. That day etched the name "John Marzano" in my mind as a gamer, as well as a childhood favorite.
Labels: John Marzano, Mariners, Phillies, Rangers, Red Sox
posted by Jackson Ellis at
6:24 AM
1 Comments:
Like the Butthole Surfers once implied, strangers die every day. But for some reason I take it extra hard when one of the game's role-players; those career 2nd or 3rd string catchers goes early.
Marzano is precisely that sort. The Dann Bilardello, Josh Paul, Bill Plummer...they're all from that pool.
Maybe it's the idea of having once been the hotshot can't miss prospect lording over all players in high school, then perhaps in college, only to slowly rise through the ranks of the minors and eventually make it to the pros, to be branded as a role player, or worse, to play yourself into that slot and never get the full opportunity to climb out of it.
Either way, you go down as one of the many faceless contributors along the MLB highway. Just makes me sad, that's all.
1:16 PM
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