Liam Clegg, 9, of Hudson, a graduate of Akron Children’s CBIT program and a huge sports fun, got to meet retired MLB player Jim Eisenreich at TIC Night Out at the Cleveland Guardians game.
At age 64, Jim Eisenreich is a retired Major League Baseball player (1982-84, 1987-1998) known as a great hitter and with a World Series championship to his credit. He’s had a good life and rose quickly to the Major League. But part of him will always remember being a “kid who just wanted to be normal.”
Eisenreich experienced tics as early as age 6 or 7 but was not diagnosed with Tourette syndrome until age 23. He is grateful that more is known about the neurological disorder that initially sidetracked his career, and he is especially grateful that the young people he met Sunday at a Cleveland Guardians game are all further along than he was in getting a diagnosis and support at an early age.
Eisenreich was the guest of honor at Akron Children’s annual T.I.C. (Together in the Community) Night Out event. Dr. Katrina Hermetet, director of the Division of Neurobehavioral Health, started the event 7 years ago to foster friendships among her patients and let them know they are not alone.
Retired MLB player and Tourette syndrome advocate Jim Eisenreich answers questions from patients.
This year, nearly 200 current and former patients in Akron Children’s Hospital’s Tic and Tourette Service attended with their families – nearly 1160 in total – to watch the Guardians take on the Phillies. They got to parade around the bases, meet Eisenreich, and enjoy activities and friendship under a big tent.
“Jim Eisenreich is one of the first people ever to use his platform to openly talk about having Tourette syndrome,” said Dr. Hermetet.
In other words, said Dr. Hermetet, he is not just a famous baseball player but a hero to those in the Tourette community.
Tourette syndrome, a condition of the nervous system, causes tics, or sudden movements or sounds. No cure exists, but medications are available and cognitive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT) has been proven highly effective. The program trains patients to become more aware of their tics and how to initiate a competing behavior to avoid them, while also making changes in day-to-day activities to reduce their frequency.
Eisenreich said his tics have “waxed and waned” over the years. In elementary school, eye blinking, sniffling, shoulder twitches, facial grimaces and grunts caught the interest of his teachers, but he was never diagnosed or treated.
Unaware of his own tics, teachers began to call him out for them and tell him to stop. As other children began to stare and giggle, he became more self-conscious and that made things even worse. He was labeled “hyperactive,” and his tics were called “nervous habits.”
Eisenreich experienced tics as a child but was not diagnosed with Tourette syndrome until age 23.
When he started his professional baseball career with the Minnesota Twins, his tics seemed to settle on his respiratory system. To others, one particular tic – a type of stomach rolling – made it appear he was nervous and hyperventilating.
“If I was playing in the field, as soon as the ball was hit, I could go catch it. I was never distracted by my tics,” Eisenreich said. “The problem was being in the field and thinking about my tics and how to stop them. It was the same thing in the batter’s box. A pitch might take 15 seconds. I would hop out of the box and do my tics and hop back in. I got self conscious as a major league player, thinking ‘Are they watching me play? Are they watching me do all my tics?’ That was difficult for me. At the time, I still didn’t know what Tourette’s was and was getting embarrassed and, honestly, scared.”
Eisenreich’s struggle with tics forced him into an early retirement. But after he was properly diagnosed and treated, he enjoyed a return to the game and career success with the Kansas City Royals, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida Marlins, culminating in a World Series title as part of the 1997 Marlins. (Unfortunately for most Northeast Ohio baseball fans, that series was against the Cleveland Indians).
Eisenreich played for 5 MLB teams over 15 years.
He began a foundation to enable him to keep sharing his story and helping kids achieve their dreams despite having Tourette’s. In 1990, he was the first recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award, which is awarded each year to a MLB player who has overcome a significant obstacle in life.
Eisenreich is gratified by all the medical information about Tourette syndrome easily available to today’s families. This has likely aided early diagnosis and treatment through programs like Akron Children’s Tic and Tourette Service.
“I kind of make a joke of this but, in my day, I was the oddball,” said Eisenreich. “Nowadays, it’s almost that if you are little different, you’re cool. You’re normal. And that’s a good thing.”
He encourages children to explain in their own words to their teachers about their tics and ask, at the start of a new school year, if they can have a few minutes of class time to explain the condition to their classmates.
“It seems to mean more when it’s coming from the person who is dealing with it and when it’s coming from their heart,” he said.
Eisenreich’s key messages to the young people he met at Akron Children’s TIC Night Out is “we all have something we are dealt. But we should not allow anything to prevent us from being who we want to be in life.”
Eisenreich never dreamed he could make it to the Major League. And after his first season, he thought his career might be over.
“This [our tics] is just a small speed bump that we can take care of pretty quickly, move on and live a normal, happy, very productive life,” he said. “The sky’s the limit.”
If you have concerns about your child and tics or Tourette syndrome, talk to your provider or make an appointment.
Jim Eisenreich enjoys the Guardians game with Dr. Katrina Hermetet, who started TIC Night Out seven years ago, and event volunteer Karl Meyer.
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