I hope I can post a similar message when I am 61.

Thatta boy!

Mark, Jr., turns 20 at the end of February and will start his third year of umpiring this season. As long as he is around to work the plate why would I consider "calling it a day". :D

MTD, Sr.

My son's 20, and he pitches; and his head coach has his pitchers umpire intrasquad games. He's the only one who goes out there with a uniform and state-of-the-art gear to call these things. ("If I'm going to be an umpire, I want to go out there looking like an umpire." No catcher's gear over his playing uniform like the rest.) I could not be more proud.

I look forward rather fondly to sharing a similar experience to yours. Many warm regards. I can only imagine the scale of your fun and fulfillment.

Two umpiring brothers, both life-long bachelors, had lived together for many years. Then one day Andy died in his sleep. Matt was overcome with grief.

Every day Matt trudged through his life. Umpiring still, but realizing it wasn't the same. Just before bed, every night, Matt finished his evening prayer by saying, "Lord, I never got to say good-bye to Andy before he died. I have been a good and virtuous Christian. Please grant me one wish: Please let Andy come back, just once, so I can say good-bye to him."

One night Matt finished his prayer and looked up to see the ghost of Andy standing in his bedroom.

"Andy, is that really you?" asked Matt.

"It is," said Andy.

Overcome with emotion, Matt asked, "Andy, what is heaven like? Do they have baseball?"

To which Andy replied, "well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that they do indeed have a great baseball league in heaven, and I umpire every day. The bad news is you've been assigned to my crew and you've got the dish on Tuesday night."

Moral of the story: I think I'll umpire until eternity ends.

When it takes longer to get ready to to do the game than it does to actually work the game.

It takes a good 10 minutes just to put on all the braces and tights. :D