News from AEHS Alumni

#5-August 19, 2011

John Van Beek '71

John van Beek '71 shares his memories of two people who were very important in his life, Rick Eisenacher '67 and the late Coach Jack Keller. He writes, "I have very much enjoyed going through the AEHS Athletic Hall of Fame website. It is fun to read about one's friends and teammates, and to see the large number of great athletes Einstein has produced in the 40 years since I was there. The initial class of any hall of fame, here 2006, will include the most obvious candidates for induction, and that of our school is no different. Because two members of that class, Rick Eisenacher and Jack Keller, had a major influence on my life and those of many others, and because the more recent Einstein alumnae cannot have a full appreciation of the talents and personalities of Rick and Coach Keller, I decided to share my knowledge of and experiences with these two distinguished Hall of Fame members.

First, just enough background about me for the purposes of this appreciation. I attended Einstein from 1969-1971, and had a typical athletic experience there. I played baseball and soccer all 3 years, the first year exclusively on junior varsity, the second year primarily on junior varsity, and was a starter on the varsity in both sports my senior year. Regrettably, my career in neither sport justifies my inclusion in the Hall of Fame, but at least I played with several Hall of Famers (Rolf Neitzel in soccer, and Pat Berbakos and Gary Wright in baseball). Jack Keller was my baseball coach in 1969 and 1970, and Bob Boyle coached the team in my senior year. My best baseball memories are sitting on the bench in 1969 cheering on Einstein's great team of that year to the County Championship, and playing second base behind Dennis Wood in my senior year when he threw a no-hitter. I have remained active in many sports since my graduation, most notably in various types of softball, which I will play until my body totally gives out. I have also coached my son's teams in soccer and my daughter's teams in softball, and have refereed soccer with my son.  

Rick Eisenacher (he was always "Ricky" in the neighborhood,

Rick Eisenacher

Rick was his father) lived directly across the street from me in Wheaton. He is almost certainly the greatest male athlete that Einstein has produced, and should be on any list of the top athletes to come from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. While I have not done the research, I doubt if there have been any other high school athletes who were both first team All-Met in baseball (pitcher) and football (quarterback) in the same year, as Ricky was in his senior year. He was a superstar at Einstein - all of the boys wanted to be him, all of the girls wanted to be with him. The parties in Ricky's back yard were major social occasions for his high school class mates; for those of us who were too young to attend, they were events of wonder and mystery (One of my indelible memories of adolescence is listening to a deep male voice singing "Little Red Riding Hood" into a microphone on a dark night during one of Ricky's parties. I couldn't wait to get a few years older).  

Despite the fact that Ricky was 4 years older than me, he treated me as a friend. Once the weather was warm enough, he would come to my back yard, and we would play whiffle ball as long as there was daylight. I learned all that I knew about playing baseball from those games in my back yard.

Steve Spurrier, Rick Eisenacher, Sonny Jurgensen

I never played Little League because my family traveled in the summers, but Ricky taught me how to play the game with that white ball with the holes on one side that curves like no major league curve ball ever thrown. Ricky became a teacher after his baseball career was ended by arm problems (looking at the list of Einstein Hall of Fame baseball players, notice how many had their careers ruined by arm trouble. If Tommy John surgery had been invented earlier, some of them would have ended up in the majors), and based on my experiences with him I am sure that he is loved and respected by his students. The upshot was that I made the baseball team in 10th grade, having never played organized baseball until my first JV game. Without Ricky, I would never had had a chance.

Coach Jack Keller

While my experience with Rick Eisenacher was unique to me, many had the benefit of being coached by Jack Keller. He was the single most intimidating person that I have ever known. An ex-Marine, he appeared to be a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier than me, each extra pound consisting of muscle. Baseball practice was what I imagine Marine boot camp to be: lots of yelling, rigorous workouts, doing the same play over and over again until it was done correctly, rubbing a little dirt on that cut. Coach Keller focused on teaching us fundamentals, and whether out of fear of disappointing him, or simply the terror of being the object of his vocal scorn, few of his players ever forgot them. He was blessed with considerable talent throughout his time at Einstein, but no team executed better than those that were coached by him. In the games that I watch and play today I sometimes see players who don't run out ground balls, or lob balls in from the outfield with runners on base. No player coached by Jack Keller would have ever dared to not hustle at any point in any game, and I would be surprised if any "Keller alumnus" has ever tolerated such conduct from himself, his teammates, or players coached by him. We knew that despite his gruff exterior, he cared about us, and we wanted to win for him. For all of these reasons, the juniors on the team, including me, were crushed when he left Einstein for Springbrook in 1970.

Jack Keller was successful wherever he coached, and I followed

Jack Keller Coaching Baseball

his career after Einstein as best I could. He was beyond dispute one of the great high school baseball coaches that this area has ever seen. I was shocked when I heard that he had died in 1995, as it did not seem possible that such a physical force could not defeat any disease that might have the temerity to attack him. I particularly regretted his death because I never thanked him for all that he did for me - teaching me the right way to play the game, helping me to grow into a man, molding me into a player who was able to perform under pressure.  

The last time I saw Coach Keller was at a softball game at Cabin John Park where I happened to see him watching the game on a hillside some distance from the field. I was playing left field, and wanted nothing more than to have the opportunity to make a spectacular catch so he could see that I had improved as a player since he had last seen me on the field. Regrettably, I did not get the chance to show off, but at least had the comfort of not dropping any routine fly balls. When the game was over, I went to look for him, but he had gone. Coach Keller may no longer be coaching, but his influence lingers with me and many other now older men who had the great fortune to be taught about baseball and life by him.