Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

Aberdeen Ironbirds manager Matt Merullo in the visitors' manager's office at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY in July 2013. (G21D Photo) Part 1: What Fun | Part 2: Got There | Part 3: Kept Simple Oakland's Rick Honeycutt threw a curve ball, then another. The second curve wasn't a pitch White Sox rookie catcher Matt Merullo was looking for, Merullo recalled recently, but it was a pitch he sent over the Comiskey Park wall for a home run. "I really was just trying to keep it simple," Merullo, manager for 2013 at short-season Aberdeen, recalled recently to The Greatest 21 Days. "Like I was talking to our hitters today, I just saw the pitch and reacted and put a good swing on it and it went into the right field stands." "I ran around the bases and went into the dugout, just thrilled. But, at the same time there was the sense that I'd been working hard to get to this point." Merullo is working in 2013 to help other players kee...

Aberdeen Ironbirds manager Matt Merullo in the dugout in July 2013 at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY. (G21D Photo) Part 1: What Fun | Part 2: Got There | Part 3: Kept Simple Standing on first base, Matt Merullo tried to soak in the moment. He had just knocked his first major league hit, in his first major league start. Soon after, though, came his "rookie moment." With a ball bouncing toward the second baseman, Merullo tried to avoid it, but he couldn't avoid the second baseman. The result was an athletic move that didn't look so athletic, both Merullo and the second baseman's hats knocked off and an inning-ending double play. "I heard 40,000 people just sign and go 'ugh,'" Merullo recalled of that 1989 home opener, his first major league start. "And I couldn't get off the field. I was just so embarrased." Then he picked up his hat to get himself back to the dugout. Only thing was, he had forgotten one importan...

Aberdeen Ironbirds manager Matt Merullo, right, stands on the dugout steps at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, NY, in July 2013. Merullo played in six major league seasons as a catcher for the White Sox, Indians and Twins. (G21D Photo) Part 1: What Fun | Part 2: Got There | Part 3: Kept Simple TROY, NY - About to make his first major league game, new White Sox Matt Merullo spotted his father in the Comiskey Park stands. In the moment, Merullo quickly wrote something on the bill of his cap and flipped it to his father.  "He was about 10 rows back, hanging around the dugout and I was able to get over some fans' heads," Merullo recalled recently to The Greatest 21 Days. The note, Merullo said, had meaning to both. It also marveled at the moment. The message: "What fun." "The last word," Merullo explained of his father's advice, "was always 'go have some fun, just some fun,' whether he was coaching third on a team that I was p...