Oct. 18, 2010
Bronx, N.Y. -
The Fordham University Athletic department mourns the loss of New York City sports icon Freddy `Sez' Schuman who passed away on Sunday at the age of 85. Schuman, who was known to most as "Freddy Sez", died at Lenox Hill Hospital on Sunday afternoon after suffering a heart attack on Friday night, longtime friend Chuck Frantz told ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley.
"The Bronx lost a great man," said Fordham Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. It was always a pleasure to see Freddy at a Fordham game, bringing with him his infectious enthusiasm and love of all things Bronx. He will be missed but always remembered at Fordham."
Schuman, who could always be found with his trademark frying pan, made a name for himself at New York Yankees games as the team's unofficial cheerleader. He would wander the stadium banging on his pan with a spoon and letting others take whacks at the noisemaker. His pan was always adorned with a motivating message for the home team.
Considered a lucky charm by many Yankee fans, the team went as far as to fly Schuman to Arizona for game seven of the 2001 World Series. He became such a part of baseball lore that one of his frying pans is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and another is in the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Montclair, N.J.
Schuman was also a regular at Fordham football and men's and women's basketball games where he would post Ram-inspiring messages on the frying pan. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary Block F letter at the annual Block F Awards dinner for his support of Fordham Athletics.
A native of the Bronx, Schuman lost his right eye in a stickball accident while playing on 178th Street when he was nine. Maybe it was an omen that one day he would become a Ram fan when he was taken to hospital after the accident. That hospital was Fordham Hospital, which was located where the parking garage now stands on campus.
Click here for a 2006 New York Times article on Freddy Schuman or here to go to Freddy's website.
