Read an Excerpt
It's your team
Have you ever had something just catch your attention, like a nice car or a good song on the radio? That happened to me, as I was looking out a window at Bottenfield School. I was at the school for one reason or another; I don't remember what brought me there, frankly. All I remember is that it was some kind of program or function on a Tuesday.
I had just graduated from Centennial. I was 18 years old and ready to take on the world. I just kept looking out that window at the bunch of kids playing Little League baseball at the Border League diamond. It was the same diamond where I had played as a boy. I had not watched a game since I had played Little League all those years ago. I also noticed that the kids were being coached by a local dentist and man that I knew from Champaign, Dr. Mick Turk. He was a really good guy. He was a baseball guy himself. I would later learn that he played college baseball for SIU. Also, I have to say, I was intrigued by the kids. I kept watching.
There's something about a Little League game: the warm sun, the dust that rises into the air when kids run the bases, the crack of a bat when it successfully meets a ball, a kid catching a ball right in that sweet spot of his glove or a great play that gets everyone on their feet and cheering.
Little League back then was uncomplicated: there were no scholarships and no contracts to think about yet, if there ever would be. Little League was, and still is, played in the players' neighborhood. Sometimes a kid would just hop on his bike and ride down to the game with his glove hanging on the handle bars. Players didn't have to bring anything else. The equipment was already there at the game with the coach. Plus, most of the time, the parents came to watch, but if they couldn't make it, nobody worried about the player's self esteem. The player knew that the world did not revolve around him and that his parents were sometimes busy.
No big deal. Simple. Kids playing baseball because it was fun.
The now common traveling teams had not yet evolved. No entire families riding around in minivans that proudly display 'Diamond Man Tommy' or 'Fast Pitch Susie' stickers from the van's back window. No twice weekly traveling from town to town, eating fast food dinners on the run, playing other kids, all hand-picked by well-meaning parents with a particular sports agenda.
So, as I watched out that window, I thought about it and I decided I was going to watch a game sometime. I knew from my days of playing that if today was Tuesday that this team would play again on Thursday. Funny the stuff you remember. All those years had gone by and I could remember how the Little League schedule worked for the kids playing then at Bottenfield on the Border League diamond. I could come back on Thursday.
Why not?
It was a decision that would shape my life in many ways. At the time, if somebody would have said to me that going back to Border League to watch a Little League game would define nearly 30 years of my life, I would've thought they were just a little 'off'. But, that's how life is: those small decisions take us places, set us on a journey, and lead us where we never would imagine at the time.
OK, heck yeah, I would come back on Thursday. No reason not to do just that.
There I was, on Thursday, back at the Border League diamond, all ready to see the game. I noticed that Dr. Turk was there again, coaching the players. A nice guy.
"Hi!" I said to Dr. Turk.
He acknowledged me with a nod and a smile. I settled in to watch the game. I could feel a smile creep onto my face as I watched the kids play ball that day.
I watched from the fence. The fence watchers are those that are into the game. Fence watchers know the game, they want to watch, not talk a lot like the bleacher fans. Come on, I knew baseball. I played well as a kid, so my 18 year- old self decided I would take my place at the fence, but on the outside.
After the game I walked up to Dr. Turk.
"When are you playing again?" I asked.
"Monday is our next game," he said. I made a mental note to be back at the Border League diamond on the following Monday. On Monday, I am at the fence and the game is underway. The kids are all on the field and the other team is at bat.
"Hey batter, hey batter..."
Then, about the top of the third inning or so, I caught the Turk's eye.
"Mind if I help out?" I asked him.
He nodded at me as if to say it was OK.
Now I'm inside the fence. I didn't do or say much. I watched. The point was that I was inside the fence and not on the outside of the fence. Before long, I befriended a couple of the players, you know, gave them some tips, tried to keep their spirits up and keep them mentally in the game.
"Nice catch," I said to this little guy.
"Thanks!" he said back.
It helps. Everyone needs encouragement. It wasn't too many games after that when the coach said I could help out more.
"Hey, Chuck, my assistant isn't going to show up," Turk said. "Wanna take his place and coach first?"
He coached third base and took care of the scorebook. I covered first base.
The scorebook is the batting line-up list and also tells what positions the players will be on the field. Coaches keep the other team informed if the book changed, or at least I always did when I coached.
"Sure, glad to do it," I responded back as I headed to first base.
