Posted: 4:14 am
June 29, 2008
Mets in mourning
'Trailblazer' Plummer was loved by all
Darryl Strawberry will give one of the most difficult speeches of his life tomorrow. Strawberry, now a club ambassador for the Mets, will provide one of the eulogies for his longtime friend Jim Plummer. The longtime Mets employee, who was featured in The Rumble in April, died last Tuesday following liver and kidney transplant surgery. Plummer, 56, was a one-time bat boy for Nolan Ryan for the Marion (Va.) Mets and had worked in the front office in a variety of roles since 1976. At the time of his passing, he was the director of corporate services.
"There are special people in the world and Jimmy was one of those special people," Strawberry said. "I know the average fan never heard of him, but I can tell you this, every player who ever stepped in the Mets clubhouse knew and appreciated what Jimmy Plummer did." Other Mets expected to attend are Ed Charles, Ed Kranepool, Dwight Gooden, George Foster and Buddy Harrelson.
Plummer, at age 18, became the youngest and first minority general manager in minor league baseball history at Marion. "Jimmy was a trailblazer for us," said Mookie Wilson, who hopes to attend the funeral. "Back when Jimmy was young, it wasn't fashionable to hire a black general manager." The funeral will be held at the Greater Allen AME Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens. Donations in Plummer's name can be made to the Mets Foundation. The Foundation will work with Jim's wife, Tee, and son, Jonathan, on the redistribution of donations. "I've never met a person with more courage than Jimmy," said Mets VP, media relations Jay Horwitz. The last year or two, he battled to come to work and despite everything, the smile never left his face. He always had a good word to say about everyone."
Much Adu
IMG agent Max Eisenbud has represented Maria Sharapova since she was 11 years old, turning her into a global marketing machine. Former soccer phenom Freddy Adu so admired the work of Sharapova's handlers he sought out Eisenbud to raise his image in the US now that he's playing pro soccer in Portugal for SL Benfica. Eisenbud joined forces with Adu last month and realizes the challenge of making a European soccer player a star in the US. Eisenbud believes it can be done, because Adu will play for the US Olympic Team in Beijing and so far has been its most productive player during qualifying tournaments. Adu began at age 14 in the MLS in 2003, signing a four-year deal, and was criticized for starting his career too early. "There were a lot of people killing him," Eisenbud told The Post's Marc Berman. "But he's starting to live up to the hype. He reached out to find out who was working with Maria. That's how it began."
Veterans stadiums
