Fitzgerald Blackburn
Fitzgerald Blackburn was a lineup player for the Houston Spies, and was with the team from the Season β14 elections until Fall Ball. Blackburn has previously played for the San Francisco Lovers.
Official League Record
Blackburn joined the ILB as a lineup player for the Houston Spies on Season β3, Day 76 after the incineration of Miki Santana.
On Season β7, Day 71, Blackburn swallowed a peanut and had a yummy reaction, boosting all of their star ratings.
During the Coffee Cup, Blackburn played for the Americano Water Works as a lineup player.
Blackburn was traded to the San Francisco Lovers in exchange for Yeong-Ho Garcia during the Season β13 elections via the Spies' Exchange will, becoming a pitcher in the process.
During the Season β14 elections, Blackburn retreated to the Spies' Shadows in exchange for Karato Bean as a result of the Spies' Exchange will, resulting in a combined 16.5 → 17 stat increase.
During the Season β15 elections, Blackburn rejoined the Spies' active roster in exchange for Malik Romayne as a result of the Spies' Foreshadow will, becoming a lineup player in the process.
On Season β21, Day 72, Blackburn was expelled 
and gained the Negative modification as a result of Yeong-Ho Garcia's Undertaker modification.
COMMUNITY REPORTSThe remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.
Box of Fitzgerald Blackburn Files
- Dust billows as the file box lands on the table. While many archives in the Interdimensional Rumor Mill are unified in some way, this... definitely isn’t one of them. The accompanying Rumor Registry explains all of the contents... wherever it is... but for now you grab the folder labelled IF-2.7182 and start reading...
Origins
The cloud of smoke left by Miki Santana's incineration refused to disperse, even after several minutes. Despite no apparent replacement for Santana, the umpires demanded that play continue. After the end of the inning, an industrial fan was used in an attempt to drive the smoke off the field; it continued to hold form, and rolled into the dugout. Later in the game, a Spies uniform filled with black smoke strode onto the field and hit a flyout.
Afterwards, the smoke was detained and questioned. By Spies tradition, the smoke-spirit was assigned a codename by rolling dice and consulting a lookup table: Fitzgerald Blackburn.
When asked why they retained form, they said: "I don't want to just disappear into the wind. I don't want to be forgotten. I want to be here. To experience the world."
Agency Work
Upon induction to the Spies, Blackburn was assigned espionage work, and proved naturally talented at both infiltration and emotional intelligence.
Blackburn's amorphous form makes it extremely good at sneaking into places; they can fit themselves into extremely small spaces for extended periods of time. For example, Blackburn reportedly once infiltrated an office by hiding inside a printer toner cartridge. They are also a master at air-vent escapes.
An exquisitely acute empathetic sense also makes Blackburn excellent at determining when someone is lying, though this also means that Blackburn has had to learn mental discipline so as not to burst into tears at the slightest provocation.
Blackburn is no longer allowed to blind people by blowing smoke into their eyes.
Blaseball Career
Debuting as an acceptably good batter, Blackburn slowly improved over the seasons, through peanuts, blessings, and updated gear designs. While not the leader or captain of the team (because Spies do not do leaders), Blackburn is a central backbone of their organization. Even through the disastrous Season 9 reverb, Blackburn remained a constant, doing their best to get everyone accustomed to their new roles.
Blackburn is now an exceptionally good batter who remained in that position for almost their entire career. Until Season 13, their equally exceptional pitching ability was kept highly classified, though Blackburn's unerring aim and strong arm when throwing balls back to the infield have long fed the speculation of the highly-observant.
Scattering and Trades
After reports from Blackburn and observations of Hotbox Sato about their experiences as smokespeople after being flooded off base, it was hypothesized that should Blackburn be swept away for an extended period of time, Scattering could be life-threatening.
After Theodore Holloway's death in season 13, Blackburn was inconsolable. Several days later, when Flooding crested again, Blackburn was swept away to Elsewhere. They remained missing for the rest of the season. It was speculated, and later confirmed, that they allowed themself to be pulled away by hopelessness and despair.
