AKRON, Ohio — The 1997 World Series, a dream come true for former MLB player Jim Eisenreich. Playing with the Florida Marlins, Eisenreich hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning of Game 3 that baseball fans in Cleveland will never forget.
"The last time I was there [in Cleveland] was in '97 with the World Series, an unbelievable experience," Eisenreich recalls today. "I hit the home run in game three and [now today,] every time I speak to a group where I have a video available, that's what I show."
But Eisenreich isn't showing the video to brag or to bask in his athletic accomplishments, he's using it to share a larger story - and to show kids what they can overcome. He says he wants to let them know, they're not alone - and they too, can live out their dreams.
"I see some of the struggle they're having, the questions they have, but I also see their hope. And I felt like that's all I wanted as a kid, too, was hope. I just, you know, can I be like a normal person, you know?"
Jim can relate to those struggles. At just six years old, he began to exhibit strange symptoms. He had tics, jerks and couldn't stop blinking his eyes. Other kids teased him, he recalls, and his teachers didn't understand.
"People were worried, you know, they were wondering what's what's wrong with him."
Despite struggling for years, Jim was not officially diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome until he was 23 years old. A neurological disorder that causes tics, or sudden unwanted movements or sounds, it initially sidetracked his career, before he went on to big league success. He went on to establish the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette Syndrome.
"You know, in hindsight, I look back and and all the things that happened as a kid and the things that were just difficult to go through, [then] I became a Major League Baseball player....and then on top of that, I get set in, you know, on stage of a World Series and hit a home run and I say, there must be a reason I had to go through all those," he told 3news anchor Dave Chudowsky in a recent Zoom interview. "Well, the reason is exactly why I'm coming to Cleveland on Sunday, you know, to talk to kids and their families."
Jim is set to be the special guest at Akron Children's Hospital's 7th annual T.I.C. Night Out, at the Guardians/Phillies game this weekend. T.I.C stands for "Together in the community" - and the event is designed to help kids in the hosptial's Tic/Tourette Disorder program come together with their peers.
Kids like 9-year-old Liam Clegg from Hudson, who is the featured patient at the game. He gets to present the game ball, and says he’s excited to be with other kids like him because sometimes he feels like he’s the only one.
"I kind of feel like people always look at me," Liam told Dave. "It's so annoying. I don't like it, you know? And sometimes I always wish I wasn't born like this and stuff...So, yeah, it's, it's hard."
Dr. Katrina Hermetet started the event after her first patient to graduate from her program asked for a place to meet other kids in the same situation.
"The very, very first T.I.C. night out was at Sky Zone in Canton...and everyone paid their own way. And that was about 40 patients and families. And now we've grown to 1100 [attendees]," she explained.
Now it’s a free event. In the past, they’ve done drive in movie nights, trips to the zoo and Mapleside Farms, and now, they’re taking the fun to an MLB game.
"When I see kids that have been going through hard times, meeting each other and talking to each other and becoming friends with each other, that's the reason why i became a doctor," Hermetet said.
It's the driving force at Akron Children's where their program helps diagnose and support patients at an early age.
"We're teaching kids about what's exactly going on in their brain when we're they're having a tic," Hermetet explained. We teach them how to self-advocate. We teach them to look at their school supports and advocate for their learning. We teach them how to make and keep friends."
Those supports are something Eisenreich – and Liam’s dad, who also has Tourette Syndrome, never had.
"The things that are available to us now are so helpful and instrumental in getting him to feel comfortable with himself and confident and that this is him and it's okay," Liam's mom Megan told Dave.
"And I I'm just one of those that can say, hey, it's okay. You know, everybody has talent to do something and doesn't matter what it is, but you're going to be okay."
Okay for Liam to have his own professional sports dream! To play in the NFL.
"I am a pretty good linebacker," Liam told Dave. "When I tackle somebody from a linebacker position, you could hear all the way from the sideline."