Flashback Friday 12/11: Family
The story of Jim Eisenreich is
a good one: A hot prospect has his
rookie year derailed by a misdiagnosis. Toss
in a classy act (being sarcastic here)
by Boston Red Sox fans, a couple years out of professional baseball, and a
comeback that has a very happy ending and you have a biography worthy of a
Hollywood movie.
Eisenreich's story has a
local tie to it as well. Charlie
Eisenreich, Jim's younger brother, played for the Appleton Foxes in 1987 and
Gary Shriver's Foxes Notes column
from the June 21, 1987 edition of the Post-Crescent
covers the details. It is also this
week's Friday Flashback.
====
EISENREICH'S STRUGGLE HAS BECOME A FAMILY
AFFAIR
Jim Eisenreich's struggle to
make it back to the top of the baseball world is not just a personal battle, it
also involves the members of his close-knit family.
Eisenreich was forced out of
baseball in 1983 after a promising start with the Minnesota Twins by a disorder
that caused him to shake and twitch and convulse while in the field.
The Twins accepted a diagnosis that Eisenreich suffered from a
psychological disorder that eventually led to his retirement from baseball.
Eisenreich, however, chose to
believe another diagnosis, that his problem was the result of a neurochemical
disorder called Tourette syndrome. He
has been treated with a prescription drug.
After playing a couple of
seasons of amateur ball in his hometown of St. Cloud, Minn., Eisenreich was
picked up on waivers by the Kansas City Royals this spring and was assigned to
their Class AA affiliate in Memphis. After
hitting over .380 with the Chicks for the first part of the season, Eisenreich
was called up to the Royals last week.
"The family was apprehensive
about his trying to play baseball again after what had happened," said Jim's
brother Charlie, a member of the Appleton Foxes.
"The major concern of my mother and father is that he remains healthy.
"After he was diagnosed as
having Tourette, Jim received a lot of letters and books containing information
on the thing. He really believes
that's what he has. Whether or not
he really has that, who knows? But
the symptoms are there. And he has a
pretty good grasp on it right now."
Jim began to develop the symptoms that would jeopardize his baseball career
while still playing in Little League.
"He was about nine or 10 when
it started," Charlie explained. "He
went to the hospital and had some tests and they said he would grow out of it.
The family, everyone just accepted the problem.
It was no big deal."
Charlie - at 23, five years
younger than Jim - grew up watching his brother play baseball, and considers
him to be the best athlete that he has ever seen.
"Jim is one of those guys who
can pick up a tennis racket for the first time and beat you," Charlie said.
"But I was surprised he did so well so quickly at
Jim's signing with the Royals
may have had the spinoff effect of launching brother Charlie's professional
baseball career.
"My name came up in a
conversation Jim had with Bob Hegman (Royals' administrative assistant of
scouting and player development)."
Charlie was then signed as a
free agent by the Royals last January and is now in his first season of
professional baseball.
"Actually, I had planned to
go into teaching math and coaching," Charlie said.
"I already had been accepted for a job at a small high school outside
of
Entering the teaching
profession wouldn't be unusual for Eisenreich.
His father, Cliff, is a retired teacher, his older brother, Bill, is a
teacher in Cold Spring, Minn., and his 25-year old sister is also a teacher.
"I was an academic
All-America, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a job," said
Charlie. "And while I've learned
to accept that Jim is a great baseball player, I can beat him in a math test."
For now, the teaching will have to wait because Charlie plans on giving
professional baseball a shot.
"It was just something I had
to give a chance," Charlie said. "I've
always been a slow starter, so I'm hoping that my hitting will pick up.
But I'm having fun here. I
was able to play a couple of seasons of amateur ball with Jim, and that was
great. It really would be a big
thrill if someday we could both be on the Royals.
·
Prior to Friday's game with
·
The Foxes have also made a few other roster moves. Pitcher
Brian
Meyers has been sent to
Coming
off the disabled list are pitcher Dennis
Moeller and catcher-third baseman Carlos
Escalera. With Escalera
activated, Coach Brian
Poldberg has been removed from the roster.
