Fitzgerald Blackburn

Fitzgerald Blackburn
Basic Information
Team	Houston Spies
Status	Active
Batting
Pitching
Defense
Running
Dates Active	Aug 6, 2020–present
External Links	Blaseball-Reference Player Changes Player Page
Personal Information
Item	None
Armor	None
Evolution	Base
Pregame Ritual	Showtunes
Coffee Style	Americano
Blood Type	H₂O
Fate	41
Soulscream	EXEAIEXEAIEHXAOEHXAOEHIUAEAIUAEAIUEAOUUEAOUU
Biographical Details
Pronouns	Multiple (he/she/they/xe/ze/dey/ey)
Horse	Occasionally
Other Background Information
Catchphrase	"We burn. You burn."

Fitzgerald Blackburn is a lineup player for the Houston Spies. Blackburn has been with the team since Season 3, Day 76, after replacing Miki Santana due to incineration.

Official League Record

In the Season 7, Day 71 game against the Boston Flowers, 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.

COMMUNITY REPORTS
The remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.

Physical Appearance

Blackburn's physical form is said to be highly reminiscent of the silhouette left behind by someone caught in a nuclear blast. Constantly emanating from their body is a thin veil of black smoke. The effects of breathing in this smoke are not known, but as of yet no long-term effects have been reported. When referring to Fitzgerald it's preferred to cycle through the pronouns used to reflect the numerous entities composing dem. However, for clarity's sake, she also approves of using they/them.

They do have a voice of their own, despite the fact that shadows aren't known for possessing voice boxes. Inquiries into Blackburn's speaking abilities have been inconclusive. One Hades correspondent in search of answers to this mystery communed with the spirit of a 1956 radio announcer and has not been heard from since. However, written in their notebook—which was oddly yellow and marked with scorched black circles in the shape of fingerprints—was a note: "Blackburn is not opposed to gambling when the urge strikes, and they are very, very good at it—especially because they cheat." Whether this was meant as an explanation of Blackburn's ability to speak or simply an observation about their skills is unknown, but their gambling abilities are easily observed.

With each passing Blaseball season Blackburn has only gotten better as a player—to a concerning degree, according to opponents, given their nature as a mysterious shadow entity. When asked, they gave various reasons, including eating a yummy peanut and enjoying a nice party, as well as participating in the practices that led to improvements amongst all Spies players. Most recently, though, Blackburn was seen using his officially issued curly straw to drink the blood of Pitching Machine in the ninth inning of season eight's 86th game. While some observers expressed worry over what ends these improvements might be for, when asked Spies players expressed only happiness that Blackburn had improved so much, especially since she was clearly excited about the improvements as well.

Activity

Intel confirms that Blackburn is a shadow person. In accordance with the lore surrounding such creatures, Blaseball fans have observed her manifesting near their beds during episodes of sleep paralysis, often to offer them Spies season tickets. How Blackburn chooses individuals to bless with Spies fanblase recruitment is currently unknown. Some suggest Blackburn bases their decisions on intel acquired during their daily wanderings. At any given moment, there is an estimated 5% probability that the shadow of a given Blaseball player or fan is an aspect of Blackburn collecting information.

Blackburn performs rather oddly in eclipse weather, likely because the blocking of the light interferes with the shadows out of which eir corporeal form is made. Because of this, it seems that she hates playing on sunny days close to high noon or against the Hellmouth Sunbeams, simply because holding onto physical reality becomes such a pain.

Blackburn has one documented hobby—the delivery of death omens. It is this which brought him to the Houston Spies after the tragic death of Miki Santana.

Origin

Miki Santana, batter for the Houston Spies, was incinerated on Day 76 of Season Three. Exactly thirty seconds later, various non-Blaseball related media outlets around Hellmouth and Hades reported steady streams of black ichor flowing outwards from the each city's Blaseball stadium. This ichor trickled out of each city and roughly in the direction of Houston. The streams quickly converged at the site where Santana fell, congealing around their burnt skeleton in shadowy knots until assuming the humanoid form that fans now refer to as Fitzgerald Blackburn. It is unclear exactly why this phenomenon occurred; however, it has become an increasingly common sight for Spies fans to see figures reminiscent of Blackburn standing atop various structures, staring and shaking their heads in the direction of both Hellmouth and Hades.

Rumors swirl around Fitzgerald Blackburn like the inky blackness of their tendrils: constantly, mysteriously, and to uncertain purpose. Some say Blackburn is a refugee from Hades or Hellmouth or both; others assert with false confidence that Blackburn was a mortal so skilled at heists that they bet Hades they could escape the realm of Death itself, bringing hundreds of souls with them. (Hades denies this, but then, they would.)

The only certain facts in the case of Fitzgerald Blackburn are this: they appeared after Miki Santana's incineration; they don't appear on film; and in certain slants of light, their silhouette resembles a famous 19th century painting of a divinity known for katabasis.

Katabasis, of course, is another word for stealing blases, a skill which Fitzgerald Blackburn possesses in spades.

Replacing Miki Santana

The various shadowy entities that form Fitzgerald have gone on record to say that while they may be replacing Miki on the team, they have no intention of taking their place within the hearts of fans. Xe has also stated that Santana was "still with us" and that "they should be proud that their hard work has paid off."

We pray to the gods of Blaseball that this is a good sign.

Knowing Blackburn, it is not.

Gallery

• 

  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

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