REMEMBERING IRISH
O’Reilly left legacy at Lewis that went beyond the field
You knowa person has made an impact in life when people are willing to stand in line for more than an hour to pay their respects.
Such was the case Thursday in Manteno, where hundreds of mourners said “goodbye”— and, in many instances, “thank you”— to former Lewis baseball coach Irish O’Reilly, who died Monday of an aneurysm at age 74.
O’Reilly, a Kankakee native and Bishop McNamara graduate, was a Hall of Fame coach during his wonderful 29-year career at Lewis.
More important, hewould be in the Hall of Fame as a man. His love of family, faith in God and belief in education were life values he instilled in his players.
In turn, those virtues helped him build a college baseball program that was the envy of many.
I speak of this firsthand. Let’s go back to the summer of 1984. I remember sitting in coach O’Reilly’s office listening to his recruiting pitch, stressing the importance of education, family and God.
Finally, he got around to taking me to the baseball field. Iwas awestruck. Itwas beautiful, beyond any field I had ever played on.
Iwas sold.
In no way could I have ever imagined— at that moment— the joy Iwould experience being a student-athlete at Lewis.
And itwas due, in no small part, to O’Reilly, whowon 982 games and just about every coaching award you could imagine before retiring in 2007.
The man made it an honor to play at Lewis.
Wemay have been designated as an NCAA Division II program, but he did everything in his power to make it feel like we
were a Division I powerhouse.
Many times we played those schools: Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Maine, Southern Illinois, Miami and Notre Dame.
Andwe often beat those schools. Sometimes we had to jump on an airplane to do it.
My first time on an airplane was during our spring baseball trip to Miami.
I remember callingmy mother froma pay phone telling her I think I found the place Iwant to spend the rest ofmy life.
That is, until our spring baseball trip my sophomore year to Hawaii. We spent 18 days playing baseball in Hawaii. Howdo you top that?
By going back to Hawaii the very next year, this time for 21 days.
Here’s this small private university in the suburbs of Chicago traveling the globe to play baseball, visit Pearl Harbor and walk on volcanoes.
All because coach O’Reilly wanted our experience at Lewis to be special.
And itwas. Right downto those games against St. Francis, our rivals from Joliet. Those games were intense.
The only time I saw coach O’Reilly cry was after a loss to St. Francis during my sophomore year.
I’m sure his faith in God pulled him through.
Come to think of it, maybe his faith had a little something to dowith how we were able to avoid canceling home games due to inclementweather.
Coach would scoop water fromthe baselines with coffee cans and light the infield dirt on fire to help the field dry quicker. And, of course, go through dozens of bags of Diamond Dry.
As long aswe played. When it was bitter cold, hewould set piles of charcoal on fire in our dugout to help keep us warm.
I don’t knowif thatwas legal by NCAA standards, but he did it anyway.
The man refused to wave the white flag, even to Mother Nature.
The only thing O’Reilly took greater pride than our fieldwas his family— his wife Pat and their three daughters.
The last time I saw my former coach was about five years ago.
He asked aboutmy family andmy career
He genuinely cared.
He also said to contact him if I needed anything.
What I needed, thankfully, he gaveme 34 years ago. And thatwas the chance to play baseball for him at Lewis.
Godspeed, coach.