Wayland man to honor late father with Wiffle Ball tournament named after Eric Schwartz
Wiffle ball? In November?
Jack Schwartz can explain – it all makes perfect sense.
The Wayland resident is hosting a tournament named after his father, a former youth coach in town who died of cancer six years ago. The idea for the late fall date is twofold: Eric Schwartz died at age 54 on Nov. 15, 2017 – the anniversary is close by – and, secondly, his favorite holiday was Thanksgiving.
“We thought this would be a great way to get people together,” Jack Schwartz said, “and rather than having November 15th be a day of sadness, this weekend will more of a happy event where people will be able to share old memories.”
The inaugural Eric Schwartz Wiffle Ball Tournament – to be held at Eric Schwartz Field, 37 Riverview Ave. in Wayland - was originally planned for this Saturday but has been rescheduled, due to a poor weather forecast, for Sunday (10 a.m.-1 p.m.).
The idea for Wiffle Ball is to help provide a level playing field; playing baseball or softball would be difficult when abilities range from youth to college (Jack Schwartz played baseball at Tufts and many of his teammates are part of the tournament) to parents.
The tournament includes 16 teams, who will play in a single-elimination format, and is attracting participants from New England, New York and New Jersey.
“We were taking a crawl, walk, run approach,” Jack Schwartz said. “There’s a lot more people coming than I originally anticipated.”
Games will be timed, either 20 or 30 minutes in length. Proceeds go to Wayland Little League.
Also in attendance will be Jack’s mother, Janet, and his sisters Maddy and Isabel, who is coming in from San Francisco. Jack’s grandmother, Alice, as well as his aunts and uncles will be there as well.
When asked to share what made Eric Schwartz a memorable man, Jack shared a story from his days growing up on Highland Circle, where he still lives.
During mornings before attending second grade at Claypit Hill Elementary, Jack played “pickle” with the neighborhood kids. Eric always joined in.
“I think in his mind, he still thought he was 10 years old,” Jack, 23, said. “He just liked to play around and to make sure everyone felt included. He could play outside all day long.”
Riverview Park was renamed Eric Schwartz Field in June of 2019. Dozens of family members attended the ceremony, which included the unveiling of the park's new sign, featuring Schwartz's name, along with new batting cages. Eric coached Wayland Little League for 10 years and was its commissioner.
Chris Fay, who Wayland Little League president at the time, called Schwartz “the gold standard for what it means to be a youth baseball and softball coach, because he cared about every player."
Jack Schwartz aspires to make the Wiffle Ball tournament a yearly event. One of his Tufts teammates, Ryan Noone, helped secure a trophy for the event, and each year’s winner will be listed.
“There’s a lot of room for future years to come,” Jack said, “so that’s the goal.”
Another goal: give back to the community.
“Kids are playing club lacrosse and club soccer during the spring now. Baseball was my first sport growing up,” Jack said. “We always had a bunch of Little League teams playing, so we want to raise some money for Wayland Little League to put some money back into the sport so that little kids are playing baseball and softball again.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Wayland man to honor late father with Wiffle Ball tourney
