Sam Carchidi: Charlie Schick chronicled baseball history

The South Jersey baseball community is much richer because of the tireless and unselfish work performed by a man who was one of its top ambassadors, Charlie Schick.

Mr. Schick, 69, died Sunday after a long battle with kidney cancer, but he has left an indelible mark on high school baseball in the region.

Two years ago, Mr. Schick's 30-year project came to fruition when his book,

South Jersey Baseball - F.B.I. Report,

was published. In this case, F.B.I. stood for First, Best and Interesting tidbits of South Jersey baseball from 1868 until the end of the 20th century.

During his exhaustive research, Mr. Schick visited 15 libraries, combed through scads of newspapers and microfilm. He copied clippings that filled 94 binders.

Repeat: 94 binders.

And the fact he wasn't very Internet-savvy made his research more intimate, more personalized; it made him build relationships with the librarians, writers and coaches he contacted.

During the last four years before the book was published, Mr. Schick battled extensive kidney problems. No matter. Nothing could stop him. Not the removal of a cancerous right kidney in 2002. Nor the removal of his left kidney, in which another growth was discovered, a year and a half later.

Mr. Schick went on dialysis, but instead of feeling sorry for himself, he brought his books and papers to the dialysis center and used the four hours of treatment to do research for his book.

During his research, Mr. Schick uncovered some gems:

The first no-hitter in major-league history was pitched by the Philadelphia Athletics' Joe Borden, a product of Jacobstown in Burlington County. He did it in 1875.

The Chicago White Sox' Edgar "Gorby" Smith, a product of Columbus, Burlington County, won the 1941 All-Star Game for the American League.

Pemberton's Larry Lavelle set a South Jersey record by striking out 28 in his team's 5-4, 14-inning loss at Hightstown in 1958.

And on and on and on.

The book also has sections on South Jersey players who made an impact in the majors, including Leon "Goose" Goslin, Orel Hershiser, Ray Narleski, Eddie Miksis, Barney Schultz, Rawly Eastwick, Bill Laxton and Larry Milbourne.

As the cancer spread into his pelvis area and lungs in recent months, Mr. Schick still continued to do research for a second book he planned to write - this one on South Jersey baseball in the 21st century.

Writing and researching "was definitely his therapy," Mike Schick, Charlie's son, said yesterday.

Working on the book "helped him get through some difficult times. He was a fighter and he never showed the pain he was in. The interaction he had with librarians and writers was therapeutic for him. And by doing the book, he didn't have time to think about his disease because he was always busy."

Mike Schick was a standout player at Cherokee in the 1980s who later played at Villanova. His dad, he said, was very active in the recruiting process.

"He built relationships with college coaches all around the country," he said. "He built a bond with them and, over the years, they would call him and ask his opinion on different players. He was very instrumental in helping many South Jersey kids get into college."

Whenever Charlie Schick traveled, his son said, he would invariably promote the level of baseball in the area.

"He was always talking about South Jersey baseball and the talent that was there; he was so proud of it and how the players and coaches dedicated themselves to baseball," Mike Schick said. "He was proud about how baseball helped build a foundation for kids as they moved forward in whatever they decided to do in life."

Almost every day during the scholastic baseball season, I refer to the South Jersey record book for information. Charlie Schick wrote the book.

"He was a man that made a tremendous contribution to South Jersey baseball. His involvement in the Hot Stovers and the scholarship fund was relentless," said Bill Wagner, president of the Hot Stovers Baseball Club of South Jersey.

Mr. Schick, who is also survived by his wife of 44 years, Eileen, and another son, Chuck, would occasionally confer with me about a little-known fact he had uncovered. He was excited, for instance, that Clarksboro's Hardy Richardson shared the major-league lead in homers in 1886.

"When I find one of those rare things," he once said, "it's like a celebration."

Knowing Charlie Schick was a celebration, and, because of his book - "a labor of love," his son called it - his spirit will live for generations of South Jersey baseball followers.

Friends and relatives may call tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Louis Swift Plunkett Funeral Home, 529 N. York Road, Hatboro, with interment at St. John Neumann Cemetery in Chalfont.

Donations can be made in Mr. Schick's name to the Lung Cancer Alliance, P.O. Box 630972, Baltimore, Md., 21263.