“I’m a baseball person from way back,” Gerald (Jerry) Kaminski said, as he watched the 2026 baseball season swing into action.
The newly minted resident – he moved into the senior residence, Merrill Gardens at Rockridge, from the Oakland Hills this past September – has played, coached, and followed baseball since he was a kid.
That made him the perfect person to inaugurate and manage “At the Ball Yard with Mick Chantler,” an annual UC Berkeley OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) field trip. This year, it’s set for Sunday, April 26, 1pm, at Oracle Park, where the San Francisco Giants will play the Miami Marlins.
Chantler, who teaches baseball history as well as American history courses through various OLLI Bay Area institutes, is set to give historical commentary. “He’s like the proud instructor, but also part of the group,” Kaminski said. “His pre-game presentation is like a scouting report.”
Chantler’s baseball classes include in-depth studies of legendary players, the business of baseball, and the evolution and impact of the home run on the game. “Anything he’s selling, I’m buying,” Kaminski said. “He truly is a beloved instructor and a really good human being.”
The feeling is mutual. “Jerry was one of my first Berkeley OLLI students,” Chantler said. “Since then, I have come to appreciate him as the consummate ‘gentleman and scholar.’ His knowledge of baseball — both the technical aspects of the game and its colorful history — is impressive. Most importantly, Jerry is an honorable man, and a good citizen. The world could use more like him.”
Joe Lindsay is “looking forward to chewing the fat with Mick, Jerry, and the rest of the gang at the Giants vs. Mariners game.” After retiring in 2015, the longtime Rockridge resident joined UC Berkeley OLLI and was excited to see Chantler’s history of baseball class.
“As a baseball nerd since 1958 (when the NY Giants moved to town), I was always on the lookout for like-minded folks. I attended several of Mick’s baseball classes over the years and took part in OLLI field trips to the Oakland Coliseum, where I met Jerry, the organizer of those events, and a fellow baseball nerd.”
Kaminski and his wife, Geraldine (also a Gerry!) Kaminski, have each taken well over 100 classes through OLLI, a membership-based learning center for adults age 50 and over. Jerry, a retired Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, credits OLLI for friendships made when they moved to Oakland in 2013, “to be part of our grandchildren’s lives.”
They take some classes together, and split up for others. “There isn’t a history class that I don’t take,” he said, while Gerry, who has a doctorate in microbiology from Pepperdine University and retired as Senior Director for Quality Improvement Systems at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, leans toward science courses.
OLLI “was just a wonderful, wonderful experience,” Jerry said. “Both my wife and I are lifelong learners and became active.” He heads the Member Engagement Committee. Gerry has been part of the Development, Strategic Planning, and Event Coordination committees. “Our lives remarkably changed due to OLLI.”
But back to baseball. The field trips started about 10 years ago when members of Chantler’s class proposed going to a game together. “We always went to the A’s games,” Jerry said. “They were easy to get to, you could take BART, and they were reasonably priced. But when the A’s decided to move, we decided not to support them, and went to the Giants.”
He’s also looking to gather again to attend a Cal game, emphasizing, “I love college baseball,” and an Oakland Ballers game. “Ballers games are a lot of fun,” he said. “Baseball’s a pyramid – very, very competitive. It’s always nice to see kids chasing their dreams.”
Jerry had to give up his own dream of playing college baseball after his first year as an outfielder at the University of Dayton. When the university switched from a two-semester to a tri-semester system, the second semester ended in mid-April. The college baseball season went into May, he detailed, with players required to attend the summer semester. “I couldn’t do that because I had to get a summer job.”
“During my baseball days, I had the opportunity to play against some very good players,” he said. They included Tom Murphy, a pitcher who played for several Major League teams, including the California Angels; and Sal Bando, a four-time All-Star third baseman for the Oakland A’s who later played for and became general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jerry’s coaching career spanned 30 years, starting with coaching his son’s teams all the way through college summer league baseball. He continued coaching that team, the Cincinnati Stars, for another 18 years. He also coached a Fall High School All-Star League.
“In terms of wins and losses, the teams were very successful,” he said. They chalked up a Greater Cincinnati High School Summer League championship, several Fall High School league and regional championships, and a National Amateur Baseball Federation College World Series championship.
“More importantly,” Jerry said, “in terms of personal relationships with players, parents, and coaches, every team in every year was a championship team.”
If you have a Rockridge story that needs telling, please email judyberne@att.net.
