Man in blue: High school baseball umpire Don Levy retiring after 50 years

If there is a central fact that baseball umpires must come to grips with about their job, it's that not everyone is going to be happy with their decisions.

"Umpires are like closers, man: You've got to have a short memory," Jackson High School baseball coach Bill Gamble said with a chuckle. "You know that half the stadium doesn't like your call on a borderline call."

For a half century, Don Levy has operated in this world of complaining, second-guessing and hand-wringing.

And he's had a blast doing it.

The East Canton native and longtime Stark County resident is retiring after 50 years of umpiring high school baseball. His reason is simple: He and his wife, Christie, have plans for warmer climates. They will split their time between North Carolina and Florida.

Levy, 68, sold his home in Stark County in August, which was about the same time he shut down his deck-building business (he stayed with a friend locally to ump this final season).

His umping career included 29 years of college baseball and 30 years in the old Canton Class A League. The memories are many, maybe too many since he can't quite recall the first game he umped. He worked 13 OHSAA state tournaments and many Ohio Athletic Conference, Mid-American Conference and NAIA tournaments. He's umped numerous individuals as players, then assistant coaches and finally head coaches.

"I've enjoyed a lot of the coaches and a lot of the players," Levy said. "Baseball is not as bad as basketball by any means (in terms of the abuse officials get). Once you let people know, 'Ok, you can push me only so far and this is my limit,' they get to know you and get confident in you.

"I've always enjoyed it, and the longer you go the more you enjoy it."

A collision at home plate actually led Levy to take this path.

He was catching for East Canton High School when a runner slammed into him and tore his rotator cuff.

"I did not want to go through with the knife," Levy said of surgery. "I wanted to stay in the game, so I had my umpire's license at 18."

Levy says he got $18 a game when he started (he was making $70 a game this final season). He feels good physically and still enjoys the job. But he was leery of staying on too long.

"I don't want to go out — I've heard this being around for so long — and hear coaches say, 'He used to be a good umpire.'"

That certainly isn't the case with Levy, a well-respected umpire that remained in high demand and worked mostly Federal League games the last decade or so. Gamble said it was basically a given that Levy and fellow veteran umpire Keith Bialota would do the Polar Bears' rivalry games against Hoover.

Asked what makes Levy such a good umpire, Gamble said, "The fact that he has ownership of the game. With umpires, you want a relationship. You want to communicate. You want consistency. I think Don checks all those boxes.

"It gets pretty intense at times and he's able to stay in the moment. He does a good job of not getting caught up in the emotions and just calling the game as it happens."

Massillon coach Spike Ridgley long has held Levy in high regard because he heard his father, former Massillon baseball coach and athletic director Tim Ridgley, speak so highly of Levy for years.

"First and foremost, the guy knows the rules inside and out," Spike Ridgley said. "He's respectful to both teams. He's always trying to get the call right. And he takes control of the game. He's the guy you look to with any questions. He's going to be fair with it."

Gamble and Ridgley, who both had Levy on their games during their playing days, appreciated that Levy listens to questions and concerns with an open mind.

To put his patience in perspective, Levy ejected a high school coach one time in 50 years, he said.

"He would let you explain what you thought you saw, and then he would tell you what he has," Ridgley said. "But make no mistake, once he tells you what he has, that's the end of it."

Levy never was above learning. He worked cage scrimmages during the winter late into his career to stay sharp. As a young umpire, he listened when past coaches such as Malone's Bob Starcher, Hank Miller of Canton Lincoln and McKinley, and Canton South's Tim Miller offered advice.

Gamble said he's seen Levy take on a mentorship role in recent years in the umpires association, helping young umps grow and improve.

"That's a guy that gets it," Gamble said. "He doesn't want to just do his job well. He wants to leave that legacy and pass that knowledge on to the next generation."

Levy likely will have plenty to do in retirement. He has four kids, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (with another on the way).

He'll miss the big games and funny moments, like when Tim Ridgley grabbed Gamble's dad, Frank, and swung him around to prevent a potential dust-up with an opposing coach when the two were at Tuslaw together. In the process, Tim threw out his back, couldn't get off the bench the rest of the game and had to be helped to the bus.

"I thought that was hilarious," Levy says.

He won't miss the parents of players, adding, "That's really what's ruined it and why there is such a lack of umpires now."

Baseball will miss Don Levy.

Spike Ridgley recalled a game when one of his players was getting out of line toward the umpires, which included Levy.

"Don came over and said, 'Coach, either you're going to take him out or I'm going to take him out,'" Ridgley said. "I said, '10-4. We'll handle it.'

"So he let us teach the kid that way. It was neat. He always wanted to be part of the process of furthering the game. We respected that and appreciated that about him."

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com 

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Baseball umpire & Stark County native Don Levy retires after 50 years