The late Mitch Ball, founding member of the Southern Alberta Umpire Association, at Spitz Stadium in 2018. (Photo courtesy of Cindy Adachi/Lethbridge Sports)

By Brent Radlinsky

Remembering Southern Alberta Umpire Mitch Ball

Life can throw you a curveball sometimes

Jul 26, 2022 | 1:30 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Life can throw you a curveball or two sometimes. In September of 2018, I ran into an old friend, Mitch Ball, at the ENMAX Center before a Lethbridge Hurricanes game. He was leaning on the rail watching warm-ups and I was just roaming around enjoying a beverage and seeing who I could see.

The conversation quickly turned to the game of baseball, as Mitch had just been awarded the Umpire of the Year award from the Western Major Baseball League (now the Western Canadian Baseball League). Of course, as always, Mitch was very “aw shucks” about it, and the conversation quickly turned to him trying to talk me out of retirement from umpiring, which I had not done in 20 years. I gracefully declined at that moment. We shot the breeze for a few more minutes, shook hands and said goodbye to one other, not knowing when or if we would see each other again.

Mitch and I first met in 1997, when we were both fledgling umpires around Southern Alberta officiating baseball games on fields in our area, from little league to high school, and from the American Legion to what was then the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League.

At some point, a group of us, including the late Brent Derricott, Shawn Hass, Mitch and myself, started the Southern Alberta Umpire Association with the hopes of growing the art of umpiring in our area.

Life eventually went in a different direction for me, and my umpire bag was stored away, not knowing when or if it would ever see the light of day again.

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Mitch, on the other hand, continued honing the craft of umpiring and became not only one of the best umpires in Southern Alberta, but one of the best to officiate the game of baseball in Canada. His resume on the field is quite impressive and one that would cause many to give themselves a pat on the back.

He worked his way up the ranks and umpired games at the 2002 Little League World Series, the 2008 and 2009 IBAF World Jr. Championships, the 2015 Pan Am Games and countless other big-time events. Saying that, Mitch would always find time to get back to the local fields to mentor young umpires, teach clinics throughout the province and country, give a helping hand when needed around the park, or just share in a conversation about the great game of baseball. He never forgot where it all started, or how he got there and who helped him on his baseball journey.

Back to that fateful September night in 2018, when I ran into Mitch again. For some reason, he would not get off the topic of getting me back into umpiring the game of baseball. He pulled at my heart strings and reminded me about the “good old days” at what was then known as Henderson Stadium (now Spitz Stadium), and the fun we had on the field while wearing jerseys that our mothers had sewn for us to look like the Major League umpires on TV because we couldn’t afford to buy the official ones.

We talked about coaches that are still involved in baseball in Southern Alberta, like Todd Hubka, Scott Oikawa, Les McTavish, and Jim Kotkas. We laughed about run-ins with Blair Kubicek with the then-fledgling Prairie Baseball Academy. Oddly enough, we both remembered certain calls that caused those run-ins, and of course, all those years later, we got the calls right.

That was Mitch; always up for a conversation, always ready for a laugh with some old friends, and always there to make everyone’s day a little better.

Mitch passed away due to complications from COVID-19 on May 1, 2021 and needless to say, the baseball community lost someone that will never be replaced.

The Southern Alberta Umpire Association is going to miss everything that Mitch did on a daily basis. The group of us that is now involved (Brandon Oberg, Matt Benn, Tyler Malaka, Cody Nelson and myself) can only attempt to keep developing umpires in the area the way that Mitch seemed to do by himself.

The first-ever Mitch Ball award was given out prior to the Lethbridge Bulls home opener on May 26, 2022 posthumously to Mitch in recognition of his dedicated service, leadership and committed mentorship towards umpiring in Southern Alberta. We decided as a group that this award may not be given out annually, because it should only be given to people who exemplify Mitch’s values on and off the field.

Needless to say, Mitch convinced me to get back on the field, and in the spring of 2019, I umpired my first game in 20 years in Medicine Hat, where I lived at the time. The game was between the Lethbridge Elks and the Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs. The home plate meeting was a little humorous, as the Lethbridge coach was Scott Oikawa, who I had not seen in 20 years. I’m not sure who was more surprised on that Saturday morning. I made my way to my position behind first base and was greeted by the Elks assistant coach, Chad Layton, with a handshake and the remark, “Great to see you back.”

I thanked Mitch under my breath around the 3^rd inning, and I could see he was smiling wherever he may have been at that moment.

I was fortunate enough to umpire three or four WCBL games that season with Mitch, and as always, he was there to mentor an old (but new) guy like myself. We laughed more than we frowned. We got more calls right than we got wrong, and as always, I think we left the baseball field a better place than we found it.

I never got to say thanks to Mitch for getting me back on the field, because I figured he was always going to be around. He always was. So, here it is: Thank You, Mitch, for getting me back into the game I have always loved. I will forever be grateful.

Read more about Mitch Ball being honoured when the Lethbridge Bulls opened the 2022 season.