When trying to come up with the first person to write the SportsJudge "Where Are They Now?" segment on, there was one person who immediately came to mind: Rico Brogna.You might ask why Rico Brogna out of all the players in the history of baseball? This is a player who only hit .269 over 9 seasons with a very average 106 HR and 458 RBI. Who even remembers Rico Brogna? Mets fans do. Brogna has always been one of my favorite players and remains a fan favorite in Flushing as evidenced by the many "RICO, RICO" chants that have been yelled at me over the past 3 seasons when I have worn my Brogna jersey in Shea.
Brogna's only full season with the Mets started with a bang when he hit the first Home Run in the history of Coors Field. Brogna would go on to lead the 1995 Mets in HRs (22), RBIs (76), Doubles (72), Batting Avg. (.289), and Slugging Pct. (.485). Brogna followed this great year with an injury plagued 1996, followed by one of the worst trades the Mets made in the 1990s. The Mets traded Brogna to the Phillies for the horrible Toby Borland and Ricardo Jordan. It is in Philly where Brogna hit 64 HRs and 287 RBIs over the next 3 seasons. These stats are made even more impressive when you take into account the fact that Brogna played his entire career with Ankulosing Spondylitis, a form of spinal arthritis. Brogna later retired after playing the 2001 season in Atlanta at the young age of 31.
So Where Are You Now Rico Brogna?
Brogna has been busy in his retirement pursuing jobs in many sports, not just baseball. Since he hung up the cleats, he has coached a high school basketball team, a high school football team, the baseball team at Post University, and was a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. In fact, last month Brogna was hired as the assistant football coach at Wesleyan University, where he will assist with the offense. This is going to be Brogna's second stint with Wesleyan University after coaching the WRs in 2004. Good luck Rico as you continue your coaching career...it'll be fun to see where you end up next.
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1 comments:
Matt,
It is funny because as a Phillies fan I think the same thing about this guy. Fans just loved him. He was actually doing the Phillies post-game shows for a while a few years back. Can't remember from when to when off the top of my head.
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