Going into the 2011 season, Seattle had to prepare for it’s first season ever without Dave Neihaus after his November 10, 2010 death. Nothing else could have seemed as unexpected or as tragic as that, but the Mariners got more bad off-season news when outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death just more than a year after Neihaus’s passing.
Mike Carp seems to be very affected by the passing and made up these t-shirts for the team:
Carp had this to say about Halman to the Seattle Times Geoff Baker:
“He impacted so many lives, it’s incredible,‘’ Carp said. "I only knew him for a short time compared to a lot of other people. But I’ll never forget him. He’s one of the most special people I’ll ever meet.’’
Halman was named by Baseball America as the 57th best prospect in 2009 and he fulfilled his dream of playing in the majors on September 23rd, 2010. He appeared in 35 games for Seattle in 2011 and hit .230/.256/.345 with 2 home runs.