In the mid-1980s, Jerry Ehrlich oversaw a Jewish Community Center youth sports camp where he met a talented young baseball player. Thirty years later, the coach and player have reconnected and are helping improve the lives of people with disabilities.

That role has a special meaning for Johnny Itzkowitz, the sweet-hitting ballplayer who first caught Ehrlich’s attention. Itzkowitz suffered a sudden and unexpected stroke while in college and, through hard work, regained much of his strength. He now serves as an inspiration for the clients he assists.

The First Meeting

Ehrlich, who attends Central Reform Congregation, had done some sports announcing when he was offered a position at the J rebuilding its youth sports program.

“Little by little, it started growing,” said Ehrlich, 64. “My approach with the league was teaching the kids, caring for the kids and making sure they had fun. Did we always go according to curriculum? No. I needed to teach kids to slide into second base. So we would take a hose and water around second base and use a slip-and-slide. We wanted the kids to have fun, and we wanted to teach them what sportsmanship was about.”

One of the kids who joined the program was Itzkowitz, a 5-year-old natural hitter and infielder.

“The camp was a perfect mix because I was a very competitive person” said Itzkowitz, 39. “It was a great mix of competition and still fun and relaxed, but it was still competitive when it needed to be.”

Itzkowitz had talent that other coaches immediately noticed, Ehrlich said.

“When I think of Johnny, he just said he was a kid who liked have fun, and he was a good athlete,” Ehrlich said. “I think the counselors fought to have him on their teams. We would do some backdoor trades, and it was like, ‘You give me Itzkowitz, I’m going to give you these two players.’ ”

The program flourished and Ehrlich moved up from sports camp director to overseeing all the J camps. Itzkowitz progressed, too, eventually becoming a youth camp counselor. He also made an impact on the ballfield, setting nine records at Ladue Horton Watkins High School.

College Life

Itzkowitz entered college at the University of Miami in hopes of being a walk-on player. That was something of a long shot given the caliber of players on the team.

“I tried out for the team,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re next to (future major leaguers) Ryan Braun and John Jay and all these big players, and I’m just this husky little Jewish kid. The first thing they want to see is how fast you are. I knew I was done after that. They kept me on as a student coach my freshman year. I worked for the team as bullpen coach and bullpen catcher.”

His backup plan if baseball didn’t pan out was joining his father Jack Itzkowitz’s law practice. Sports was never far from his mind, though, and Itzkowitz got his fix playing flag football with his fraternity brothers. Halfway through his junior year, he was playing in a game for the frat league flag football championship when everything changed in his life.

“I was fine all morning, and I was in my fraternity,” he said. “I was just walking over to the gym to go play in the championship game, and I fell, and I couldn’t get up, like they say in the commercial.”

He was seemingly young and healthy. The paramedics on scene didn’t immediately recognize that Itzkowitz had suffered a stroke, either. It was the result of a possible blood clot and would have been difficult to predict or prevent. 

He came back to St. Louis to rehab and regain his strength. Through hard work and therapy, Itzkowitz was able to go back to Miami and finish school, graduating with a degree in communications and psychology in 2006.

A New Career Path

Meanwhile, Ehrlich had moved on from the J to running a camp for kids with disabilities. He had remained in contact with Itzkowitz over the years and reached out to him with a job offer.

“Jerry said, ‘Are you healthy enough to do this all day and be on your feet?’ Itzkowitz remembered. 

And it was hard work, but it was meaningful and that had an impact on Itzkowitz.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It was so much fun. Even the kids who were nonverbal, you could tell they were having a great time just by their expressions. That’s what got me into this field. Because I was very much on a different track before my stroke.”

Instead of law school, Itzkowitz in 2010 went back to study at Maryville University where he earned a master’s in rehabilitation counseling.

Then, late last year, he and Ehrlich reconnected for a third time. Now the CEO at Paraquad, which offers disability services and support, Ehrlich had an opening on his staff for an employment coordinator. 

“I said, ‘We’ve got this position if you’re interested, but I’m pretty much going to stay out of it,’ ” Ehrlich said. “I went to the person who was in charge of hiring and I said, ‘Listen, Johnny and I go back a long way, I have good things to say about him, but this is your interview, this is your choice. And if for whatever reason he’s not right in your program, that’s fine.’ ”

As it turned out, with Itzkowitz’s credentials and positive,  attitude, he likely would have been hired on his own merits. But,  he said, Jerry “put me in a nice place for the interview.”

In August, Itkowitz will hit the 10-month mark at Paraquad, where he is as busy as ever. On any given day, he might be working with the vocational rehab office, or one of the organization’s community partners, or just performing job coaching and helping people with disabilities find employment.

Itzkowitz still crosses paths with his longtime coach/mentor/boss occasionally, and their conversation nearly always turns to their favorite topic: sports. 

Itzkowitz’s current focus is on Paraquad’s Summer Work Experience Program.

“When I’m in the gym sometimes, I’ll notice other people who have similar injuries to what I had. I see where they are in their rehab, and a lot of them talk to me and they say, ‘I want this or that like you have.’ I say, ‘Well, it takes a long time to get there. I started just like you.’ That’s been my favorite thing, just talking them and letting them know you can do it. But it’s going to take more than just you saying you want it, you’ve got to do it.”