THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 10, 1995 TAG: 9508100204
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: In the Hot Seat
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Louis Bagley is used to taking a lot of heat.
For the past eight years, he has umpired fast and slow pitch softball and high school and recreation league baseball.
``An umpire is already the bad guy when he hits the field,'' Bagley said recently, with a laugh.
But torrid temperatures and high humidity can make his job even hotter. An umpire's uniform was not designed for hot weather comfort, especially when he works behind the plate.
To the basic T-shirt, gray pants and blue, collared shirt, Bagley adds steel-toed shoes, a chest protector, shin guards, a face mask and a black cap.
``I try to pump myself with a lot of Gatorade and move around to keep the air stirring around me,'' he said.
A few fans consider verbally abusing the umpire an accepted part of the game any time, but hot weather can aggravate even the normally calm fan or player.
``When it is that hot, everybody flares up,'' Bagley said. ``Umpires have to be a lot more tolerant in the heat.''
Bagley's survival techniques include calling more frequent time outs to let the pitcher and catcher cool off and using something he calls ``umpire blockage.''
``That's when you hear what is going on around you but you don't really hear it,'' he said.
Bagley, 36, works full-time as a truck driver for the Suffolk schools. But during ball season, he can put in as many as 35 more hours a week umpiring. Some weeks he works almost every night, calling two or three games each evening.
At $14 or $15 a game, Bagley will never get rich calling balls and strikes and taking the heat.
``I don't do it for the money but for the kids,'' he said. ``I would really do anything to keep kids out of trouble.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Umpire Louis Bagley, right, looks over the shoulder of catcher Nick
Crawley
by CNB