By Bayne Hughes Staff Writer Umpire Bill Dukes jumped out of his crouch and gave the home run signal. But no one moved. Confused base runners, coaches and even his fellow umpire didn’t know what to do. The ball didn’t even reach the outfield fence. The admittedly bad call would have caused an uproar for most umpires, but baseball officials said people respected Dukes too much to create a scene. For him, it would become a joke he could tell on himself. Dukes, 87, who died Thursday, loved umpiring, youth sports and University of Kentucky basketball almost as much he loved being Decatur mayor. Dukes, the father of four, began coaching and umpiring not long after moving to Decatur in 1957 for a job at Chemstrand, now Ascend Performance Materials. Current Mayor Don Kyle said one of his fondest memories is playing as a 7-year-old on Dukes’ baseball team. Practices and games were played at the Gordon-Bibb Elementary field, where Banks-Caddell Elementary now stands. “It didn’t matter if his children were playing or not, he worked with everyone,” Kyle said. “He just loved kids.” Butch Matthews, director of the Cashen-Wheeler Youth League (previously known as the Northwest Decatur League), said Dukes served on the league’s board and often worked the concession stand, press box or ball field. Matthews said Dukes helped save the league financially in the early 1980s. Dukes bought uniforms and equipment for the league that didn’t charge a registration fee. “He understood that baseball was supposed to be fun, and it wasn’t supposed to be about whether a child could afford to play,” Matthews said. Most children who grew up in Decatur knew Dukes as an umpire. He umpired almost 40 years in the city’s two youth baseball leagues. Dukes served briefly as deputy commissioner to former Dixie Youth Baseball Commissioner Gail Montgomery, a Decatur resident. Montgomery said Dukes’ personality made him a good umpire. “He never had any controversy because he was always in control,” Montgomery said. “He could make a bad call, but it didn’t matter.” Dukes used his supreme people skills to manage the players and coaches. “He was the best umpire,” Matthews said. “He would make the call as he saw it and then stand by his call. People respected him as an umpire.” Dukes didn’t just show up and call games for the pay. He got to know the players and coaches. Often, he would chat with the catcher between pitches about his family or the last play or pitch. Occasionally, Dukes would stop play to give a player hitting or bunting instruction, Kyle said. Dukes’ love of sports didn’t stop with the diamond. He often attended the games of Decatur and Austin high schools’ other sports teams. It was a rare game that Dukes wasn’t in the stands. Steve Garner, a longtime friend and adviser, said he would often travel with Dukes to away games. “He just loved Decatur’s youth and watching the games, whether he knew the players or not,” Garner said. Bayne Hughes can be reached at 256-340-2432 or hughes@decaturdaily. Follow on Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:12:13 +0000