All Things Bubba

Slate has been running an interesting series this week, about the Manhattan School For Girls. A historian/journalist found a bunch of old report cards, and tried to find out what happened to the students.

Weirdly, there's a baseball connection. He went to Detroit to tour some of the abandoned buildings, and found more report cards. This time for boys that, unlike the Manhattan girls, might still be alive. He found the report card of one Carmen Fanzone. Who turned out to be a former baseball player for the Cubs.

He's still alive, and the reporter got in contact with him. His report card at age 10 already showed his interests. He said the most fun thing he did the previous summer was play baseball, and he also says he wishes he had a clarinet. After his baseball career was over, he became a musician. (He said the Cubs were perfect for him. Since they didn't play night games, he could play in jazz clubs evenings.) He now works for the musicians' union in Los Angeles, Professional Musicians Local 47. And participates in Cubs fantasy camp every year.

Also, his report card shows him to be two years older than his baseball card. I guess that was pretty common back then.

Fanzone had a pretty good life, for a guy who flunked Economics in high school. He succeeded in music and baseball, two fields that are notoriously difficult to break into.