It was perfect baseball weather on Saturday when the Berkeley High varsity team faced off against a group of Yellow Jacket alumni in a game celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of Tim Moellering Field.
Moellering, a beloved Berkeley High teacher and baseball coach who also taught and coached at Willard Middle School, advocated for more than a decade for a new school field. He died in 2011 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 53 before it was completed.
“He had a vision in 1997 to create a regulation-sized baseball field for Berkeley High,” said Mayor Jesse Areguín, who spoke at the game. “And in typical Berkeley fashion, that took 15 years.”
Ellis Clark, class of 2007, remembered Moellering’s crusade to build the field.
“He’d get us out to City Hall,” Clark said. “He’d get us to write speeches and they’d vote on it and we’d lose and we’d keep showing up.”
“‘Curve Derby’ was the slogan,” said Jeremy Lebeau, class of 2002, referring to Moellering’s plan to reconfigure Derby Street to make space for the diamond.
The celebration of Moellering started Thursday evening at the Rialto Cinemas Elmwood with a screening of Quest: The Truth Always Rises, a feature film he co-wrote with his former student, Santiago Rizzo, about their relationship.
“I was getting into trouble at school,” said Rizzo. “Tim basically saw my recklessness as a cry for help.”
Rizzo, who became an emancipated minor at 16, lived with Moellering during high school and before attending Stanford and working on Wall Street. He returned to Berkeley when Tim became ill.
“I promised him I’d make the movie in his honor when he took his last breath,” said Rizzo, who directed the film.
“Tim Moellering really dedicated his life to this field,” said Jason Russell, who coaches Berkeley’s JV team and also helped organize the game. I’ve heard his ashes are buried here somewhere, supposedly at home plate.”
It was a rumor Rizzo later confirmed, with a mischievous grin.
“He was a great baseball mind,” said Mike Durant, class of 2005, who played for Moellering starting in the sixth grade and went on to play in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
On Saturday, the Berkeley High varsity team kept the upper hand the entire game, although the alumni squad squeaked out a run in the last inning. Final score: 4-1.
“Moellering was probably the smartest coach I’ve ever had,” said Jeremy Hill, class of 2004. “He knew how to put people in the right place.”
