Nick Rickles ’11 had it all under control for his date with history. Well, mostly.

Rickles knew he would be the first Hatter ever to participate in an Olympics — and he was a member of the Israeli baseball team, which was playing in its first Olympics. There was great pride. So, as he prepared for the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-Aug. 8), he vowed to maintain perspective.

“For me, going in, I tried not to set expecations,” Rickles said from his home in Las Vegas, just after returning from play. “So, I went in saying to myself, ‘No matter what happens I’m an Olympian at the end of the day. That’s something to be very proud of.

“I went into this really wanting to cherish the moment. I knew this was the last baseball thing I was going to do. So, I wanted to make sure I took in the sights, took in the feelings and really appreciated what I was going through.”

The only problem was, in characteristic Rickles style, he ultimately wanted more, badly.

Since grade school, almost the only thing he had ever cared about was baseball. And he was good. Following a starry career as a catcher at Stetson, Rickles spent seven years in the minor leagues plus coached at that level. He never made it the Major Leagues, but he came close. He retired as a pro player in 2018 after the birth of his daughter, Riley.

Still, he held out hope for one last baseball chance with the Israeli team, where as an Israeli American he had been a member since 2013. That chance came when Israel qualified for the 2020 Olympics’ six-team field, but his grand finale had been delayed by the pandemic.

Finally, upon arrival at Yokohama Stadium, Rickles wanted to go out a winner.

“Being the competitor I am, once I got there, I was like, ‘You know what, just being there is not good enough for me. I wanted to leave with a medal or at least having the opportunity to play for a medal,” he explained.

Rickles and his teammates didn’t quite make it. Yet, despite losing four of five games in Tokyo, they battled, including an underdog victory against Mexico, 12-5. It was Israeli’s first-ever win in Olympics baseball. Rickles had two hits that drove in three runs in the game, which eliminated Mexico from the competition.

That, for sure, was a highlight.

“Even the Mexico coach came out [in the media] and said, I think the exact quote was, ‘In my worse nightmare I didn’t see myself in that position [losing the game].’ That felt good, with somebody leaving there remembering you and your team that way,” Rickles commented.

The big crusher was a following loss to the Dominican Republic, 7-6, in the bottom of the ninth inning, ending Israel’s hopes for a medal. A win would have guaranteed playing in the medal round. It didn’t happen.

“I don’t want to say ‘disappointing,’ but … ,” said Rickles about that game.

“That’s probably the first game in my life that I felt sick to my stomach and felt like we deserved to win that game. Unfortunately, you know how baseball goes. It doesn’t always go the way you expect it to go. The best team doesn’t always win.”

In the end, the Dominican Republic won the bronze medal, the United States finished second for silver, and Japan captured gold. And, for the record, Rickles did have great things to say about the Dominican team, pointing out, “I was very happy to see them win a medal — especially knowing a lot of the guys over there, including their manager Hector Borg.”

So, Rickles headed back home, yes, without a medal, but with Olympic-sized memories from his 14 days in Tokyo.

While there were no fans in the stands, and he was unable to watch other Olympic events because of COVID-19 protocols, he became the first Israeli baseball player to get a hit in the Olympics — a double in his first at-bat against Korea. “As far as history books go, that was pretty good,” he said.

Also, the playing of Israeli’s national anthem prompted great emotion, and the Japanese citizens who helped their host country as Olympic volunteers brought amazement. Rickles described those volunteers as “probably the nicest people I’ve ever come across,” adding, “It was awesome.”

In the days immediately following his return home, Rickles wrestled with mixed feeling about the end, both of baseball and the Olympics. “I go back and forth with that every day,” he said, noting that “the highlight of coming home was a surprise welcome-home party that my fiancé Jessyka [Virdell] put on.” His family and closest friends were there to “celebrate the accomplishment of being an Olympian forever.”

While still sorting out the mixed feelings, Rickles insisted there was much to look forward to going forward. He is getting married in January, and charting pitches during a game has been replaced by charting patients for a Las Vegas-area skilled nursing facility, where he is a hospital liaison — “kind of like a nurse, but not hands on.”

Plus, there is Riley, and with his fiancé comes her son, Chandler.

In the real end, above all, his new family life has made it easier to put everything else behind him. Baseball. Even the Olympics.

“The Olympics,” Rickles concluded, “was a once in a lifetime experience — second only to my daughter being born.”

-Michael Candelaria