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Little League umpire Shane Hummell, 76, rubbed elbows with some of the greats to ever play baseball, like Hall-of-Famers Willie Stargell, Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith and others
Shane Hummell (left), shown here umpiring a Dilworth Little League game in October, is a familiar face to many in local youth sports. But most people don’t know about his interesting baseball past. (Photo by Carroll Walton.)
by Carroll Walton
Part of what makes baseball so intriguing is what you don’t see: the imaginary line between ball and strike, a home run disappearing behind a fence, a third base coach’s sign hidden in a series of hand motions. Perhaps the same can be said for some of the people around it.
Shane Hummell has spent nearly 60 years on the fringes of baseball, just out of view, including the past 41 years as a youth umpire. Each fall and spring, Hummell calls balls and strikes for Dilworth Little League. He’s at Freedom Park two, three, sometimes five times a week.
Coaches are often too busy tinkering with lineups and helping boys into catchers’ gear to ask about his baseball past. Parents are too far away, and preoccupied, in their fold-up chairs. But for someone working the scoreboard, who wandered up to the fence behind home plate for a closer look at Hummell’s ball and strike calls, you can find out amazing things.
Hummell, the same umpire who calls shoe-tying timeouts for 8- to 10-year-olds, has rubbed elbows with some of baseball’s all-time greats. He’s cruised downtown Pittsburgh in a Rolls Royce with Willie Stargell, legendary slugger for the Pirates. Renowned L.A. manager Tommy Lasorda once gave Hummell a personal tour of Dodger Stadium. He still owns the bat used to win the 1980 National League batting title by Bill Buckner, a player more famous for the fielding gaffe that doomed the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series.
That’s just scratching the surface.
Shane Hummell (third from right) with an umpiring crew. (Photo courtesy of Shane Hummell)
A life-changing invitation: Hummell grew up in Camden, N.J., catching baseballs for his machinist father, who was a standout pitcher on his company team, and two older brothers. The Houston Astros drafted Hummell out of high school as a catcher in the 33rd round in 1967. He played six minor league seasons but got no higher than Double A.
Hummell went back to school at Auburn and worked as a graduate assistant coach for the baseball team. That’s when an off-hand comment to one of Auburn’s pitchers, Joe Beckwith, after he got drafted by the Dodgers, led to a life-changing invitation.
“When you get to the big leagues,” Hummell told Beckwith. “I want to throw batting practice to your starting lineup.”
Two years later, Beckwith got called up, and a few days before the Dodgers were to play in Atlanta, he called Hummell and told him to meet him at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. For 20 minutes one September afternoon, Hummell threw batting practice to the likes of Davey Lopes, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey and Dusty Baker. He also caught the eye of Dodger coach Preston Gomez.
Gomez was in line to manage the Chicago Cubs the following year, 1980. That winter he hired Hummell to throw batting practice for the Cubs. Hummell was never listed on the roster or in the media guide but kept a copy of his contract for $15,000.
When Hummell wasn’t throwing batting practice to hitters, he was in the bullpen catching. Among the pitchers he used to warm up before or during games were two Hall of Fame relievers Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith.
Hummell said the first time he ever caught Sutter was in spring training shortly after he arrived. CBS was filming a piece about Sutter’s split-finger fastball, a marvel in 1980. Gomez asked Hummell to catch Sutter for the shoot.
The cameraman set up over his shoulder like an umpire, Hummell said, not realizing he had never caught Sutter before. Hummell got to a few warm-up fastballs without any issue, but then Sutter waved two fingers to let him know the splitter was next.
“He throws it about 88 mph and the thing comes to home plate and drops straight down between my legs, one hop, hits the cameraman right in the [groin],” Hummell said. “He drops the camera, screaming and hollering. He said ‘What happened?’ I said, ‘I’ve never caught him before. That thing really drops off the table, doesn’t it?’”
The cameraman filmed the rest of the session from behind a screen.
Lifelong connections: Hummell said he used to wear a batting glove under his catchers’ mitt to catch Smith, the 6-foot-5 reliever known for his upper 90s fastball. “He would just tear up a glove,” Hummell said. He has a lump on his left thumb from bone deposits he collected catching Smith’s fastball.
Smith had a reputation for being intimidating and nasty as a pitcher but Hummell said, “he was the nicest guy in the world.”
Hummell hadn’t seen Smith in almost 40 years when he showed up at Smith’s autograph signing with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans seven years ago. Hummell used to umpire high school tournaments there each spring.
“He yells out ‘Hummell, you crazy son of a gun, come over here,’” Hummell recalled. “Like a big ol’ bear, he hugs me up. He says ‘How have you been?’ We spent 15 minutes, right in the middle of the crowd, following up on all the crazy stuff that went on in the bullpens over the year.”
Hummell met Stargell in 1980 before a game in Pittsburgh, after he’d finished throwing batting practice to the Cubs. He got a message Stargell wanted him to throw Stargell batting practice in the indoor cages. Stargell took him out for a night on the town as a thank you.
Hummell threw batting practice all season long to Buckner, who presented him with his game bat after securing a batting title in the second-to-last game of the 1980 season.
Gomez had been fired by then, and the Cubs finished with 98 losses. Hummell’s contract was not renewed. With a wife and two young children, he decided to take a job in Pennsylvania selling fitness equipment and umpiring youth baseball. The company moved him to Charlotte a few years later.
