Chief Among the Chiefs is the Spirit of Two Unwavering Fans

George and Betty Sterzer

By Lauren Winfrey

(SYRACUSE, N.Y.)  -  Monday evening, as a sizeable crowd gathered to watch the Syracuse Chiefs take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at NBT Bank Stadium, most of the 2,000 or so people entered the stadium with little on their agenda besides seeing those they knew, chugging a brew, and watching baseball. Good old fashioned baseball—or at least that’s how 84-year-old George Sterzer describes it. Sterzer grew up watching baseball, playing baseball, and now he sits front row at NBT Bank Stadium in a seat reserved for him game after game watching a sport he says allows him a sense of release.

“As you can tell,” George Sterzer says pointing to the plastic tubes attached to him, “I can’t be very active, and it’s enjoyable for me to watch baseball, it’s a pleasure.”   

Dependent on a respirator to ensure proper breathing, George doesn’t travel to the games alone. In fact, he is accompanied by his 95-year-old sister, Betty Sterzer, who is just as sharp and just as enthused when it comes to the game of baseball.

“He’s been coming to the games since he was four-years-old,” Betty says nodding in George’s direction. Betty says she’s been coming to the games a long time too.

The two are season ticket holders and a wealth of information and experience. They’ve seen so much, learned so much, and watched the evolution of the Syracuse Chiefs on so many levels. George and Betty were there last year when Jason Smorol was named the new General Manager of the Chiefs. They’ve witnessed firsthand the changes that came along with new management—a change many might argue has served to boost crowd morale and crowd participation.

“I didn’t mind the other way, because I primarily come to watch baseball,” George says. These other things are alright, and I don’t mind them, and people enjoy it, let them enjoy it. I just want to watch baseball.”

This coming from a man who was alive during the team’s inception in 1934 when the Jersey City Skeeters moved to Syracuse and were renamed the Chiefs—it was in that year George attended his first Chiefs game. 

“I met a lot of players, home players, and visiting players,” George says. “And I don’t want to talk about the visiting players because I’ve seen so many, and some of them have made the Hall of Fame, and I don’t want [them to outshine] the players that didn’t make it because they all made the game enjoyable.”

Monday evening the Syracuse Chiefs posted a 7-6 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. A win George and Betty can now add to the books.