Also
activated is right-handed pitcher Gary
Peters. In addition, Andy
Naworski, another right-handed pitcher will be joining the Foxes from
·
Bill Byrk,
Byrk
spends most of his summer conducting tryout camps throughout the
"We
look mainly for arms and legs," said Byrk.
"While most of the good players are now going to college, occasionally
you pick up on someone that everyone has missed.
It also helps you to eliminate some players and saves a trip or two the
next spring."
Byrk
conducted a camp in
Colpaert,
who pitched for the Appleton Foxes in 1962, is responsible for compiling
scouting reports on six of the teams in the Midwest League, including all five
====
NOTES AND REACTIONS:
1.) I'd like to make a
correction to last week's Flashback.
I had forgotten that Greg
Connors, a member of the 1998 Timber Rattlers, had also played all nine
positions in a game. I had stated
that Scott Steinmann (1996) and Kuzmic (1999) were the only two Rattlers to
accomplish that feat. Thanks to
long-time reader Patty for pointing that out to me.
2.) That classy act of Boston
Red Sox fans? Here's a link to a New
York Times piece on Jim
Eisenreich's comeback. It has
the following details: It began in
That is mild compared to this
account: In 1982, Minnesota Twins
rookie Jim Eisenreich stood in left field of Fenway Park trying to block out the
taunts of the Red Sox faithful, "Shake, shake, shake," they jeered from the
stands. The taunts were eerily similar to the cruel words that Eisenreich had
heard many times before -- from classmates, teachers and even coaches.
But this time, it was different. This time, the taunts raining down
on him from
Tell me again how Sox fans were
well-deserving of a World Series title.
3.) Charlie
Eisenreich, was signed as a free agent out of
4.) If my google search hit the
mark, Charlie is now Charles Eisenreich, Principal of Apollo
High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
5.) Brian Poldberg, a 30-year
old coach pressed into service for the Foxes in 1987, became the manager of the
Foxes in 1988 and 1989.
6.) Dick
Colpaert was 18 years old when he joined the Foxes
in 1962 for his first season of professional baseball.
He went 5-6 in 36 games (two starts) on his first step up the ladder.
Colpaert made it to the Major Leagues for eight games with the Pittsburgh
Pirates in 1970. He made eight
relief appearances. His debut game was
on July 21, a game in which he pitched two scoreless innings against the
Houston Astros. His last major
league appearance was on August
10 against the New York Mets.
Colpaert won the only game in
which he was involved in the decision, a game against the Atlanta
Braves in Pittsburgh on July 23. He
entered the game in the top of the eighth inning with the Pirates down 5-3.
Colpaert pitched a scoreless eighth by retiring Henry Aaron, Orlando
Cepada, and Clete Boyer in order. The
Pirates scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning and Dave Giusti
pitched a scoreless ninth to save Colpaert's only major league win.
Colpaert was not on our honor
roll of alumni who made it to the big leagues...until now.
7.) Jim Eisenreich's story
had a happy ending. Here is his BaseballLibrary.com
entry. Notable excerpts:
After three more seasons in a
platoon role for the Royals, he left as a free agent after the 1992 season to
join the Phillies, where his career hit its
8.) Jim
Eisenreich, who played in the Midwest League the for Wisconsin
Rapids Twins for a few games in 1980 and most of the season in 1981, went
4-for-8 with a homer and three RBI for the Marlins in their win over the
Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series.
He hit a key homer as part of a Marlins comeback in Game
Three. He entered Game
Seven as a defensive replacement and was walked intentionally during the
winning rally in the bottom of the eleventh inning.
Eisenreich was on second base when Edgar Renteria singled to chase home
Craig Counsell with the Championship-clinching run.
He now
is involved in the Jim Eisenreich Foundation
for Children with Tourette Syndrome in
By establishing the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette
Syndrome, Jim has found a way to help others achieve their dreams.
I told
you there was a happy ending.
Previous Flashback Fridays:
10/16:
Organist at Goodland Field
11/13:
The Beginning of the End