Between seasons, it was determined that the best way to deal with both Blackburn's physical and mental state was to provide them with an extended period of rest. A careful misfiling of paperwork sent Blackburn to the San Francisco Lovers as a pitcher. They quickly proved their brilliance on the field as a pitcher; batters report that Fitz's diffuse outline makes it exceptionally difficult to tell what kind of pitch they're throwing.
The next season, due to what may or may not have been intentional interference by Becker Solis, Fitzgerald Blackburn was sent to the Spies' Shadows. It remained there for a full season.
Return
Through much of the Expansion Era, Blackburn played consistently and well as younger Spies caught up with its skill and fame. However, at the same time, Blackburn’s anxiety became worse. In particular, holding a Golden Necklace (and thus being a Super Idol) between seasons 17 and 19 caused Blackburn regular panic attacks about being on the Idol Board. Despite never gaining a single level of Ego, let alone Legendary status, the mere act of being perceived caused Blackburn considerable distress.
“Agency supercomputers have run the numbers: idoling Fitz is only optimal if your current snack portfolio is hotdogs only, 650% multiplier, final destination. That isn’t even an optimal snack spread anyway,” Alexandria Rosales said on Blackburn's behalf, in a rare direct statement to the press. “If you really care about your optimization please just go for seeds.”
During the election after season 19, Jasper Blather took the Golden Necklace from Blackburn before Roaming away. When Blather was asked for comment, they stated, “I was supposed to give them my Crocs, but they’ve got more than enough drip already.” Blackburn’s response to press questions about the incident was to climb into an air vent.
Blackburn was attacked by Consumers during the season 20 postseason, but responded to all press questions with some variant of “Math [Velazquez] has it worse.” When Velazquez was shadowed due to injuries in that election, Blackburn refused to appear in public for weeks afterwards. Once Voicemail was Ratified in Season 21, though, Blackburn was overjoyed, and when Velazquez was present, the two were inseparable.
Commissioner Vapor joined the team after the season 20 elections. Blackburn immediately gravitated towards them, as Vapor was a fellow amorphous individual made out of incineration remains. Blackburn even briefly tried wearing a sealed suit like Vapor's, though Blackburn found the suit too restrictive to be useful.
Blackburn partied twice during Season 22, as part of the Spies breaking their general party drought, and this partially repaired the damage done by two Consumer attacks. However, their parties did not resemble typical ILB Party Time, which had been forbidden by the Agency. For one of these “parties” they were photographed merely leaning against a pillar, an enigmatic smile on their face.
Relations
Math Velazquez, being mathematics across all space and time, steadies Blackburn's perpetual anxiety about being forgotten. Velazquez's motivation for becoming a Blaseball player is also the same as Blackburn's, so their respective existential takes on life match. Son Scotch once told the press that "[Blackburn]'s totally in love and should really admit it to themself."
They may or may not have a queerplatonic relationship with Alexandria Rosales, being mutually supportive of each other's anxieties and traumas.
Blackburn's response to learning about Hotbox Sato's existence was curiosity about another individual made of smoke. A meeting was arranged. Blackburn entered the room where Sato was in diffuse form; a few minutes later Blackburn ran out, slammed the door behind them, and refused to describe what happened. Sato commented afterwards that Blackburn "needs to loosen up".
Speculation about Blackburn's position in the Lovers' polycule abounds, most of it centering around Knight Triumphant. For their part, Blackburn has remained completely silent when questioned.
Fan Works
Fitzgerald Blackburn with Reese Clark by @crikadelic
Art by Discord user blinkingkills
Mini-Blaseballer by @HetreaSky
Son Scotch, Fitzgerald Blackburn, and Alexandria Rosales (By @crikadelic)
By @glassgoblin
Blackburn dressed for the Mlet Gala, by @toxiclockwork