It just went from there. The kids listened to me, because I guess I knew how to reach them, to help them, to coach them. I get that from my dad. He was such a positive person. He knew how to build people up; to give them some constructive, positive ideas on how to improve on something they needed to work on. He also told them what they were good at, as well. Kids need to hear that, too. We all need that. I grew up with his example and I guess, I naturally coached the kids that way myself. It's part of who I am.
I have to be honest. I was 18 years old and I knew everything about baseball, or so I thought. The coach that I would be almost three decades later was not that young guy, fresh out of Centennial High School, who thought he could coach kids like they were in the major leagues. However, those seeds that my dad planted in me by his example, over the course of my life, were slowly starting to take root.
The assistant coach didn't come back. Dr. Turk decided to coach first base, like most of the other head coaches. You see, more kids make it to first base than make it to third base. As a result, I coached third base. I had a good rapport with everyone.
You never know where one decision will take you. All I was doing was hanging out with a Little League team, a kid of 18. I was enjoying helping the kids, getting excited about the games and having fun helping Dr. Turk. The team had about four or five games to go when the Dr. Turk walked over to me.
He looked at me.
I will never forget it. Ever.
"It's your team," Turk said.
He handed me the scorebook.
He had made me the head coach.
EXTRA INNING:
The Glove
One of the first things a new baseball player acquires is a glove. It is a good memory.
"I know. It's great to get your first glove. I think every player holds their glove up to their face to get that smell of the leather. There's nothing like it," said Walter Pierce, who coached Little League with Schwartz from 1982-85.
Dr. Stephen Cosgrove agrees.
"My nephew, Jeff Cosgrove, a great baseball player, was looking for a particular Rawlings glove," he said. "He's a lefty and needed a certain glove to play effectively. I asked Chuck where I could get one and he got a professional level glove for my nephew. My nephew ended up being a head high school baseball coach. He still has that glove to this day!"
Dr. Stephen Cosgrove holds a doctorate in education, organizational/educational leadership from Auburn University. He holds both an undergraduate and a master degree from SIU-Carbondale. Dr. Cosgrove has developed more than 5200 training programs/seminars in the areas of leadership and human resource development. He also created the Boys of Baseball National Traveling Teams program for players' ages 9-18 years of age in 1995.
Johnny Walker of Champaign cherished his glove, too. "I would jump out of bed on a summer morning and look out of my window right away," Walker said. "I would grab my glove and look out that window off and on all day long. I would look for rain clouds and wish them to stay away that day, so we could play our Little League game that night. I would hang on to my glove that whole day, hoping that I would get to play."
Walker played with The Champaign All-Stars, a group of boys Schwartz put together after the regular Little League season in 1975. Walker said he often relayed some of the same experiences to his own son, Mike when he learned to play baseball. The seeds that Schwartz' father planted firmly in him, were being harvested and passed on yet again to future generations.
"In reflection of playing for Chuck, I often was patient with my son and would not get frustrated when he didn't learn as fast as I liked," Walker said one summer evening. "I told my son that he will look back on these times as some of the best in his life. No pressure, just fun."
It seems it really does take a village, or in Schwartz' case, a team.
"Chuck Schwartz has a team mentality and a heart of gold. He's always been there for kids- all kids- through the game of baseball. I'm 5 years older than Chuck. I have known him for 50 years. He's helped me with my baseball schools," Cosgrove said. "My son, Coleman, was a little guy, and Chucky somehow loaned him a batting helmet. I say loaned because it's still hanging in our garage to this day. "
Schwartz' sister, Linda Schwartz, said her older brother carried his glove around with him most of the time during Little League season.
"I never saw him without it. He was a true baseball player all through his youth. He threw his baseball up and caught it in his glove all the time. Chuck started throwing the ball against the wall in the garage way before springtime even began," the younger Schwartz said. "I don't think our mother appreciated the marks on the wall. He always had his mind on the game."
Chuck's friend, Robb Patton cherishes the youthful memories.
"Chuck is my longtime friend from childhood. We played many games of wiffle ball and basketball in my backyard, and sandlot football on the 11th hole of the Champaign Country Club," Patton said. "Chuck was the slightest of our group and always played quarterback. He had a good arm and the most sophisticated play was called Go Long. Chuck did take a beating, breaking his nose and having to wear a Hannibal Lector- style mask a few times."
Patton is a self-made man, according to Schwartz. He works for the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. Schwartz said that Patton is one of the most patient coaches he ever worked with. He coached with Schwartz from 1974-1975.
Steve Simon remembers the swim rule and swimming at the Champaign Country Club Pool.
