The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph courtesy of Carmen Solima

Hooked on Friendship: Willow Glen Little League coach Joe Rivas, who died Sept. 22 at age 49, was known for taking his players on weekend fishing trips.

Little League coach left a legacy of caring to players

By Cecily Barnes

A few months ago, Willow Glen Little League coach Joe Rivas swung by the house of a former player, 16-year-old Joey Hernandez, to see if the teen wanted to have lunch. Half an hour later at the Cozy Family Restaurant on the Alameda, the two friends talked about many things. At one point, Rivas asked Hernandez how he would approach a person in need of drug counseling. To Rivas, a teen's opinion was just as important as an adult's.

"He would ask me for advice. He wanted to know from my perspective as a young person," Hernandez said.

Toward the end of the lunch, Rivas, who usually listened more than he talked, offered some advice of his own.

"He told me to take the time to know everyone in my life," Hernandez said. "He said, 'Take strides in life and don't be afraid to go with your heart.' "

When Rivas dropped Hernandez at home after lunch, the friends unknowingly said goodbye for the last time.

While visiting his family in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, Joe Gustavo Rivas, 49, fell ill and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died of cirrhosis of the liver. He had spent the last 10 years of his life working to help children and drug-addicted adults steer clear of the dead-end path he had walked for most of his life.

Until he was 36 years old, Joe Rivas slammed heroine and nursed a secondary addiction to alcohol. In 1983, a group of his friends "kidnapped" him, brought him to San Jose and threw him into a drug-treatment facility. Two years later, Rivas sobered up and set out on a mission to keep others from ruining their lives with drugs. According to his partner of 10 years, Carmen Solima, that's largely why Rivas coached Little League--to help kids do something positive with their free time.

"He would say, 'If I could just save one kid from going down the road that I did...,' " Solima says. "Fortunately, he touched a lot more [young people] than that."

Nine years ago, Rivas began coaching Willow Glen Little League. But to hear from parents and children on his team, he was much more than just a coach. Barbecues and pizza parties often followed baseball practice, and the boys were always invited to join their coach on weekend fishing trips. Rivas was known to pay league fees for boys who couldn't afford them.

During baseball season, Rivas' phone would ring off the hook with calls from players.

"A lot of times he would call the boys to say, 'Who do you think I should play on this base?' " Solima recalls. "He let them know that what they thought and felt was important and valid."

Besides his almost decade-long stint with the little league, Rivas helped create a sobering station at the Santa Clara County Jail nearly three years ago. Whereas before, drunks who were picked up by the police spent the night in jail, they now spend the night at the sobering station, where their visit ends with counseling, clean clothes, a hot meal and referrals.

Last year the county Board of Supervisors recognized Rivas for creating the sobering station. During the award presentation, he stood and spoke about his mission.

"He talked about what a testimony it was, coming from a lifestyle that he was not proud of to turning his life around and working with the types of people that he once was," said Jenice Condie, president of the Willow Glen Little League. "It was very touching."

But Rivas' time was limited. Drugs had badly damaged his body, and the waiting list for a liver transplant was long.

Despite his sickness, Rivas never missed a baseball season. Kids would call and threaten not to play unless Rivas coached.

According to parent Heidi Hobbs, Rivas connected with the kids in a way that few adults do. "He was an adult that took time to listen to the kids and talk to them," she said.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Flowers at 900 S. Second St.

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