When a letter arrived in the mail Friday, December 18, Joe Smith needed to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. All umpires jokes aside, his vision is fine. The letter notified Smith he had been selected for the ultimate assignment – umpiring in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa. "I had to read it three times to make sure," he said. "I kept looking for the "not" word, that I had not been selected. I called [wife] Brenda and said, 'you need to read this'." Smith will work the 70th edition of Little League's marquee event, which will take place August 18-28.
"It's a big, big deal. It still really hasn't sunk in yet," he said Tuesday afternoon, December 22. "It will when we start playing ball in the spring. Now it's a bunch of phone calls and texts. Reality will set in when I get out on the field." Smith will be the first umpire from Maryland District 5 (Rising Sun, Perryville, North East, Elkton, Chesapeake City, and Havre de Grace) to work the Little League World Series. "I'm very excited. I'm very proud," District 5 administrator Martin Thompson said. "Joe earned this accomplishment because of his dedication and hard work." Smith is only the second umpire from the state to receive a Williamsport assignment. "We have a lot of good umpires here," said Smith. "Hopefully they will now look at other Maryland guys." It will be Smith's third World Series. He umpired the 2012 Junior Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington and the 2015 Little League Baseball intermediate World Series in Livermore, California. "Once you work a World Series you almost never get to work another one," he said. "Either I did a good job last year, I have the selection committee fooled, or a little of both." Smith, the District 5 umpire-in-chief, state umpire-in-chief, and head of state umpires association, has also umpired in four region tournaments. He served as president of Rising Sun Little League until he and Brenda last year decided they would no longer be on the board of directors. Smith had always planned on returning as an umpire. He had thought he would officiate more Senior Division baseball because he enjoys it and it can be difficult to find umpires at that level. Now, he will do more do more Major Division baseball to prepare for the World Series. Smith will travel to Williamsport in May for a two-day orientation program. "Usually at things like that they tell you to do what you do, do what got you here," Smith said. "You have to fall back on what you know." Every World Series game is televised and replay can be used to change umpires' calls. "You can't really worry about it," said Smith. "You just have to make your call. The bottom line is you're always supposed to get it right. Replay is another tool. The deal is you're supposed to do it for the kids and you're supposed to get it right." Smith said he never lost hope he would be selected for the Little League World Series, but pursuing that goal is not why he continued to umpire. "This is the ultimate assignment, but it's not why I'm umpiring," said Smith. "I like umpiring, like the kids, and like the community. I was really surprised. This is the icing on the cake." Some umpires retire after reaching the pinnacle, but Smith has no plans to stop anytime soon. "When I'm standing behind the plate and the National Anthem is playing, I get chills down my neck," Smith said. "When I don't get those chills, it's probably time to stop. But I've been doing this for 30 years and I still get those chills." Comments are closed.
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