Former Dayton Flyers basketball stars Donnie May, George Janky and Monk Meineke were there, as was Wright State hoops coach Billy Donlon and hockey legend Guy Trottier.
Pete Rose had autographed the front page of the Sept 12, 1985 Cincinnati Enquirer — the one with the headline “4,192: Pete Singles Past Ty Cobb” — and sent it along so it could be auctioned off to help his friend.
Joey Votto had signed the Sports Illustrated cover with him on the front and Brandon Phillips had autographed a baseball.
Jim Andrews, Schlemmer’s high school baseball coach nearly 40 years ago at Fairmont West, also came to see the kid who had played so well for him.
A woman who had worked with Schlemmer when they were both in high school drove in from her home in Pittsburgh. A guy who had befriended him back when he was a minor league manager in Sioux City flew in Saturday morning from Omaha, Neb.
Classmates he hadn’t seen since elementary school, people who had known his late parents, loyal listeners from his radio show — even some folks from Clear Channel, the company that had surprised everyone and unceremoniously parted ways with him this summer — had shown up to give support.
Standing in the middle of all this, the 55-year-old Schlemmer struggled with his emotions: “I’m just so overwhelmed. ... This is gonna sound bad, but I feel like I’m at my own funeral.”
It was that kind of life-encompassing gathering except that the people hadn’t come to bury him, they were there to help with his rebirth.
The popular Miami Valley sports figure — a prep and college baseball star who played in the Detroit Tigers farm system, coached the UD baseball team, managed in the Northern League and was the host of a WONE sports talk show — admitted in a column I wrote last week that he was now “homeless, jobless and penniless.”
In what appears to be a conflict of personalities with a supervisor — Clear Channel officials have declined comment — Schlemmer was pushed aside in August after he said he agreed to a contract with WONE.
Losing the job was the latest in a string of traumatic events that have befallen him in recent years. His 16-year-old daughter was killed in a car crash in 2002, an event that all but derailed him for a long time. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and diabetes and then lost his family home.
For a good while he was living in his car.
After the story came out, I saw the very best side of so many folks in the Miami Valley. They called me, sent emails and stopped me on the street. They were upset about his plight and wanted to help.
Karen Powell, who used to listen to Schlemmer on the radio as she drove home from work, got her Columbus employer to donate four tickets to a Columbus Blue Jackets game for Saturday’s silent auction.
Eric Fogarty, who co-chaired the Hospice of Dayton golf outing this summer, wrote how Schlemmer had taken the event on his shoulders, promoted it daily on his show, broadcast live from golf course and was the guest speaker. Thanks to him the event raised over $100,000.
Fogarty said he was close to tears when hearing what had happened to Schlemmer and offered him an apartment in Xenia. Two other people called with rooms he could stay in for a while.
Another man offered a temporary job that he said didn’t pay much but hoped would help. Other people sent small checks and cash.
Bob Penno, the president of the Agonis Club, said he hopes to get his sports group involved in helping Schlemmer. And because his daughter works with a local homeless agency, he also had suggestions on how Mark could get help with his medical bills.
Area sports teams — the UD Flyers, Wright State, the Gems, Dragons and Silverbacks — all sent autographed items for auction. There were tickets to the very best UD and WSU games this season. There were Browns and Reds tickets, too.
“Mark would give you anything and everything off his back when he had things going for him,” said Todd VerSteeg, the Omaha restaurant manager who has been friends with Schlemmer since 1993. “But right now — when the chips are really down for him — this is when he finds out who his real friends are.”
From the way the community is responding, it’s obvious a lot of folks care about Mark Schlemmer.
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