Jim Eisenreich doing lots for the community:
Columnist says fan favorite is helping people every day through his foundation

By Anthony Mallamaci
Collegian Staff
February 14, 2007

Many times, professional athletes are seen as just that, athletes. Often, fans do not take the time to stop and think about the athletes’ personal lives, their hardships or their life stories. Many of these athletes have extraordinary stories and Jim Eisenreich is just one of them.

Eisenreich lived a normal childhood until age six. At this time, he started to exhibit some odd symptoms. He started having frequent muscle spasms and couldn’t stop blinking his eyes. To Eisenreich’s discontent, no one could figure out what was wrong with him. At school, his classmates made him the brunt of all their jokes, regularly poking fun at him.

The only thing that made Eisenreich happy was sports. Those kids who teased him during school hours were the same kids who chose him first in the after-school baseball games. Regardless of how “bizarre” Eisenreich and his unknown illness may have been, all of the children knew his athletic ability was unrivaled on the playground. Everyone knew he was something special.

After a great career on the playground, in high school and in college, Eisenreich was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 16th round of the 1980 MLB draft. Two seasons later, he was called up to the Majors. He had a great beginning of the season, starting in center field and batting over .300, and then things worsened. In three consecutive May games at Fenway Park, Eisenreich was forced to remove himself from the game mid-inning because of his violent twitching, caused by being taunted mercilessly by fans.

When the Twins returned to Minnesota, they checked him into a hospital for diagnosis and treatment. He was forced to temporarily retire until his symptoms could be controlled. Finally, after years in and out of the hospital, the doctors diagnosed Eisenreich with Tourette’s syndrome, which is an inherited neurological disorder, made obvious by vocal and physical tics. Doctors kept Eisenreich’s Tourette’s under control with medication, and Eisenreich went back to playing baseball in 1986. Eisenreich returned to the game when the Kansas City Royals picked up his contract off of waivers for one dollar.

In the 1989 campaign, Eisenreich, playing alongside baseball legends George Brett and Bo Jackson, was named the Royals’ MVP. This was also the year that Eisenreich met his wife, Leann. After 1989, Eisenreich spent three more years platooning productively in the outfield for the Royals before filing for free agency and signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. This is where his career reached its pinnacle. From the almost-storybook 1993 season to the dismal 1996 season, Eisenreich was more than just a solid player for the Phillies. He was a fan favorite.

That offseason, Eisenreich signed a contract with the Florida Marlins. In 1997, Eisenreich propelled the Marlins to their first World Series victory, hitting a solid .280 as an outfielder and first baseman. Despite his great year, Eisenreich was traded to the Dodgers after the season in a fire sale by Florida management.

He played miserably in Los Angeles; he finished the year with a .215 average. After the 1998 campaign, Eisenreich hung up his cleats for good. After retirement, Eisenreich started the most satisfying part of his life.

“I have a job to do,” he said; “To show kids who have Tourette’s what they can accomplish.”

Eisenreich and his wife Leann founded The Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette’s Syndrome to help children with Tourette’s achieve success. In addition to its many fundraisers, the foundation also sponsors an 800 number, giving parents the opportunity to call with questions and concerns about the illness. Eisenreich has set out to achieve many goals in the field of Tourette’s, including raising awareness and providing financial support for affected families.

Today, Eisenreich continues to work with his foundation and follow baseball avidly. He roots for all of his former teams, but his now-hometown team, the Kansas City Royals, holds a special place in his heart. There were many times in his life when Eisenreich could have given in to his disease, but he kept his head up, with that unforgettable smile on his face. Eisenreich knew he wasn’t going to be a superstar in the game of baseball, but what Eisenreich also didn’t know was that he would eventually be a hero to adults and children alike across the United States.

mallamacia1@lasalle.edu