There have been so many worthy tributes written about our friend Jim Hague, take the time to read a few of them here and here.
While I made my way to St. Paul’s The Apostle Church in Jersey City Thursday for his last sendoff I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
The high school coaches and former athletes and friends filled the church as expected, but then, from the pulpit, came what was a great “Hague Moment” few if any had expected. Father Joseph Furnaguera, St. Paul’s pastor, warned those listening that this Homily was not going to be the normal one. Why?
Yes he could cover so many stories of Jim’s life and the people he impacted, but when if ever, could a priest stand on an altar to speak about a guy who covered HIM…in college…as a baseball player at Rutgers-Newark just 11 years ago. Father Furnaguera told the story of how last year at a funeral, he crossed paths with Jim and told him how he remembered him during his senior year (where apparently he was a heck of an infielder) and Jim IMMEDIATELY remembered his number and ran off all of his stats from his time playing at Newark’s Golden Dome.
That was quintessential Jim Hague…storyteller, joyful reporter, chronicler of the lives of thousands, and rarely forgetting many and if he did he could fill in the blanks from similar escapades or events he had seen.
While everyone had a Jimmy story…sadly he is the second Jimmy I have been close to that we have lost in the past month; my good friend, and an equally fanatical sports follower, Jimmy Dempsey (he was Packers and Yankees loyal, Hague was Mets and Rams) passed away in early May…I wanted to rattle off a few that always made my friend Hague so special to me, many of which have not come up in the stories of his faithful service in and around all sports in New York, New Jersey, Jersey City and especially Hudson County.
So here are a few did you knows…
–Jim loved the Odd Couple. He was one of the few friends I could feed lines to endlessly, without ever missing a beat.
-When we had our house in Bradley Beach a few summers, Jim was always a welcome guest. While sitting at the shore wasn’t his thing, we were lucky enough to be not far from Kelly’s Bar, where we ended up on a few Saturday’s watching the Mets of the ‘90’s and having Turkey Sligo sandwiches with a few drinks.
–He loved Elton John. We saw EJ at least three times together, and I remember him dancing on the concourse of Madison Square Garden ones night to Crocodile Rock, while the ushers bopped with him. It was more than fitting that his amazing wife Mary had EJ’s “Skyline Pidgeon,” Jim’s favorite song, at the funeral today to get things going.
–We tried and tried to see the Mets in person the last few years. Twice we got within hours only because of car issues, or health issues that had started to mount, he couldn’t make it. What I do remember so well is that of the countless games we saw together at Shea and Citi Field, we always sat somewhere upstairs, out of the way, with plenty of room. It was always the best way to watch a game. One of the best ones? August 6, 1989. Mets 2 Expos 1 in 14 innings. Why I remember that one I’m not sure other than it was sweltering hot and after the Mets scored to win Jim sang Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down” over and over again as we exited Shea.
–People questioned what his email meant. OGSMAR. It’s GoRams (backwards).
–If we ever had a Hudson County athlete involved in any event…a wrestler, and MMA fighter, a college track star, Jim was your guy. Jersey Journal. AP, Hudson Reporter, The Observer, he was there. When I was asked to help Hudson catholic High School with a press conference when they named Leonard Marshall their head football coach, the first person in the door? Jim Hague.
-When he was 16…an always big 16…he convinced Oakland A’s owner Charles Finley he was 18 and became the PR director of the Minor League Jersey City Indians. Significant even more so because, he became the babysitter for a young Ricky Henderson as the future star made his way through the rubble of Roosevelt Stadium for a storied summer (as was documented so well in Howard Bryant’s recent biography of Henderson…so much so that when told of Jim’s passing by text on Sunday, Bryant sent numerous messages to explain how JIM was the best interview of anyone in the book).
-And let’s also remember when Henderson, at the end of his career returned to New Jersey to play Independent League ball for the Newark Bears, who was the PA announcer? Jim Hague.
–There were also some of the amazing brushes with greatness and infamy Jim had. A famous story about wrestling Darryl Dawkins. He also loved going to the Broadway and Off-Broadway shows I got to work on. He would send me texts and pictures from when we got him backstage to meet another of his acting favorites, Dan Lauria, not one (when we did “Lombardi”) but twice (when Dan did an Off Broadway show called “Dinner With The Boys”). And as always, he found a spot for a Jersey review of the shows, to give a little back for the chance to meet the cast. Jim was always about the payback.
-One more to round out a top ten that could go on for a while. One of the first places I met Jim was when I was the Sports Information Director at Monmouth College and Jim was working at St. Peter’s under their legendary SID Bill Waldy. The Hawks took on the Peacocks in Jersey City, and their star point guard, Kevin Boyle, needed 8 assists to break the St. Peter’s career assist record. It wasn’t going to be that hard, Monmouth was still trying to figure out Division I hoops at the time, and the stat crew had him reach the milestone just before halftime. There was one problem. He needed eight assists and the Peacocks only had seven field goals. Jim, who I had just met, laughed, and changed the 8 to 6, so the record stood a little longer. It made for a great Hague moment though.
Kind to a fault, always willing to do the right thing to the point where sometime he felt taken advantage of by people, always enthusiastic and ready to pitch in, Jim was always there for so many. I was happy to hear that Hudson County is naming a youth sports award after him, it’s disappointing no one did it while he was here to still enjoy it though.
However one line Father Furnaguera used today really summed up Jim’s life well lived.
“He used his gifts for the sake of others.”
In a selfish, self centered world, everyone can take that message to heart. We need more of Jim’s gifts….laughter, a little bluster, loyalty, joy…lots and lots of joy.
One last thing. I can’t ever remember, even when we spoke for the last time in March, did Jim ever not end a conversation with me without saying “I love you brother.” And he meant it.
Jim Hague lived and loved everyone, and the hope is that his infectious enthusiasm, especially for young people, doesn’t get swept away.
Losing him this week at age 62 was a tragedy, the real tragedy would be if all those people he touched and helped don’t pick up the ball and do a little something for someone else in the coming months and years.
The big guy did little things that mattered. Just like we all should.
Love you Jim. Miss you always. Let’s Go Mets.
