Bedford Parks Department pays homage to umpire Ralph 'Froggy' Poole

BEDFORD — Ralph "Froggy" Poole can be a tough customer. Of course, most of the tough-guy stuff came in the old, old days when he abided more by the bottle than the bible.

Not that he'll accept too much gruff from anyone even at age 74, but the man has softened and sweetened over the years.

So when Bedford Parks Department director Gary Dorsett honored him Monday night with a proclamation and clock recognizing his "time" of 39 years as an ASA/USA Slow-pitch Softball umpire, Poole melted and got a little, well, froggy in the eyes

"We gave him a clock with an inscription that said, 'Thank for 39 years of umpiring service,' and I read a recommendation for him to be inducted into the ASA/USA Umpire Hall of Service, which is really the Hall of Fame," Dorsett said. "Froggy was a good one. We have a lot of good ones, but there's just one Froggy.

"As I said Monday night, if I have to leave the park on a night and leave it in anybody's hands it would be Froggy. We're going to miss him."

Apparently, there is crying in softball.

"I had to put my sunglasses on to hide my eyes," Poole said. "I might have had a tear or two coming up on me."

Poole recalls start in softball

Poole was touched and honored by the recognition, and he recalled how he was lured to the sport of slow-pitch softball and eventually into the umpiring ranks.

"I always liked sports, but I had never really heard much about slow-pitch softball until my cousin, Butch Poole, asked me to come out and play a tournament with him in 1978," Ralph recalled. "We went out there and had a ball, just a lot of fun, so I was kind of hooked right there."

Getting started calling strikes

His beginnings as an umpire, ironically, came about because of some calls he didn't care for from one of the best of all time.

"In 1981, I was playing out at Otis Park and Terry "Piggy" Clark was umpiring, and I didn't like his calling that night for some reason," Poole said. "So I went right back behind the backstop and started calling balls and strikes behind his back. I'd quit drinking, but I still had some of the drink meanness left in me, so I gave Terry a hard time.

"A pitch would come in and Terry would say, 'ball' and I'd say 'strike.' Then he'd call 'strike' and I'd say 'ball,' and tell him he missed another one. That went on for about 10 pitches before he'd had enough. He turned around and said, 'Buddy, I don't have any idea who you are, but if you think you're so much better why don't you go get your papers and get out here and ump?'

"I thought about it for a second, and he was right. So I started in on getting my license and became an umpire, and Piggy and I became great friends. He's the one who trained me and got me to where I was an umpire, and really he's a big reason I stayed with it all these years.

"I also enjoyed all the other umpires I've worked with like Gary Hall, who is still out there and has been doing it about as long as I have. I told him he can have that record, it was time for me to give it up. Michelle Riester has been out here a long time and she sure is a good one, and Roger Kern was out there with me for a long time.

"They all do a good job and we've had a lot of fun over the years."

The nickname

One of the questions Poole hears quite frequently is 'How did you get the nickname Froggy?'

He's setting the record straight.

"This is the way I was told," he began. "I grew up out on the south side of the river, out on West 50 in the Knott Cemetery area. We didn't have running water out there in my earliest years, but we lived down in what I call a bowl, I guess a valley.

"So we were the gardening spot because the rain water ran down to us, and my mom (Betty Jane) made sure we had a great garden. Everybody in the neighborhood came to hang out with us at harvest time.

"But because we didn't have running water we would go to town to my Mamaw Sipes' house, and a bunch of us would climb into the big old clawfoot bathtub to get cleaned up.

"So I guess when I was little I had a green sleeper and I used to get down and hop around all over the place after my bath. My uncle Bud saw me and started calling me Froggy. It stuck and I've been Froggy ever since."

A ruffian start to life

Poole freely admits that he had his wild days during early adulthood, like many other good souls, and he's proud to point out the turnaround he made. He served a hitch with the U.S. Army, narrowly missing the Vietnam War.

"Me and a buddy of mine who was a soldier with me had just climbed onto a plane that was headed for Vietnam in 1969, and just then President Nixon ended it and ordered that plane to stay home," he remembered. "It was that close. Instead I went to Germany for a couple of years, and came back home.

"I wasn't living right though. I was drinking a lot and things, and just not doing what you're supposed to do with your life. But the good Lord changed me a long time ago."

A good woman turns the tide

Poole had the good Lord on his side, but a good woman completed the transformation.

"I met Dewon Keith at The Hub (a drive-in restaurant for years in Bedford) in 1971 and I fell head over heels in love with her," Poole said. "I think she liked me, too, but she laid down the law. She told me I had to change my wild ways and stop all that drinking, or I could forget about being with her.

"I made the right choice. It was an easy choice for me, and we got married in 1972. It really changed my life for the better."

Poole is rightfully proud of he and Dewon's kids. While the family was living in Heltonville, Amber was a starting forward on the 1991 BNL girls basketball state championship team and her sister, Autumn, was the manager, so there are two state title rings there. His sons, Aaron and Adam, were standout baseball players at Orleans High School (Adam later pitched at IU) after the gang moved to Orange County 26 years ago. Aaron and Adam are now co-coaching the Bulldogs baseball squad.

"I sure am proud of those kids," Poole said. "They mean everything to me. They've grown up to be good adults, and now I have 10 grandchildren that I love having around."

Froggy's fair & fun philosophy

Froggy had a basic philosophy when he was behind the plate or calling the bases, and that was to have fun and be fair. He was always friendly and would cut up with players, but did not allow anyone to take advantage of his good nature.

"I just called it like I saw it, and I got my strike zone set early and kept it the same for both teams," he said. "Every once in awhile I'd have somebody get a little upset and say, 'Where's your strike zone ump?' and I'd say, 'When you get one in there I'll let you know.'

"Then we'd usually get a good laugh. I always tried to have a good time out there, but keep it fair for everybody.

"And, to be honest, I don't think I made a single enemy in 39 years of umpiring."

That, Froggy, is definitely a safe call.

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Bedford Parks Department pays homage to umpire Ralph 'Froggy' Poole