Pitching in an easy call for Series umps

“Get in the game, ump!”

Coastal Point • Monica Fleming
Umpires Ed Griffin, Bill Wagner and Michael Marler, and Umpire-in-Chief Chuck Latini gather at the party held Monday night for World Series players, families and volunteers.

“You wanna borrow my glasses?”

“You call that a strike?”

One of the most scrutinized jobs – albeit probably the most important – of the World Series, has to be the umpires. They pay their own way for an all-volunteer gig with no glory and plenty of people willing to point out their faults. No matter what the call, it’s bound to not sit well with somebody.

“Everybody wants to tell us what to do,” joked Umpire-in-Chief Chuck Latini of District 12 in New Jersey, “but nobody wants to do it.”

But, that doesn’t stop them from coming. This year’s umpires come from around the world. Every region, with the exception of Latin America, is represented – even Asia-Pacific, with one of the two female umpires, Xu Jianying, hailing from China. The umpires’ regions pick them after they submit an application/résumé to their regional office.

Whether they come from Pennsylvania, Texas or China, there’s really only one reason they come – and that’s the kids.

Nick Lloyd from Seaford, Del., has been involved since the World Series came to Roxana. Although his own kids have all grown up, he still loves to be around the game and enjoys the kids. He, Latini and Jim Briden of the umpire committee help to make sure the umpires have everything they need and that things run smoothly.

“They pay their own way,” said Lloyd. “We take care of them once they get here, but it’s tough to get here. They do it for the love of the game. They certainly don’t get anything, just headaches and gray hair,” he joked.

Lloyd is chief of Delaware District III and assistant district administrator of the World Series. Once approved to do so, he will be taking over Martin Donovan’s job as District III administrator in October of this year. And that is in addition to his full-time job.

Briden got started volunteering while in the military and said that, once he started, he was “hooked for life.”

“We get to give back to society – something that’s desperately needed right now in America – and we love the kids. It’s such an honor for them to be here,” he said of the umpires.

Ed Griffin, one of the 11 umpires on the field this series, is from a small town in Texas, Karnes City. He has a similar story. His kids are now older, but he can’t get the game out of his system.

“I got into it because of the kids, and then got into the administrative part because we figured out nobody wanted to volunteer for umpire, so I volunteered! My dad was a school teacher and principal, and we always gravitated toward stuff for the kids: Boy Scouts, church and family. When people say, ‘It takes a village,’ well, we’re the village!”

Umpire Bill Wagner, who lives in Avis, Pa., comes from the home district of the World Series – Williamsport. He started 26 years ago, when his son was 9, as a coach, then a manger, and has umpired every level of baseball, through state championships, and softball, though the World Series. He was president of his league for two years and is proud that his area has produced two World Series winners – one in 1994 and one in the late ’80s.

“I just loved it, so I stayed with it,” he said. He added that he and his wife were enjoying their stay in Delaware and said the people have been very helpful and friendly.

“Nobody’s too busy. They are willing to work with you. It’s that Southern hospitality,” he said. “The food’s been good and they make you feel like family. It’s a good time – one we won’t soon forget.”

If it’s not an easy job, these men and women are too busy enjoying themselves to notice.

“We enjoy being around the game,” said Latini. “And it’s the best seat in the house.”