I was shocked to hear the news of the death of John Marzano this morning. I covered “Marzy’s” Mariners teams from time to time in the very early days of my radio career and remembered him then as one of the guys who was safe to talk to. Back then I was easily intimidated in the clubhouse but I knew that Marzy was a good guy and he always answered my questions.

Marzy was a colorful character on those teams. A solid back up catcher who had a knack for keeping things light. He was one of the funniest guys I have ever encountered in a clubhouse. His humor was never hurtful, rather it was usually goofy bordering on maniacal. He was a high energy guy who could often be heard before seen. He might wear a guy out in his South Philly accent but at the end of each rant was a big smile and often an “I love ya cuz!” He was always making people laugh and was a favorite of Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez. One of my favorite memories of him will always be how when either of the superstars would hit a home run, he would immediately go sit next to them on the bench so he would get face time on TV. It’s not that he was an attention hog, rather, he wanted his daughters to be able to see him on TV.

I got to know him better in recent years when he was my coach at Mariners Fantasy Camp. He was just starting his broadcast career and had all sorts of questions for me about the business. It was hilarious to see him coaching first base while doing a call in on his cell phone to his radio show in Philly. He was good with the campers however, and somewhere I have a picture of him teaching me to block a ball in the dirt.

The highlight of that camp was our team dinner. He picked the restaurant which was Italian of course. I got to sit at his family’s table which was an absolute riot. They were so Philadelphia which having spent my early years in Connecticut and Berlin New Jersey (a Philly suburb) I completely appreciated. The accents and attitudes were priceless and reminiscent of dinners with my parent’s friends when I was younger. His wife if I remember correctly was Sicilian and mouthy. The two of them were hilarious together. He had two beautiful teenage daughters that I am guessing were pretty spoiled by dad. They were a very neat family. John told stories and had us in stitches the entire dinner.

On the field he was fiery. He told us stories of having to tackle much bigger batters before they made it to the mound after getting hit by his pitcher. His most classic battle came at home plate and not the mound when he did not take kindly to a comment made by Paul O’Neil. Next thing you know the mask was off and the fists were flying. When he told this story at dinner his wife Terri laughed and said that she had a better one.

She told us of a game in the minor leagues that John was catching. She was in the stands watching and sitting near a guy who was heckling him. After a short time she decided enough was enough and was not shy about telling the heckler to pipe down. Well the heckler had a couple of cold ones and started arguing back with Terri. Marzy heard this and immediately took exception to the fan yelling at his wife. Right there, in the middle of the game he threw down his glove and in full catchers gear started climbing the screen behind home plate to get to him. Terri had tears in her eyes as she described her “crazy husband” trying to climb the fence. That episode earned him the nickname spiderman with his teammates.

Marzy, Johnny Marz, Spiderman, will be missed.