The Death of Eddie Waynick leaves an impact:Local Baseball Player that made his mark

Saw this news this morning over at the News and Record online site, while surfing the obituaries and it hit me like line drive making a major impact/dent/impression….You see it, you sort of expect it, and then you begin to believe it….Eddie Waynick gone at age 58…

SUMMERFIELD Edward Bryan Waynick, 58, died Saturday, March 31, 2018. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 5, 2018, at 4 p.m. at Westover Church, 505 Muirs Chapel Rd., Greensboro. Gate City Cremations is serving the family.

I remember Eddie Waynick back from his days playing youth baseball in the Guilford College community for Stumpy Brown and the Guilford College Red Sox….Eddie’s older brother Tommy Waynick was the top talent on that team and they had Tommy Waynick, Eddie Waynick, Tripp Ellington, Tim Sapp, Mark Freeman, Hal Wagner, Davey Welborne, Mike Welborne and at the end of the day, they pretty much had the top team in the Guilford College Community…

Eddie Waynick was a pure baseball talent and his talent development did end on that field at the old Guilford College Junior High School…

Eddie Waynick left that Guilford College youth league and went to play high school baseball for the Western Guilford Hornets, then on to college and I’m pretty sure he was on the field at High Point College, again with his brother Tommy, with Mike Everett and with Randy Wilhoit, all local Guilford College Community baseball players….*****Brother Tommy, Mike Everett and Randy Wilhoit were all at High Point, but Eddie Waynick was a standout for the North Carolina Tar Heels’ baseball team…*****(Maybe Kathy Waynick, their sister, should have walked on at N.C. State.)

The word for the books is it was Eddie on the baseball field at UNC-Chapel Hill, Tommy playing college baseball at High Point and then younger brother Charlie playing college baseball at East Carolina University….When you stop and think about that for a second, very diverse on the part of the Waynicks, UNC, HPU/High Point College and ECU….

All of those Waynicks were great in baseball and not bad in basketball either, but when it comes to baseball, they were the best around….They had it in their DNA….Their bloodlines connected them to the Ferrells, George Ferrell, Rick Ferrell and Wes Ferrell, with brothers Rick and Wes both being in the Major Baseball Hall of Fame….I’m thinking George was Eddie’s grandfather, with Rick and Wes being like great uncles….

But look at those baseball bloodlines….Rick and Wes Ferrell, both from around that Guilford College community and both in the BasebalL Hall of Fame and both being relatives of Eddie Waynick…

Not totally sure how the order of progression worked, but Eddie Waynick also worked as a professional baseball player and how ironic, he was in the Red Sox organization from what I’ve been told and that takes him back to his early days with the Guilford College Red Sox and Stumpy Brown and then wouldn’t you know it Eddie Waynick even spent some time playing baseball with the Winston-Salem team in the Carolina League, back when Winston-Salem was tied in with the Red Sox and he was there on the High Class A level of professional baseball…

It blew my mind, but I was very impressed when I learned one Summer that Eddie Waynick was playing for what I think was back then, the Winston-Salem Spirits, in the Carolina League….Looking back and saying when I was a kid, I had played against a future professional baseball player, and how about that???

But that was Eddie Waynick….We all knew Tommy was great and I had heard in the grand scheme of things Charlie would become the best overall Waynick baseball player of them all, but Eddie was the one that made the move toward the top and hit the professional baseball ranks/system…..

In some ways this family was like nothing you had ever seen before….I might say like the Jetsons on steroids, but that might be an unfair comparison/assessment….The Waynicks were ahead of the curve and that is a good baseball term to throw in here…I mean when it came to baseball, and in some ways basketball, nobody could keep up with them, they were that good….

The mom of the family, Bonnie Waynick, was Bonnie Ferrell before she married Howard Waynick and Bonnie Ferrell, might just be the best female athlete to ever come out of the Guilford College community….I did not see her play back in the day, but I can verify based upon what I was told, and I was told in basketball, nobody could compare to Bonnie Waynick…She was the best female basketball player to come through the Guilford College community back in the day…..Better maybe even than Lisa Stockton, now in the head coach at Tulane University and Stockton is in the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame….Bonnie Ferrell Waynick was the best ever, at least that is what I was told, by very many in the know….

