Seven Years Later, Rookie Gets Second Chance

Second Chance: Adam Greenberg poses for his rookie season in 2005. He was hit by a pitch and never played again ? until now. Image by getty images
A Chicago Cubs rookie who was hit in the head by a pitch seven years ago and never played another Major League Baseball game will receive a second chance.
Adam Greenberg will sign a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins and be guaranteed one at-bat in Tuesday’s game against the New York Mets, Marlins president David Samson told NBC’s Today Show on Thursday.
Greenberg, now 31, was hit in the back of the head by a 92 miles per hour fastball in his first plate appearance as a Cub in July 2005. Helped off the field and hospitalized, he never returned to the major leagues after that ninth inning pinch-hit appearance against the Marlins.
No other player has ever had his big league career end on the first pitch, according to Major League Baseball’s website.
Greenberg has since dealt with post-concussion syndrome, dizziness, severe headaches, double vision and nausea.
His major league dream seemingly gone, Greenberg has kept his baseball aspirations alive with appearances with several minor league teams and most recently with the Israeli team in qualifying competition for the World Baseball Classic where he drew a walk in his only appearance.
“He has earned this chance as his love and passion for the game never diminished, despite his career tragically being cut short,” Marlins owner Jeffrey Lori said in a statement.
“I look forward to seeing Adam step up to the plate and realizing his comeback dream next Tuesday night.”
Greenberg said he would be ready.
“It doesn’t matter if I get a hit or I don’t, this has already been a success,” the Connecticut resident said.
“Life is going to throw you curve balls or fastball in the back of your head,” Greenberg said. “I got hit by one of them. It knocked me down. I could have stayed there. I had a choice. I could have said, ‘Poor me, and this is horrible.’ But I chose to get up and get back in the box.”
Officially his hit by pitch seven years ago is considered a “plate appearance.” Greenberg hopes to change that on Tuesday with a genuine at-bat.
He will donate his one-day salary to the Marlins Foundation, which will make a donation to the Sports Legacy Institute, an organization that advances the study, treatment and prevention of the effects of brain trauma in athletes and other at-risk groups.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.