The same older neighbor who introduced me to the All-Time teams used in his baseball dice game is also the reason that I decided to never be an umpire. Sure, I'd heard of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Cy Young, but his game introduced me to lots of other Hall of Famers including those in the 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats set.
My brother the umpire was eight years older than me. He eventually went on to become a high-school certified umpire and basketball referee. My neighbor certainly didn't help my brother on his journey to being certified.
The neighbor, only two years older than me, was a player in lots of the game that my brother umped. On one occasion, the eight-year-old player was quite unhappy with a call made by my brother. Since this was probably 1970, there was no heading to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to let out frustration. So, what did my neighbor do? He crafted a letter to the umpire expressing his "displeasure" with the call. The letter was then placed in our mailbox along with the daily mail.
I don't know if the letter still exists, but I will ask my mother about that the next time I see her because I'd love to see it. The story certainly comes up often as we discuss our love of all things Little League.
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