2019 Photo by Danny Fulgencio
Preston Hollow resident Eric Nadel for years has leveraged his notoriety as the Texas Rangers baseball broadcaster — and limerick curator extraordinaire — to raise dollars and awareness related to mental health.
He has done so each of the past 10 years by way of his fundraising birthday bash, held each spring at Oak Cliff’s Kessler Theater.
This year’s sold-out event is Thursday, May 18. For a third year the bash benefits the Grant Halliburton Foundation, which, according to Nadel, strives to erase the stigma around mental health issues and encourages people to reach out for help.
According to its organizational literature, the nonprofit also works to strengthen the network of mental health resources for young people and to prevent suicide. Named for a Dallas teen who committed suicide in 2006, the foundation recently created HereForTexas.com, an online searchable database of mental health resources in North Texas (in English and Spanish).
Such advocacy had become one of Nadel’s passions — along with sports, music and friends — even before his own mental health took a turn for the worse.
Now it’s more personal than ever.
Earlier this year the Hall of Famer — who joined the Rangers broadcast team in 1979 — took a leave of absence, citing his personal struggles.
“As many of you know, for years I have been an advocate for those with mental health issues,” Nadel said in a statement released by the team in March. “I now find myself dealing with anxiety, insomnia and depression which are currently preventing me from doing the job I love. So, I regret to say I will not be in the broadcast booth when the season starts.”
Without going into the nitty gritty, he tells Rangers Beat writer Kennedi Landry he is making progress in his recovery.
“Everybody says, ‘How are you doing?’ and everybody wants details, and I don’t really want to get into details of my therapies and treatments and stuff like that. But I do want people to know that there are lots of options out there,” he said. “It’s really been tough but I’m slowly feeling better and more like myself. I’m hoping I’ll be back in the booth at some point, but I really can’t put a timeline on it.”
He also said he thinks his own experiences are helping him to relate to others who are dealing with similar problems. Many have written to him, he told the newsletter and added that he is “overwhelmed” by the “love and support” he has received since taking time off.
Performances at Thursday’s event include Daphne Willis, Nadel’s friend and co-founder of his birthday benefit, best known for her song “Somebody’s Someone.” She opens for headliner R&B artist Danielle Ponder, who has an amazing story, a big powerful voice and a beautiful message, according to Nadel.
Though the live events are sold out, an online auction is up through Thursday at 9 p.m.
