The batting cages in the back of Play It Again Sports on Madison Street in Forest Park are now named after Eddie Sitzman, a beloved employee and community member in Oak Park and River Forest.
On Feb. 25, Play It Again dedicated its batting cages to Sitzman, an Oak Park resident who died last year at 21. Sitzman worked at Play It Again for over four years and loved hitting baseballs in the back of the store.
Erich Krumrei, owner of Play It Again Sports, said it wasn’t easy when Sitzman, who had Down syndrome, started working at the sports gear store, and he had a lot of conversations with his parents. But Sitzman soon became a vital part of the culture at Play It Again, where he worked a couple days a week cleaning and organizing inventory.
“We stopped trying to cater to his disability and cater to the person,” Krumrei said. And after a while, Sitzman found a routine and was always reliable, on time and lifted spirits. Krumrei said he’ll miss Sitzman’s sense of humor and how he gave him a hug before and after every shift.
“It was a huge, huge loss, not just for the business, but for all of us who work here, losing a friend and a colleague like that,” Krumrei said. “Eddie contributed to us being a good small business in the community, and it’s hard to have him gone.”
In addition to pasting Sitzman’s name on the wall of the batting cages, Play It Again is also displaying a framed jersey with Michael Jordan’s number on it, Sitzman’s name, and his quote, “Michael Jordan played one sport. I played them all.” His family remembered the quote after watching “The Last Dance” with Sitzman.
Sitzman won 59 Special Olympics medals for track and field, soccer, basketball, golf, floor hockey and powerlifting. He was also a Special Olympic Athlete leader, promoting and advocating for the organization.
“Everybody here knows Eddie as a really capable, confident, kind person and super competitive, just a natural athlete. He had that drive that really good athletes have that just makes a difference,” said his father, Mark Sitzman, at the batting cage dedication. “He was good at everything, and he was super fun to be around for those reasons. But what you may not know is what he liked more than anything is hanging out with people.”
At Play It Again, Mark Sitzman thanked a room of about two dozen people from the church and schools their family attended, plus neighbors, participants from Opportunity Knocks and the Oak Park Fire Department staff.
“He had a little group in every one of those communities. He just had a way of connecting with people,” Mark Sitzman said.
Eddie Sitzman was a part of School District 200’s Community Integration Transition Education program. CITE offers Individualized Education Program services, therapeutic support and vocational training to adults ages 18-to-22 years old with disabilities. With CITE, Sitzman volunteered weekly at the Oak Park Fire Department, Wonder Works Children’s Museum, and was a teacher’s assistant at the Ascension School preschool and the Children’s School’s kindergarten class.
“I think the aspiration of the program is really to create connections like the one that occurred here,” Phil Carmody, president of Opportunity Knocks — a River Forest-based nonprofit that teaches new skills and creates community among people of all abilities — told the Review at the batting cages. “I think the way Erich and his crew embraced [Eddie] and blended him in with their culture here, it speaks to their quality of care and the culture they have as a business.”
Carmody added that, from his administrative view, Sitzman was a natural leader and had a solid friend group at Opportunity Knocks.
“They create a presence that just wasn’t there before and have very dynamic personalities,” Carmody said. Sitzman was also involved vocationally with Opportunity Knocks and was dipping his toes into more administrative roles before he passed.
As a part of CITE, Sitzman visited the Oak Park Fire Department every Thursday for a few hours. He wouldn’t go on calls, but helped with daily activities, like washing ambulances, training, and joking with firefighters over lunch.
“He fell right into our camaraderie. He was one of us,” said firefighter Nathan Holdman. He said that one of the things he’ll miss most about Sitzman is how he was able to put everyone at ease.
“Your guard came down a lot. One of the things I think we all keep up is a guard to protect us on calls, a shield, because we see bad things all the time,” Holdman said.
Sitzman passed away last July and, in August, was planning to attend Judson University in Elgin to study child development. He was granted Ruby Rainbow’s highest-level scholarship for his dedication to his community, his academic and extracurricular successes, and his positive representation of people with Down syndrome.
Krumrei said he promised Sitzman he’d hire him as a manager when he graduated: “He was always asking to do more things in the store,” Krumrei said.
“I think we learned a lot as a business and employees and friends, how to work well with somebody with disabilities and realize that he had tremendous potential to go on to do things in his life,” Krumrei told the Review. “Businesses, if they think about hiring somebody with special needs, it’s an investment, and it doesn’t happen overnight. It kind of puts everything in perspective, too. The day-to-day problems don’t seem that tremendous when you look at somebody like Eddie, who is just living his best life every single day.”
“For you to offer him the opportunity to be here,” Mark Sitzman said to Krumrei, “to give him that community and sense of belonging, you gave him dignity, and you gave us a sense that there’s hope for him for the rest of his life.”
“I’ve known Eddie all his life. He was an all-star in every category. He was so funny, smart, gentle and kind,” said Mia Toschi, who’s known Eddie’s mother, Cathy Morgan, since they were children. She came from Indiana for the batting cage dedication. “He was like, ‘I’m a great athlete.’ And he was not shy to tell you that. He was a remarkable kid and, as much as we miss him, he’ll be in our hearts forever.”