"I recall one particular summer where Chuck was given, and I say I'm presuming this, permission to charge his lunches and snacks at the club snack bar. So Chuck extended this luxury to his closest friends," Steve said. "It was a glorious month of burgers, Snickers, and pop, until the end of the month bill came to his parents. Needless to say his charging ability was halted for a while."
Simon is an accomplished carpenter and one half of the business Simon and Simon, which he has run with his brother, Jack Simon, for 40 years. Both Simon brothers were close childhood friends of Schwartz and remain close to him now.
"We have had fun over the years," Jack Simon said. "We would all pile into Chuck's dad's MG and go to a game. He would take us to get ice cream afterwards."
The influence of family
People are complex. There is not one 'thing' that any person can point to that definitely influences their life. Each human being is a mass of experiences and influences that collectively form who and what they are as a person. For most, however, each person can pinpoint those people and those experiences that have influenced them.
Chuck's family all greatly influenced him. Chuck feels, however, that three family members had the most positive influence on him: his father, Irving (Irv) Schwartz, his grandfather, Stanley Kaufman and his sister, Linda Schwartz.
Chuck's father was the most positive influence in his life. He knows that his positive attitude about young people, coaching and his giving nature were gifts his father gave to him.
"My dad was my hero. He was the most handsome, debonair, articulate, classy, polite and charming man I have ever known," Chuck said. "Anyone who knew him was lucky to have him in their life."
The elder Schwartz grew-up in Chicago, the son of Russian emigrants, who moved to the Windy City in 1920.
"They moved during the Russian Revolution," Chuck said. "Their names were Simon and Rose."
Irving Schwartz graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in engineering. He married Chuck's mother, Joan Kaufman, whom he met in Long Boat Key, Florida. They lived in Chicago until Chuck was two years old.
"They moved to Champaign. Dad was the president of Kaufman's Department Store for 17 years," Chuck said. "He went back to school to be an architect. He not only earned his bachelor's degree, but also his master's degree in only five years, all while running the store."
Not long after receiving his degrees, Irv Schwartz began working for the architectural firm, Richardson, Severins and Scheeler.
"Eventually, dad formed his own firm, called IDS," Chuck said.
Another positive influence on Chuck's life was his grandfather, Stanley Kaufman.
"Granddad was the son of German immigrants. His parents were Joeand Hattie. Everyone called her 'Muddy', though. I never heard her referred to as Hattie," Chuck said about his great-grandparents.
In the 1820's, the Kaufmans migrated from Germany. Chuck's great-grandparents grew-up in Clinton, Illinois and had farms in DeWitt County. Additionally, in 1879 Joe bought a parcel of land in Champaign, right on Main Street, where he built his business, Kaufman's Department Store.
"They built their house on University Avenue right by Central High School in 1898, when they moved to Champaign," Chuck said. "It still stands there today."
Chuck's Granddad married his grandmother Josephine-'Joe' and proceeded to manage his father's family store, but Stanley Kaufman had another vocation that he dearly enjoyed.
"Farming. He really loved farming. In 1938, he owned and managed seven farms, which he inherited from my great-grandparents," Chuck said. "He would come home, get out of his shirt and tie and get right into his farm clothes. He liked walking the fields and having coffee with the other farmers in DeWitt County. He had an office where he managed his farm."
In 1968, Stanley Kaufman sold his store. It was purchased by Karrol's Red Hanger Shop out of Chicago. It was called Kaufman's.
There are many other reasons to not forget Stanley Kaufman, though as he was a capitalist, developer and philanthropist. One is that he developed the Country Fair Shopping Center.
"Hattie and Joe bought the land for one dollar an acre. It was swamp land back then, so Granddad filled it in and drained it off to make it suitable for development," Chuck said. "He also donated Kaufman's Lake and Kaufman's Park to the City of Champaign Park District."
Linda Schwartz, Chuck younger sister is another wonderful family influence on Chuck.
"She is a really kind person," Chuck said. "We get along really well, Linda and I. I am very impressed with her. She was an accomplished art dealer. She was voted one of the Ten Most Influential People in Cincinnati."
She has a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois. She relocated to Lexington, Kentucky where she moved to start a career in horse management. She married Richard Groot and the couple moved to Covington, Kentucky. He is an accomplished graphic artist, with a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame.
"Yeah, she is a really talented," Chuck said. "She owned Linda Schwartz Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio." Indeed. The younger Schwartz has quite a reputation in the Cincinnati area. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, she is highly talented, hard-working, determined and motivated by her passion for art.
