Shelley Curtis White was a “no-nonsense kind of guy,” said family and friends who had gathered to celebrate the opening of the Little League season and the naming of a ballfield after him — the same one where he had called balls and strikes as part of his sixty year career umpiring across the country and around the world.
The talk at this opening day this month was about the joy of playing baseball and the positive influence White had on hundreds of coaches, families and young people who played the game he loved.
The field in Southcrest on Newton Avenue now has a large painted likeness of White — and his name in big, bold blue lettering — on the building that serves as a refreshment stand and an announcer’s booth. It was as though the late umpire was looking out over the parents and the Little League teams, as well as the former ball players who attended the event.
In all, three Little league games were played, complemented with classic ballpark food, including hot dogs, sodas and nachos. As each player came to the plate, his name was announced and it was accompanied by encouragement from coaches, cheers from teammates in the dugout and family members in the stands.
“I played here in the early 70s, Shelley Curtis White was my baseball coach and my Scoutmaster,” said Dwayne Hill.
And he adds, he was his godfather as well. “He was in my life before I was born, and he was in my life until his last breath. I didn’t realize love until his love was gone.”
Hill was the most active advocate for naming the field after “Mr. White,” as the umpire is respectively called by others attending the season opener.
Hill stressed how important it was to “follow the steps of those who did this before us, to have a program where kids can come freely and be respected, handled with care, to feel love.”
Leon Monroe played on all-star teams at the field in the 1960s. He was joined on the field before the game by other former all-stars across several decades to honor White. Monroe recalls “it was a lot of fun playing on the field, I have a lot of fond memories and one thing to remember is you got to have fun doing it.”
At one time baseball fell out of favor in the community, young men were drawn to football and basketball, and the number of teams playing ball at Southcrest dropped. White’s son, Deron, said he hopes the field renaming will bring attention to this manicured, attractive ballpark and encourage more use of the field named after his father.
“This used to be a rite of passage for young men in the community,” he said. He remembers a busy ball park, where “after church on Sundays there might be three to five games.” But the world changed and he recalls coming to the field years later, and “it was barren but today we have the kids here again and it’s just wonderful.”
Devin White is the grandson, part of the umpire’s extended family that was in attendance. “Oh man, it’s beautiful. This gets me excited, watching my son running around and seeing what’s going on. And hopefully he understands more when he gets older. It’s a beautiful thing.”
He recalls how his grandfather tried to instill in him the values that sports can bring to one’s life — respect for the game, for the rules, for others you play with.
“I didn’t understand early but now being an adult I definitely get it,” he said. “It, took a while but it’s here now. He knew something. That’s for sure.”
Joe Harris, chief of Little League District 66, which Southcrest is a part of, said honoring White as well as recognizing the all-stars from the past was “all about playing the game right. Doing it in the dirt. That’s what we’d like to do right out here in the dirt.”