So Howard and Bonnie Waynick begot Eddie Waynick and Eddie was just plain smooth…He did his baseball work and for the most part his basketball work too, like he had been doing it his entire life, and I guess for the most part he probably had, and he played the game like he knew it inside and out and he was several levels above the rest of us out there, even though he was two to three years younger, than the students in my class…

Eddie’s mom was also a teacher and I never had her for a teacher(she was teaching on the elementary level after leaving for a few years to have her children and then returning to classroom) any way, Mrs. Waynick taught me a few lessons about life that I will never forgot, about how to treat and respect people and she passed those same principles on to her own children…

Eddie Waynick is much/very worthy of this post today and the space we are giving him is because he was a one-of-a-kind person…Always a smile on his face, and we don’t see that enough these days…And with that Eddie Waynick smile, I remember him having a silver front tooth back when he as in his early school days and I guess that tooth was one that got capped and you never know, Tommy Waynick may have knocked Eddie’s tooth out with a fast ball, because Tommy Waynick could take anybody out with a fastball…He nearly killed me a couple of times and that is how you earn someone’s respect in baseball, knock them down and you hope you don’t have to knock them out….

The Waynicks sure got my attention and demanded my respect, because they were like a farm team all living in the same house together and they were not farming-type people…The had a sophistication about them that really would get your attention….

Eddie’s father, Howard Wayick was a big tall man with a flat-top haircut and he would have construction projects going on, all over the place….The Howard Waynick Construction Company was one to be respected….

So Eddie Waynick came from good means, but he was not one to flaunt it….He as a natural guy who could flat out play some baseball and I heard he was a very good golfer too….

If you ever came through the Guilford College Community and heard anything at all about baseball, you knew the name of the Ferrells, which gave way to the Waynicks and that was the baseball lineage that carried the lumber in our neighborhood/community….

Wes Ferrell, Rick Ferrell, George Ferrell, Bonnie Ferrell Waynick, Howard Waynick, Tommy Waynick, Charlie Waynick, Kathy Waynick and there was the one we just lost, Eddie Waynick…..I may be wrong, I think Charlie and Cathy may have been brother and sister twins….

Back in the day, this was what the doctors that evaluate how the perfect family should be set up would say, “This is It”(Waynicks)….

Sure got my attention and I remember a lot about this family tree since they all were so successful in sports and the best of all, could well be “The Man”, Edward Bryan Waynick, know by most he came contact with, as Eddie Waynick….

This man was one was of the best baseball players that you would ever see take to the diamond, but at the end of the day, he was just a good down-to-earth person that loved his family and his friends…..Eddie Waynick was as nice a person that that you would ever meet, and let’s hope we meet him again someday up there at “Paradise Park”, where I hear they are playing a doubleheader today and Eddie Waynick will be pitching in Game Two….

Eddie Waynick leaves behind his wife Dana and a daughter, and his mom and siblings…A good man that deserves to rest in peace, so we close our piece here today saying, RIP Eddie Waynick, always bringing a smile to someone’s day…..

5 thoughts on “The Death of Eddie Waynick leaves an impact:Local Baseball Player that made his mark

  1. Eddie was a great athlete and even a better person and will never be forgotten. Great story. However he was a Tar Heel before his professional days

  2. Eddie was a great athlete and even better person. Great story. He will be sorely missed. He was a Tar Heel before his professional days

  3. Eddie was an incredible basketball player as well as nice humble guy.
    First met Eddie at the Guilford College ymca basketball courts on campus when his family still had their home on the back of campus. Eddie turned out to be a Better golfer than basketball player but knowing Eddie that’s not really surprising he would be good at everything he attempted. Sad for Dana their daughter and family but happy Eddie is running now

