Jill D. Montgomery:
My Summer on the Playing Field

The Herald recently had its shutdown week, and everyone went off merrily for a week away from stress and worry and well-deserved rest and relaxation. Except for me.

I volunteered to come in every day until noon and keep the mail and messages flowing. Now, before you start giving me credit for being the most incredibly dedicated employee since dawn, or the craziest … I stayed and worked because IT’S TOURNAMENT TIME!

For those people not involved with Little League, and frankly I know very few people who aren’t in some way involved, either now or in years past, this time of year is Big Time in the world of kids’ baseball and softball. This is All-Star time.

Now is when all those practices in snow-like conditions and games played in cold rain and in the middle of suppertime fade away as the second season begins.

If your child was picked for an All-Star team in this area, chances are he or she is going to play on my field. I call it my field because at this time of year I practically live at the Randolph Little League field. For many years now, Randolph has hosted the District II tournaments for two age groups for boys. This year we added the girls’ softball All-Star State Tournament.

As president, I preside over those tournaments. I announce, I flip the coin, I call umpires and I fill out the endless paperwork that is required. I have recited the Little League Pledge almost 30 times this year alone. In a pinch I also rake the fields, lay down the foul lines and collect garbage from the dugouts. As you can see, being president is a very glamorous position.

I also have to have most of the rulebook memorized and be able, in moments of great tension, to state with great authority what the correct interpretation is.

Luckily I don’t have to do it all by myself. I have hauled my trusty sidekick, Cindy Jarvis, along for the ride for years. For one thing, spending every night at the announcer’s booth gets us both out of doing housework or cooking for our families.

Another big plus is all the well-done hotdogs and popcorn we get to eat for free. Forget the fact that it is usually January before we can stand to look at a hot dog again.

The camaraderie is great as well. We see a lot of the same faces for years. There are coaches who I will warn to stay off the lines surrounding the batters’ boxes during infield practice and pick on them if they don’t. These coaches know that I don’t try to catch the coin in a coin toss, but instead let it tumble around on the ground. (Reason—I never got the knack of catching the coin in the air and slapping it on my wrist with any authority.)

There are people who pitch in every season and make a lot of work fun. There are also the new faces that say, "Hey, show me what to do, I’ll help." These newcomers don’t realize yet that once they volunteer, someone will call them next year and the year after that and so on…

A big plus in doing these tournaments are the great kids you get to see play ball. Especially fun are the nine- and ten-year-old players. Were our kids ever that little? Everybody is happy when these kids get a hit, or see an outfielder make a snow cone catch they never expected to get.

The unsung heroes during tournament time are definitely the umpires. It is against Little League policy to pay umpires, so these guys volunteer their time, usually without a child playing, to stand in the heat or rain or the dust.

These guys get hit by foul balls, and thrown bats and still take the time to help a player fix a catcher’s equipment or tie the long laces on their cleats. On top of that, umpires have to listen to complaining coaches, rude spectators, settle rule questions, all for some free bottled water and hamburgers. And they come back year after year and seem more than happy to help us get the show on the road.

For years now, my family has planned its vacation around tournament time. We go early, or we go late, or we don’t go at all. But vacation or no vacation, Tournament Time is time well spent.

By Jill D. Montgomery

Jill D. Montgomery lives in Braintree and is retiring from Little League this year, and may actually get a summer vacation next year, on time.

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