End of an era as legendary former Miami Dade College baseball coach Hertz dies

When Steve Hertz coached baseball – which he did for more than four decades and 1,200 victories – it was rare that he could get through dinner with his family without being interrupted by a call from one of his players.

Besides stops at Coral Park and Southridge high schools, Hertz coached Miami Dade College for 26 years, leading the Sharks to a fifth-place national finish in 2001.

“When I was a kid in the 1980s, a call would come in, and we’d pick it up because we didn’t know who it was from,” said Darren Hertz, Steve’s son. “This was before cellular phones.

“The call was almost always a player, and my dad would make time for him. Sometimes it would be about how to tweak his curveball. But mostly, the kid was struggling with something – his family, his girlfriend, his grades. … These players trusted my dad. He was hard on them. He held them accountable. But they knew it was coming from the right place.”

Last week, hundreds of those players lost their mentor as Steve Hertz died at the age of 80 due to natural causes. Hertz had been in poor health for the past decade, and things had gotten worse over the past couple of years, Darren said.

Hertz, known as “Pop” by his family members, is survived by his wife of 58 years, Frances Sokol Hertz, their two sons, Darren and Jeff, four grandchildren (Josh; Micah; Brandon; and Lexi); two daughters-in-law (Marci and Julie); and one sister Anne Hertz Betti.

The loss of Steve Hertz represents, in a way, the final end of an era for Miami Dade College. For years, three MDC campuses competed against each other, and that rivalry was especially fierce and often heated for the baseball programs run by legendary coaches – Demie Mainieri at Dade-North; Charlie Greene at Dade-South/Kendall; and Hertz at Dade Downtown/Wolfson.

All three coaches are now in baseball heaven – Mainieri passed away in 2019, Greene in 2024; and Hertz last Thursday.

Ironically, Greene and Hertz grew close over the past 10-to-15 years, often hanging out together, talking baseball during their retirement.

That turn from rival to friend shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Hertz loved people, and he really loved baseball.

Hertz, whose father (David) was a military man, was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. But he was raised in Miami, and he starred as a baseball player at Miami High.

“He was a great quarterback in football and a great basketball player, too,” said Darren, who is the head basketball coach at Wittenberg, a Division III university in Springfield Ohio. “But he knew his ticket was in baseball.”

Indeed, Hertz was such a good third baseman that he made it to the major leagues at age 19. He got just four at-bats that year with Houston, striking out three times and getting no hits.

Sadly, due to injuries and perhaps other factors, Hertz never made it back to the majors, bouncing around the minors for six years.

During his time in the minors, Hertz married Fran – his sweetheart from their days at Miami High – and they started their family.

Darren said he and his brother were immensely proud of their father.

“He had his own baseball card,” Darren said. “How cool is that?

“My dad wouldn’t brag about his career. But sometimes I would ask him about his playing days. He told me that Houston brought him for a workout, and they hit 500 ground balls to my dad.

“He didn’t miss one.”

Hertz didn’t miss much as a coach, either.

Eddie Rodriguez, who played for Coral Park, said Hertz “saved” his career.

Rodriguez, now 72, said he was “hard-headed” back then, and he had threatened an umpire with a bat before Hertz stepped in to calm things down.

“Steve was the most beautiful person I ever met,” said Rodriguez, who has served as a unit director for Southwest Boys Club for decades. “He was a father figure to me. His death is a big, big loss.”

Hertz loved Miami, and he also had a great appreciation for the Hispanic heritage that is such a big part of the city.

In addition, Hertz built a baseball pipeline of sorts from countries such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela to MDC.

“My dad didn’t speak Spanish, but he embraced the culture,” Darren said. “He learned enough Spanish to communicatee. He spoke broken Spanish. They spoke broken English, but they both knew the meaning of ‘fastball.’”

Jaime Navarro, a Puerto Rico native who competed for Hertz at Dade-Downtown/Wolfson in the 1986 and 1987 seasons, credits his former coach for helping him pitch in the majors for 12 years.

“Along with my dad, Coach Hertz was my mentor,” said Navarro, 58. “My dad gave me the knife, and (Hertz) taught me how to sharpen it.

“I feel so much gratitude toward him. He showed me how hard you have to work and how to respect the game. He built me up to be ready to pitch in the major leagues.

“When I got the news (of Hertz’s death), tears came out of my eyes.”

A memorial for Hertz will be held on Tuesday (11 a.m.) at Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd., Coral Gables. Burial will follow (12:30 p.m.) at Mt. Nebo/Kendall Memorial Gardens, 5900 SW 77 Ave., Miami. After that, it’s back to Temple Judea for a reception/celebration of life.

This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 10:57 AM.