  4. Here is the Eddie Waynick obituary from the News and Record online:

    SUMMERFIELD Edward Bryan Waynick, 58, passed away Saturday morning in his home in Summerfield after a five-year battle with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Edward, known by everyone as Eddie, Bud, or “E,” was born in Greensboro on December 22, 1959, in the Guilford College area. He graduated from Western Guilford High School in 1978 and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Eddie was an athlete his entire life. In high school, he played both basketball and baseball and held the career record for assists for the men’s varsity basketball team. He went on to play third base in baseball for the Tar Heels, where he earned a letter in 1981. He was drafted by the Red Sox during his time at UNC and went on to play third base and short stop for the Winston-Salem Red Sox. He received accolades from many great baseball legends including Ted Williams, who said Eddie “hit the longest home run he had ever seen in that part of the ball park.” After his baseball career, Eddie had a successful occupation as a medical sales representative. He was known by his colleagues and the doctors he called on as very personable and upbeat. Eddie married Dana Joyce in June of 1990. His daughter was born in December of 1994. He was always kind-hearted and compassionate. He would serve meals at urban ministries and was a frequent philanthropist. He was always humble about these qualities and never expected praise for his generosity. Eddie’s first priority was always his family. He served as a loving husband to his wife, Dana, and a kind father to his only daughter, Jamie. He patiently sat through many of Jamie’s dance recitals and only complained on occasion. When he was not spending time with his family, he enjoyed attending the Spears YMCA every morning, running, working in his yard, fishing, and pulling for the Tar Heels. In addition to these hobbies, Eddie was a talented golfer and had a handicap of 1 when he was a member of the Cardinal Golf and Country Club. Most important in Eddie’s life was his Christian faith. Eddie was a follower of Jesus and regularly attended Westover Church. He let his faith guide him in love and empathy his entire life. One of Eddie’s most notable traits was his quick sense of humor. He was always lighthearted and inviting, and was able to make anyone laugh. He had a bright smile and a gentle personality. His sense of humor stayed intact through the majority of the progression of the Alzheimer’s disease. Eddie participated in several clinical trials and studies after his diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s at the young age of 53 in hopes of getting researchers one step closer to finding a cure to an extremely cruel disease. His wife was his sole caretaker throughout the duration of his disease. Eddie is survived by his wife, Dana Waynick; daughter, Jamie Waynick; mother, Bonnie Waynick; sister Kathy Young; and brothers, Charlie and Thomas Waynick. He is preceded by his father, Howard Waynick; and grandparents, George and Kate Ferrell and C.H. and Ruby Waynick. A service will be held at Westover Church on Thursday, April 5 at 4 p.m. in his honor. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, who were gracious to Eddie and his family in the very end, K-Love radio, which provided comfort to Eddie and Dana upon progression of his disease, and the Spears YMCA, which he frequented up until a week before he passed away. Eddie will be sorely missed by his family and friends, but they find peace in knowing that he is now healed. Gate City Cremations is serving the Waynick family.

    Here is the link to the Eddie Waynick obituary at the News and Record and as always, in the photo, he has a big smile on his face…..

    http://www.greensboro.com/obituaries/waynick-edward-bryan/article_1ad00750-d00f-5ee6-8601-64dafcb87288.html

  5. Pretty interesting that Eddie ended up playing baseball with the Tar Heels…

    Back in the early day, that Waynick house was a Wolfpack Den…That is one reason I didn’t feel too bad about my dedication to the Pack as a young sports fan, because the Waynicks in those days, over on New Garden Road, were strong on the side of Norm Sloan and Sam Esposito, the basketball and baseball coaches at N.C. State back in the day…

    I guess maybe Eddie played for Coach Walter Rabb at North Carolina, since I think he preceeded Coach Fox and Coach Roberts…

    Good to see people talking about and remembering Eddie Waynick and it was good to see his grandmother’s name, Ruby Waynick, in the N&R obit…She used to have one of the top gardens in Guilford County back in the day and some of the most outstanding rows of flowers that ever adorned our local landscape, on her nice large tract of land there on New Garden Road, next to the Guilford College campus…

    Already many great memories coming from the passing of Eddie Waynick and that smile he had, will leave an impression that will last/remain for many years…

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