With a heavy heart, I am sad to report that Phillies Nation and the Phillies fan and beat writer community has lost one of its most beloved commentators, friends, and Twitter pals Mark Marinelli (Twitter: @mark625) yesterday. Mark and I often bonded over our Allentownian heritage and our love for the Phillies over Twitter, but unfortunately, I never was able to meet Mark outside of the internet.
Two rather famous folks did, however, and thought Mark was just as great of a guy.
One of those was Marlins outfielder Logan Morrison. Mark engaged Morrison in banter, including some friendly jabs – the two developed a relationship that led Morrison inviting Mark to Citizen’s Bank Park as his guest. The other is “my mans”, who was recently featured in Slate, FanSince09. Mark was one of the few folks to know the identity of Mr. (or Ms./Mrs.) 09 and the two were great friends. Mark’s loss hit FS09 harder than most and he/she, along with Phillies Nation, are here to encourage you to #Give4Mark to Phillies Nation’s PayPal account. 100% of the proceeds go directly to the Marinelli family to help with the cost of and costs associated with the proper services. We get a lot of hits at PN – if everyone gives one dollar, the Marinelli family can celebrate Mark’s life stress free.
Without any further interruption, here are some words from one of Mark’s good friends, FanSince09:
My mans past smh!
On the morning of January 18, 2012, the Phillies twitter community was informed about the death of Mark Marinelli, aka @Mark625. Mark was a beloved and valued member of our community, a loyal fan who was quick to share his wealth of knowledge about the game as well as his biting sense of humor.
At age four, Mark was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and would spend the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair. Doctors believed that Mark wouldn’t live to see 18, but typical to his character, Mark blew past that expectation by 20 years. Despite his difficulties, Mark was always positive. As Ryan Petzar (@petzrawr) puts it:
“I never once heard Mark complain about his station in life, I wish the same could be said about me. He was a tough son of a bitch, but he was one of the good ones. I don’t think he knew how many lives he touched, but then again maybe none of us do, at least until it’s too late.”
He never expected sympathy or help, he was the first one to make a joke at his own expense. While he was quick to share stories of his crazy ex girlfriend, he didn’t dwell on the past, and always seemed positive about the future. In the last few years, Mark entered the local spotlight when he struck up a friendship with the Marlins Logan Morrison. Their bromance will always be remembered as one of the most entertaining stories on Twitter.
I always enjoyed my interactions with Mark. Often times he would show his devilish side in DMs, nudging me to stir the pot or alerting me to something funny that I missed. I’ll miss interacting with him, our community has lost a very special person.
More than anything, Mark was one of us. The online Phillies community is like no other fanbase in the world; as much as we argue and disagree, at the end of the day we have a common bond that connects us, we’re family, and family helps each other.
PhilliesNation has generously agreed to host and maintain this donation page for Mark. All funds will go to the Marinelli family to help with funeral costs and any other expenses.
I strongly encourage you to give what you can. This is not only a chance to help Mark’s family, but a chance to show the world what our community is capable of.
In addition, please leave your memories about Mark in the comment section so that this page can act as a memorial.
Today the Phillies will hold their Phillies Phestival benefiting the ALS Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. Since 1984, the Phillies have raised over $12 million to combat the progressive neuromuscular disorder, known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. Most of the money has been raised through this annual event which features your favorite Phillies in autograph and photo booths, games for kids, memorabilia auctions and lots of yummy food.
In case you haven’t noticed, we like to have fun here at Phillies Nation. It helps keep our sanity while we take part in the never-ending saga that is the Philadelphia Phillies. We have a lot of things going on this week and want to make sure you’re clued in.
A BIG hat tip goes out to everyone who attended Phillies Quizzo on Wednesday night. We had 20 teams battle it out for a host of Phillies prizes including a raffle featuring a framed and autographed Roy Halladay “Pride of the Phillies” poster.
