Giving the men in blue credit

Of all the athletic pursuits I set out to accomplish in my life, umpiring was not one of them.

I have played, coached, refereed, kept score, and cheered from the sidelines for a variety of games. I have never, however, donned the traditional umpire blue and called balls and strikes.

I must admit I’ve always held the men and the women who do so in the highest regard.

In the course of pursuing my own athletic dreams, I’ve come across some fine people who are willing to assume the responsibility of having the fate of these spring and summer games in their own hands.

Frederick “Smokey” Lawrence, Leroy Patterson, Bruce Anderson, Greg Scott and Graham Shearstone are umpires in the Greater Bangor area whom I have come to know and appreciate, for one reason or another.

Lawrence and Patterson have, arguably, umpired more baseball and softball games in their lifetimes than any other duo you could mention. And for the record: They’re both good at it. Anderson would be at the top of any list high school and American Legion baseball coaches would make for not only professionalism in the line of duty, but also for outright ability. Bruce is a true baseball scholar in every sense of the word.

Scott and Shearstone are noted area youth league umpires. I had the good fortune to spend a year or so with Greg when he assisted our Eastern Maine Community College men’s basketball team five years ago. Like he is in his day-to-day job as a hemodialysis technician at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Greg is always professional in all his pursuits, including calling balls and strikes.

Shearstone is a well-known umpire in the Corinth Little League program.

In his fourth year of arbitrating baseball games, Graham considers it not only a pleasure to work with young people behind the plate and on the base paths, but also a privilege.

Spend a little time around this guy, and you’re likely to come away with the enthusiastic attitude he displays in every task to which he lends his good name.

A certified, clinical hemodialysis technician at EMMC by day, in the late afternoons and early evenings this time of the year, you can find the 33-year old Massachusetts native doing what he truly enjoys, working with young kids.

And the motivation for all the extra hours?

“I love the kids,” said the former high school football and track standout at Taunton High School in southeastern Mass. “Plus, my son Benjamin plays in the Corinth league.”

“He likes being around his dad.”

One of my own former students, Rick Speed, is the league director and, according to Ricky, “the kids love Graham.”

The spirit of volunteerism and enthusiasm is vital to the success of youth sports in not only Maine, but in other parts of the country as well.

None of the aforementioned gentlemen are making a fortune from their involvement in the games they officiate.

If there’s a truer slice of Americana in this land than baseball, I’d like to see it.

Fathers and sons playing catch in the backyard; a Little League game at dusk, with parents lugging coolers of sports drinks to the bleacher area so the participants won’t wilt in the muggy summer weather; and the men in blue behind the plate echoing the age-old phrase which has commenced these games for more than 100 years: “Play ball!” Now that, dear readers, is special.

It’s something right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, and it would never be complete without the aforementioned people who have devoted so much of their lives to ensure its continuity and its longevity.

NEWS columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net