*USA SOFTBALL OF CINCINNATI UMPIRE TIM SABIN ACHIEVES LIFELONG GOAL*
*FIRST USA SOFTBALL UMPIRE TO CALL GAMES IN ALL FIFTY STATES*
On July 22, 2018 Tim Sabin became the first USA Softball umpire to work a game in each and every one of the fifty states. Sabin worked the plate in a USA Softball of Hawaii fast pitch competition at the Patsy C. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to achieve this remarkable accomplishment.
Sabin worked his first game at Cincinnati’s Rumpke Park back in 1997 on April Fools’ Day! He started as a Slow Pitch umpire wanting to see how he liked that role in the game. Soon he purchased equipment and added the Fast Pitch game. In just his third year of umpiring added three states – Kentucky (a college game at Thomas More University), Indiana (an ASA National Championship at Twin Lakes Park in Bloomington), and an invitational tournament in Canton, Michigan.
Tim had a dream and then one day walking with his wife on the beach in Florida decided to act on the idea of umpiring at least one game in each state. He took classes and umpire schools through USA Softball (then ASA) and set out to see the country and also see the differences in how softball is played and umpired coast to coast.
After an additional ASA National Championship in Normal, Illinois two years later he earned a 2002 assignment to another National at Breakers Park in Stratford, CT. He took advantage of the New England trip adding Massachusetts and Rhode Island then headed south to Alabama and Georgia for another trip the same year. Suddenly, with ten states in just five years, he felt he could achieve his goal but did not know that it would take only twenty-one years.
In 2003 Sabin attended the ASA National Umpire Advanced Camp in Killeen, Texas and of course along the way was Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. Interestingly, the game in Shreveport, LA on the way south was washed out by rain but Louisiana UIC Ike Wheeler had a game waiting on the return trip to “make up” that state. Additional trips that same year were to Minnesota/Wisconsin/Iowa and Florida put one over one third of the states on the list.
Tim then continued picking up a few states each year with some trips, like a 2007 visit to Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland plus another New England (and Pennsylvania en route) trip racking up bigger numbers. By 2009 a trip to Oregon, Washington and Alaska brought the total to 37 states. A couple years off were followed by trips west in 2013 (Oklahoma, South Dakota and Idaho), 2014 (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Nebraska), 2015 (Utah, Colorado, and Arizona), and 2016 (New Mexico) which left only two states. Surprisingly, one of those was close and number 49, North Carolina, was completed on May 27, 2017.
Along the way Tim showed his versatility and worked Fast Pitch, Slow Pitch, Men’s, Women’s, Co-ed and Junior Olympic play. He worked numerous National Championships, college games (Divisions I, II, and III plus NAIA), and recreational games in all divisions. He had assigning assistance from National Umpire Staff members including Steve Riswold, Steve Roscia, and Jerry Fick among others. He also had help from many state UICS including Stan Finch (Hawaii), Johnny Campbell (New Mexico), Tim Watts (Nebraska), and Ralph Anderson (Utah) and local leaders like Justin Lauby (Arizona), Jack Sauder (Michigan), Steve Fee (Pennsylvania), Kenny Carson (Washington), and Jack Eppley (Alaska). He thanks all of these people and the many others too numerous to mention. He started planning each trip with a simple email of introduction “I have a goal to umpire a game in every state with ASA or one of its affiliates” and a request “I would appreciate it if you could set me up with someone in your state who can give me at least one game there.”
Tim has greatly appreciated the hospitality and chances to trade stories with umpires he has worked with in all fifty states and his friends in Cincinnati like to tease him asking “How many states would welcome you back?” He’s had a great run and hopes that he has a chance to return to many places where memories have been made. Tim has also proved, along with help from his friends in all fifty states, that with USA Softball any goal can be achieved!
Jerry Fick USA Softball of Cincinnati Interim Commissioner Umpire In Chief 3016 Ambler Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
asauic@fuse.net (513)563-2755
