MEDFORD - A groundbreaking ceremony for Tufts University's Sol Gittleman Park was held on Homecoming Day Saturday. More than 250 guests were in attendance as Tufts honored Gittleman, the beloved professor and lifelong baseball fan, and celebrated the progress of the Jumbos' new baseball stadium.
Gittleman, A85P, H10, who was provost from 1981 to 2002 and is currently Alice and Nathan Gantcher University Professor emeritus, is legendary at Tufts for his storytelling skills, dynamic presentations, encyclopedic knowledge, and caring mentorship. He inspired generations of students, whom he taught in subjects as wide-ranging as Judaic studies and German Expressionism and in classes like Yiddish literature.
What's less well known, perhaps, is the significant role that baseball has played in Gittleman's life. He was so passionate about the sport that as a student at Drew University he, by his own admission, put it far above his undergraduate studies.
Naming the park after Gittleman is a tribute befitting his lifelong devotion to the sport—rivaled only by his career-long dedication to the university and its students, said Theodore "Ted" R. Tye, A79, A06P, A13P, who took Gittleman's "Yid Lit" class as an undergrad. (His two daughters did the same.)
"As a trustee and longtime chair of the Athletics Board of Advisors, I love that future generations of Jumbo student-athletes will walk under a sign with Sol's name as they enter our own Tufts field of dreams," said Tye. "I can't think of a name more closely associated with Tufts University—or more closely associated with a passion for baseball. There is no better way to honor his legacy."
The new Gittleman Park will feature synthetic turf, stadium lights, expanded chairback and bleacher seating, improved bullpens, and high-quality batting cages. It will make Tufts eligible to host NESCAC Tournament and NCAA Regional championship games and will allow for practice and competition even in inclement weather. It will also make Jumbo Baseball more attractive to the highest-caliber student-athletes.
Saturday's ceremony began with a lecture delivered by Gittleman titled, "Baseball: American As Apple Pie – For Better or Worse" at Tufts' new Joyce Cummings Center. Attendees then moved across the street to the stadium site where the groundbreaking took place. Director of Athletics
John Morris, President Tony Monaco, Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Jumbo Head Baseball Coach
Paul Svagdis, Jumbo Baseball Captain
Connor Flavin and Trustee Emeritus Nathan Gantcher all spoke before Gittleman at the groundbreaking ceremony. The team presented Gittleman with custom-made bat signed by all of the Jumbos, and also used baseball bats to form an archway for Gittleman to walk through prior to delivering his remarks.
The crowd included many of Sol's oldest fans and friends. Along with Ted Tye and Nate Gantcher with wife Alice, guests also included Sol's wife Robyn and members of the Gittleman family, Tufts Trustees Chairman Emeritus Jim Stern, Trustee Emeritus John Bello, Trustee Emeritus Bill Cummings and wife Joyce, Trustee Emeritus Marty Granoff and wife Perry, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Jim Glaser, Executive Vice President Mike Howard and former Tufts President and current Harvard University President Larry Bacow with wife Adele Fleet Bacow. A number of Jumbo baseball alumni were in attendance as well.
Â