A soft spot for kids — and a wish for a long career: Hummell said he enjoys the camaraderie with umpires and staying around the game. He is quick with an encouraging word for batters coming to the plate, but he seems to take special care to help catchers.
“If they turn into soccer players, I’m out of business,” Hummell explains. “I can’t chase them up and down those big old soccer fields, but I can stand behind the plate and call balls and strikes all day long.”
Hummell’s view from behind the plate at Freedom Park’s Little League fields. (Photo by Carroll Walton.)
Many younger umpires would rather patrol second base than risk getting hit by erratic young pitchers at the plate, but Hummell doesn’t mind. And he can still zip a ball back to the pitcher.
“My ambition is to be the oldest active umpire ever,” Hummell said. “My mom lived to be 103, so I’m going to try to umpire until I’m 100. I’ve got roughly 23 more years to go. 94 is a Guinness World Record of a guy in California. Wow, I can beat that.”
Carroll Walton is a former longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC for The Ledger’s Fútbol Friday newsletter. Reach her at carroll@cltledger.com
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This week in Charlotte: Home insurance rates to rise, CATS unveils 4 transit options, Trump chastises BofA CEO, Dilworth land swap, More seniors aging solo
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
College essays read by AI: (Ledger 🔒) UNC Chapel Hill has started using artificial intelligence to help assess college application essays, part of a national trend toward greater adoption of AI in college admissions.
CMS adds high school testing day on Monday: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education approved a small change to this year’s calendar because of missed testing with Wednesday’s snow day. High schools will run on an exam schedule and dismiss at 12:20 p.m. Tuesday will be the first day of the third quarter/second semester.
Politics
2 N.C. agency heads move to end DEI: (The Center Square) N.C. Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Auditor Dave Boliek, both Republicans, announced Thursday that their agencies would stop using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, following a similar move by President Donald Trump at the federal level.
Next step for Winston: Braxton Winston on Instagram) Braxton Winston, the former Charlotte City Council member who ran unsuccessfully last year for N.C. labor commissioner, says he is starting a new nonprofit called Civic Minded aimed at “developing and enhancing an understanding of civic literacy.”
Local news
Home insurance rates to rise: (N.C. Department of Insurance) The N.C. Department of Insurance has ended its legal dispute with insurance companies and reached a settlement that allows insurers to raise base homeowners insurance rates by 9.3% in Mecklenburg County on June 1, 2025, and another 9.2% the following year. Insurers had requested a 41% increase.
Big photography exhibit coming: (Mint Museum) The work of renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz is headed to the Mint Museum Uptown in an exhibit opening April 27, the Mint said in a press release.
Business
Hospitality workers honored: (Ledger 🔒) Erin Mobley-McMillan, a Charlotte hotel sales director with a knack for making lasting connections — including with Snoop Dogg — was honored with an “Outstanding Ambassador” award, along with several other local hospitality workers.
Trump calls out BofA CEO: (CNBC) President Donald Trump on Thursday chastised Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, saying that he has heard complaints that the bank mistreats conservative customers. Moynihan didn’t directly reply. A bank spokesman later said: “We welcome conservatives and have no political litmus test.”
Changes in city economic and planning jobs: The city of Charlotte named planning director Alyson Craig as assistant city manager and interim economic development director, replacing Tracy Dodson, who is leaving to take a top post at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Monica Holmes was named interim planning director.
Sports
Star arrives, star leaves for Charlotte FC: (Fútbol Friday) Charlotte FC signed winger Wilfried Zaha, marking a major acquisition for the team. Also, Karol Swiderski, Charlotte FC’s leading scorer over its first three seasons, is leaving for a new team in Greece.
Former Panther becomes high school coach: (WBTV) Former Carolina Panthers defender Captain Munnerlyn was named head football coach of Chambers High. He played as a cornerback for seven seasons with the Panthers and more recently was an assistant at Myers Park High.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Wednesday (🔒)
Free prescription refill? Nope — he got a $41 bill: Mominul Mahim, a Huntersville father, was charged $41 for a simple prescription refill request through Novant Health’s MyChart app, which he thought was free, leading to frustration and a dispute over what he felt was an unfair billing practice for a brief email exchange with the doctor.
Plus: Mecklenburg liquor sales lose steam; New Netflix doc says Charlotte bordered the ‘Springer Triangle’
Commercial Real Estate Whispers (🔒)
Land swap in Dilworth
Would it make sense for the Checkers to practice at Eastland?
Another closing at Cotswold Village
Some restaurateurs favor areas besides uptown
Friday (🔒)
More seniors are aging solo: As more seniors find themselves aging without close family nearby, independent spirits like Pat Arnold are proving that solo aging can be fulfilling with the right planning, support networks and community connections.
Ways of Life (🔒)
Kaylyn Williford, a beloved preschool teacher in Charlotte, passed away at 47 from pulmonary hypertension, leaving behind a legacy of faith, kindness and love for others, especially her students and family.
CATS plan favors rail from airport to Bojangles Coliseum: Charlotte’s transit planners revealed four possible paths for expanding the region’s rail and bus systems with a proposed sales tax, sparking debate over priorities, funding limitations and how to best serve a growing city.
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