Greenberg eases toward return
A tough welcome to big leagues for rookie Cub
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Imagine being unable to bend down and tie your shoes because of dizziness. Or being afraid to take a shower because if you tilt your head back just so, you start to spin. Don't even think about facing 90-plus mph fastballs.

That's been Adam Greenberg's life since he was hit on the head by a pitch on July 9 as a pinch-hitter for the Chicago Cubs. Greenberg was struck by the first pitch in his first Major League at-bat, an errant fastball from Florida's Valerio de los Santos. Greenberg fell to the ground, clutching the back of his head.

"I've never been more scared in my life," he said the next day. "I thought my head was split open, I really did."

Since then, he's had at least two CT scans, rehabbed in Mesa, Ariz., and returned to Double-A West Tenn where he played in six games, going nine innings in four of them. But he was still dizzy. The late-night bus rides, different doctors in different states, and uneasiness over his headaches and wooziness bothered him. He returned to Mesa to see a familiar doctor.

On Monday, Greenberg got good news: He's OK.

"[Monday] was an unbelievable day for me," he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "Today, I'm like a normal person."

Greenberg has no intention of being the next Moonlight Graham. Immortalized in the movie "Field of Dreams," Graham took over in right field as a defensive replacement in one game in 1905. He never had an at-bat. That was his only big league game, too. Graham retired from baseball and became a doctor, practicing in Chisholm, Minn., for 50 years.


Good to see him getting better. It would be a shame, but interesting to see him never get a back.