TEAM BERTSCHY

Former Minor League Umpire Battles Rare Cancer

Jason Bertschy, former Bentonville resident and minor league umpire, throws out the first pitch at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale on June 26 prior to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals game against the Midland RockHounds.
Jason Bertschy, former Bentonville resident and minor league umpire, throws out the first pitch at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale on June 26 prior to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals game against the Midland RockHounds.

SPRINGDALE

Jason Bertschy hadn’t thrown a baseball in awhile.

At one time, his job required him to do it.

He had made a living standing behind home plate.

However, when Bertschy walked toward the pitcher’s mound in Arvest Ballpark on June 26, he hadn’t worked as a Minor League Baseball umpire in years.

The Bentonville native looked casual in a baseball cap, cargo shorts and gray T-shirt with the words “Team Bertschy” scrolled across the front.

He didn’t feel nervous despite there being so many people in attendance to watch him that it felt like both a high school reunion and family gathering.

“I had seen so many first pitches throughout my umpiring career,” Bertschy, 31, said. “I always wondered what that would feel like.”

Many of the people invited to throw out the first pitch before a Northwest Arkansas Naturals game are unknown. Their stories remain a mystery to the thousands of spectators sitting in Arvest Ballpark, waiting for the game to begin.

This is Bertschy’s story.

His voice strained at times as he talked at length last week about his battle with Urachal cancer, which is a rare type of bladder cancer. It makes up less than 1 percent of all bladder cancers, according to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

“For most people, it goes away,” Bertschy said. “But it decided not to go away for me.”

Standing just in front of the pitcher’s mound, Bertschy wound up for his pitch prior to a Naturals’ game against the Midland RockHounds.

The ball looked good when it left his right hand, but it fell short and bounced once in the infield before reaching the catcher. The moment soared by in a hurry.

“I felt bad for short-hopping the guy,” Bertschy said, laughing. “But I’m sure he’s probably used to it.”

The Blue Bracelet

“Not too many people know why I wear this,” Naturals first baseman Matt Fields said, showing off a blue bracelet on his left wrist.

The Texas League home run leader isn’t a fan of wearing anything on his wrists, including a watch. But he made a promise in June that he’d wear the bracelet that has “Team Bertschy” scrolled across it.

Fields met Bertschy a few years ago when they were working in the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. At the time, Fields played for the Charlotte Stone Crabs and Bertschy called his games.

The player and umpire struck up a friendly relationship during their daily encounters, and they often joked about how their lives were going.

No matter how hot or homesick he got, Fields noticed that Bertschy always seemed excited to be standing on the field in his umpire uniform.

“I’m always friendly with the umpires every time I go out there, so usually me and him would talk a lot,” Fields said. “During that season, we actually talked a lot and just joked around.”

Fields said he didn’t know Bertschy was from Northwest Arkansas, and they had fallen out of touch until Bertschy approached the first baseman at the Texas League All-Star Game at Arvest Ballpark on June 25.

Fields didn’t know Bertschy was battling cancer, but the news struck close to home for the slugger. Fields had watched his mother grow tired and struggle with the effects of chemotherapy while dealing with breast cancer.

Fields has worn the blue Team Bertschy bracelet since being given one that day. It’s the first time he has worn a bracelet to show his support for an individual.

“For me, it signifies strength and always fighting for what you believe in,” Fields said. “It’s basically like fighting for your life or your career and just being happy. So I told him, I promised him, I would actually wear it for the rest of the season.

“It’s extremely meaningful to me, and I know it’s tough for him to have to go through all of that stuff that he’s going through.”

Coincidentally, Fields hit a home run the night Bertschy threw out the first pitch. Afterward, Bertschy jokingly sent Fields a text message that read, “See, I told you.”

Calling Games

Bertschy had hoped to live his life according to a baseball rulebook.

He grew up playing at Phillips Park in Bentonville, but he realized at 16 years old that he could make some money from umpiring games.

His part-time job quickly evolved into more of an obsession, as he moved up from calling kids out in machine-pitch games.

Bertschy attended local umpire clinics, spoke for hours with older officials and got encouragement from members of the Baseball Umpires of Northwest Arkansas.

In 2006, six years after graduating from Bentonville, Bertschy decided to pursue his dream of becoming a Major League Baseball umpire.

He spent more than a month studying the profession at the Harry Wendelstedt School for Umpires in Ormond Beach, Fla. It’s one of the two professional umpire training schools in the country.

“I always felt like I had the best seat in the house whenever I was working the plate,” said Bertschy, who lives in Lee’s Summit, Mo. “I mean, there is literally not a better seat in the house.

“You can see the pitches coming in, and you get to see it right off the bat. You get to be right there and hear it at its latest point.”

Bertschy graduated from umpiring school and reached the last level of Single-A Minor League Baseball. He said he was “knocking on Double-A’s door” when he decided to quit umpiring to be with his new family.

His priorities, like a good change-up pitch, switched up on him.

In 2007, while serving as an umpire at extended spring training in Phoenix, Bertschy decided to attend a game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. He went as a spectator, and at one point during the game, a fight broke out in a section near his seat.

He met his eventual wife as he left the stadium. Turns out, Beth Bertschy sat two sections away from him and observed the same fight in the stands.

“We sat and talked for a little while,” Bertschy said. “And history was made after that.”

They married Oct. 1, 2009. Their son, Beckett, was born Oct. 11, 2010.

Bertschy can still remember the date he was diagnosed with cancer: May 17, 2012.

In Treatment

Bertschy has gone through several different types of treatment over the past year, at times forcing him to sit in a cancer center for five hours in a day.

“At that center, basically you’re kind of lined up in there like cows and they have cheap recliners that you’re sitting in,” Bertschy said. “You have to sit in front of everybody and see everybody go through the side effects of the medicine and everything like that.

“And you have to experience your own side effects in front of everybody and stuff like that.”

However, after a scan came back with mixed results, Bertschy received news that no one battling cancer wants to hear. His doctor told him there was nothing more he could do for the husband and father.

“The oncologist I was currently with really didn’t know what to do anymore for me,” Bertschy said. “And that’s what he said in our visit.”

The oncologist referred Bertschy to a doctor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. There Bertschy began a new round of chemotherapy.

While he still must sit for 4-5 hours every two weeks to get treatment, Bertschy said the setup at his new cancer center is more private. He has his own “mini-cubicle,” where he can pull a curtain and watch a movie as he gets chemo.

He’s also looking forward to his wife and son being allowed to be by his side as he undergoes treatment.

Still Hopeful

Despite his condition, Bertschy works for United Parcel Service, loading packages into trucks. He said he’s waiting for the opportunity to become a UPS driver.

His wife, meanwhile, works for St. Joseph Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Linda Doeppke, who lives next to Bertschy’s parents in Pineville, Mo., arranged with her daughter, Sara, to hold a spaghetti dinner on June 22 to raise money to help pay for his treatments.

More than 350 people arrived at the Ponderosa Trails in Pineville for music and an $8 spaghetti dinner. Around 70 pounds of spaghetti were donated, along with enough spaghetti sauce to cover it all.

Casinos and local companies donated everything from a 50-inch TV and power washer to a weekend in Branson, Mo., for a raffle and silent auction.

The event raised $16,000 for Bertschy’s medical bills.

“I thought if we could make a few thousand dollars for him, we’d be happy,” Doeppke said. “It just snowballed from there.”

Bertschy said he was expected to get another round of treatment late last week. But he sounded hopeful, especially whenever the conversation turned to baseball.

And his first pitch, of course.

Said Bertschy: “It was a lot of fun to be back in a minor league stadium, to be back on the field.”

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