Saw this on Bills page via Jim Carr. Today is a sad day in the umpiring world of VA. My long time friend Bill William Bishop Slish has passed away. Bill was a huge man with a big heart. He came to us many years ago as raw as could be. At that time he was the Strength Coach at the University of Richmond. We all were pretty new to college baseball at the time, and we all kind of learned from each other. We had started a group called VA Collegiate Umpires and our goal was to unify everyone in the state of VA instead of a bunch of small groups. That dream of ours never fully came true, but dang we got close. Its way better than it was almost 30 years ago. Bill was a part of that all the way. We did have some great mentors that we could work with and taught us all a great deal. I think Bill came along our 2nd or 3rd year. He worked really hard, and became one heckuva plate umpire. He always wanted to work the plate so he earned his nickname Slish the Dish. We always said its a good thing because he stinks on the bases. He eventually got better. Bill really was an intimidating physical figure. Around 65 and 270+ from the day I met him. Coaches didnt mess with him very much. What most of them didnt know was that he was a big teddy bear. However, I have seen him irritated on the field, and believe you me that discussion didnt take long that day. Bills health eventually took him off the college field. He did continue officiating just at not so fast a pace. I could tell you many stories about Bill. We worked our share of games together. I will always remember him as a guy who was always willing to help. He was the fun guy on the crew. That dude could eat like no one Ive ever seen. He knew how to umpire, and helped many guys along the way. That jovial laugh of his was very Santa like and contagious. So folks now heaven has another guy to call balls and strikes on game day. Slish the Dish is back and doing what he truly loved to do day in and day out. I love you my brother. Im really going to miss you. RIP until we meet again. I will be the guy in the base clothes that day. This song is for you. https://youtube/watch?v=m3nqTufBX0g
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 01:41:47 +0000
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