Friday, April 10, 2015

#399 - 1984 United States Baseball Team: John Marzano


What a card: The 1984 U.S. Baseball Team is really starting to show its prowess as the future major leaguers have now well-outnumbered the never-weres. John Marzano is the seventh of 10 players shown in this set so far to have made the majors.

My observation on the front: Marzano is the only player in this set who isn't wearing a USA trucker hat. He has good taste.

More opinion from me: It's a bit scary that the only player in this set to not be wearing a cap is also the first player on the team to die.

Something you might know: Marzano was a career backup in the majors, mostly for the Red Sox and Mariners. He famously helped touch off a brawl between the Yankees and Mariners by taking swings at the Yankees' Paul O'Neill. Marzano died at age 45 in 2008 after falling down a flight of stairs while intoxicated.

Something you might not know: Marzano was good friends with three heavyweights of major league baseball: Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.


My observation on the back: Marzano was from South Philadelphia. Marzano's longtime coach and a father figure, Gabriel "Spanky" DiFeliciantonio, said, "You can be only three kinds of things if you're from South Philly: a baseball player, a singer or a gangster. Fortunately, he chose the right one."

The blog wants to speak now: The Ballgames category is updated.

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