Williams: Cancer, long drive can't keep 'Schatzie' out of Reds press box

GOODYEAR, Arizona − Dick Schatz loved the stories he heard on his job as a career bartender. He loved being around all the characters who’d come into the old Wiggins Restaurant and Tavern on Fountain Square, some of whom were Cincinnati Reds players.

Those characters made Schatz love his job.

Gary Schatz is a lot like his late father. Except the press box is the younger Schatz’s version of the bar.

He started tracking stats at Reds home games in 1992 for a wire service called SportsTicker. Schatz loved all the characters in and around the press box so much that he just kept coming back every season.

Even if he has to drive 1,800 miles and sleep in his car to be in the Reds’ press box. Even if he doesn’t have much money. And even if he’s fighting cancer, a battle that hit the two-year mark last month.

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Schatz estimates he’s only missed around 20 Reds home games in 33 years, including just two absences at Great American Ball Park since being diagnosed with colon cancer in January 2024.

“I just find a way,” Schatz said.

Schatz, 72, has become what he loves most about baseball, a character of the game. He’s one of those behind-the-scenes institutions that make baseball the best sport to be around. He’s known as “Schatzie” to some. “Colerain Gary” to others. And “Call-o-rain” to former Reds manager Dusty Baker, one of Schatzie’s all-time favorites.

Schatzie is far from an attention seeker. He’s an everyman from Colerain Township who’s made his way by consistently showing up, listening and observing. He’s a nice guy whose unassuming demeanor often makes him blend into the backdrop of the Reds’ daily operations.

But one prominent Reds figure always takes notice of Schatzie – manager Terry Francona, who’s renowned for all the relationships he has with people you’ve never heard of. Tito has made sure to keep tabs on Schatzie as he’s battled cancer.

Periodically throughout last season, Tito would start his daily meetings with reporters by asking how Schatzie was doing.

“He’s such a good guy,” Francona said. “Everybody loves him, myself included. I want him to be healthy because he loves what he does. I care about him.”

Schatzie’s consistent presence and institutional knowledge also impressed Enquirer Reds beat reporter Gordon Wittenmyer. As the local chapter chair of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, Wittenmyer last year led the charge on Schatzie becoming a member of the BBWAA, whose members vote on postseason awards and, after 10 consecutive years of membership, are eligible to vote for the Hall of Fame.

Associated Press contributor Gary Schatz, middle, interviews Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona, right, after a 3-2 win against the Chicago White Sox during a Cactus League game, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at Camelback Ranch Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Passing out stats for Cincinnati Bengals’ inaugural season

Schatzie fell in love with being in the press box in 1968. Bengals public relations director Al Heim used to eat lunch at Wiggins Restaurant and Tavern when he was sports editor of The Enquirer. He became friends with Dick Schatz. So Heim called up his old buddy to see if his teen-aged son would be willing to pass out stat sheets in the Nippert Stadium press box during home games of the Bengals’ inaugural season.

Gary Schatz instantly loved the media characters and studying the stats.

“I wanted to be a sports information director like Al Heim,” Schatz said.

That dream eventually got put on the backburner amid pursuing a steady, 9-to-5. Schatz was working a marketing job in New York City in the late 1980s. He had The Enquirer mailed to him daily so he could read the box scores of the Cincinnati teams.

He read local papers, and saw a column about the need for more minorities to be hired in baseball front offices. It was written after then-Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis made racially insensitive comments about blacks in baseball on ABC’s “Nightline.” The column mentioned a sports administration program at St. John’s University, not far from where Schatz and his then-wife lived.

Schatz signed up for the classes. He moved back to Cincinnati after finishing the certificate program and connected with Xavier University sports information director Tom Eiser, who hired Schatz to keep stats for Musketeers basketball games. Eiser, known as one of the best in his profession, recommended Schatz for the SportsTicker gig.

The SportsTicker position morphed into a regular freelance job for the Associated Press and other freelance opportunities. For years, Schatzie balanced his Reds work with keeping stats for Xavier and Colerain High School football and boys’ basketball. He did that all while maintaining a day job and raising a daughter. Schatz still keeps stats for Colerain, his alma mater.

Gary Schatz started tracking Cincinnati Reds home-game statistics for SportsTicker in 1992. He estimates he's only missed 20 home Reds home games since.

Gary Schatz started tracking Cincinnati Reds home-game statistics for SportsTicker in 1992. He estimates he’s only missed 20 home Reds home games since.

1,800-mile drive to Cincinnati Reds spring training

In 1999, Schatz decided to expand on his Reds work. His sales and marketing job became project-based, allowing for more schedule flexibility. He decided to go to Reds spring training, then based in Sarasota, Florida, for the duration.

Schatzie took a flight that year. To save money, he’s driven to every spring training since except in 2024 and last year. He didn’t attend spring training in 2024 after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor from his colon. Last year, Schatzie took a train because his daughter was worried about his stamina making a 27-hour drive.

Schatzie has gotten positive test results since having another surgery in August, but he’s not confident in saying he’s fully cancer free ahead of more tests when he gets back to Cincinnati. He was determined to drive here this year. He hopped in his 2011 Dodge Avenger. He gives himself two, six-hour sleeping shifts in his car at truck stops.

“It’s not like I’m coming out here in a covered wagon,” Schatz said. “But it was a sense of accomplishment to be able to drive out here – and feel good at the end of it.”

Schatzie has always paid his own way. It was extra tough this year because a $3,000 freelance job fell through with the media outlet’s budget cuts. He couch-hopped for many years in Florida and Arizona. In recent years, Schatzie has rented a room in a local resident’s house for $150 a week.

Asked about his favorite baseball media story − well, one he could share on-the-record − Schatzie didn’t hesitate to tell one that involved two of the game’s all-time great characters − former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland and the late Pittsburgh baseball writer Paul Meyer, who was a phenomenal storyteller and provided comic relief in every press box he stepped foot in.

“We’re talking to Jim Leyland one day,” Schatz recalled. “Leyland was sitting there naked. I mean, naked. Foot up on the desk, smoking his cigarette. The press was over here and he’s staring at that (opposite) wall, giving one-word answers. Paul Meyer takes his pen and slams it down and said, ‘Dammit, Jim! I was hoping to get two paragraphs off that answer.’ “

Those characters and their stories keep Schatzie coming back to the press box.

Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com

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