Randy Smith
To a point, I know what Peyton Manning has gone through regarding his possible retirement. It's important to know when you're done and ready to hang it up. Peyton's career as an all-time great NFL quarterback is quite a bit more than my career as a baseball/softball umpire though, but still I have had some lingering thoughts about my abilities to officiate games.
I started umpiring youth league baseball games in 1970 when I was a student at Middle Tennessee State University. I was a decent umpire despite my youth and inexperience.
I continued to umpire at some level for several years until I took a job as WDEF-TV's sports director in 1978. Since I worked nights, it was impossible to umpire baseball and softball games, so I stopped. When I left WDEF-TV in 1988 I started umpiring again in the Whitwell Youth Association where we lived, and continued to call ASA softball games as well.
To make a long story short, when I left WRCB-TV in 2009, I started umpiring once again; this time with the local TSSAA association in Chattanooga. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, because I made some great friends and enjoyed every minute of being on the field with those friends and the high school and middle school kids.
I am 64 years old, and while I'm not the oldest umpire out there, there are just one or two who are older than me. Last Thursday evening, we held a mechanics clinic and everything seemed to move in slow motion for me. I seem to be a lot less mobile than I was when I started umpiring with them in 2010. So, I have been thinking lately, "Is it time to quit?" I can't really make a thoughtful decision until I umpire a real game or two, and see how well I'm able to move. The last thing I want to do is give less than my very best on the field, because these kids and coaches certainly deserve the best effort any umpire can give them.
Of course, losing a bit of weight should help, so today I started a diet, hoping I can drop 20-30 pounds in the next six weeks when the season officially starts. I also have started riding a stationary bike to loosen up those tight muscles and joints a bit. I have one real test to see if I should be umpiring, and that's my ability to bend over and sweep off home plate. No one needs to see an old, fat umpire who can't even do that one simple task. When that becomes too difficult to do, it's time to get off the field.
So, I'm going to work like heck to improve my physical ability so I can stay on the field a few more years. It's never been about the money because the money just isn't that great. It's always been about the kids and working with my friends. It's also about loving the game of baseball. I enjoy the other sports but there is something really special about being on the field, when the grass turns green, and the warm breeze hits you in the face. Even though we still have a few more weeks to go, baseball and softball season will be here before you know it. I simply hope this old umpire still has a few seasons left.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.