I had a lot of fun writing this biography of Joe Zdeb for the SABR BioProject.
Zdeb had one of those names that was thrilling for a kid to see when they opened a pack of baseball cards. It was mysterious. It’s simple, just four letters long, but it’s got that funky letter combination at the beginning. We had no idea what to do with it.
Me: “Zdeb? Is that a misprint?”
My Brother Joe: “No, that’s his name.”
Me: “Like Z-Deb?”
Joe: “Maybe, or maybe the Z is silent.”
Me: “So it’s Deb?”
Joe: “Maybe. Why are you asking me?”
Me: “Geez, Im just asking.”
Joe: “Well ask someone else.”
Of course, there was no one else to ask.
All of the baseball card sets that included a Joe Zdeb card came out while we lived in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in the late ‘70s. The Royals were NOT on television there, nor were their exploits mentioned on the sports segment of the local nightly news. So no one around me had ever heard the guy’s name spoken out loud.
Yes, he played in the playoffs, and I guess I could have heard it there. But these were the years when we were a one-television home. If the playoffs took place at the same time as “Happy Days”, then we weren’t hearing Joe Zdeb’s name being called.
Then, in 1980. we moved to Kansas City, home of the Royals and Joe Zdeb. We weren’t Royals fans yet, but we’d get to see their games on local TV, and lots of cool players we knew something about. George Brett, Amos Otis, Dennis Leonard, Frank White. And, of course, Joe Zdeb.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Unbeknownst to us, Zdeb had been traded to the White Sox before the season. He never played for them, or anyone else for that matter. His big league career ended just before we’d have had the chance to solve the mystery of his name.
Oh well, just another childhood disappointment, like the news about Santa Claus, and learning your parents were fallible.
The good news is that, while writing this, I did finally learn the proper pronunciation of his name. It’s “Zeb”. The D is silent, hence the quote at the outset of the piece. I hope you like it.
Thanks for your article on Joe Zdeb. I'll read anything about anyone with an unusual name beginning with the letter Z!
And I had no idea the Royals had at one time a player named Joe Zdeb. I live in the KC area and I'm a (suffering) Royals fan.
I also like what you wrote about Jim Rice. I had never thought about about the way a double play is recorded before and I like your idea: team outs on basepaths, although it's a little vague.