Umpire Finally Reaches Field of Dreams

Maybe it’s only when the weight of everyday life intensifies into a crushing burden that we can truly appreciate just how wonderful people can be.

Just ask longtime Little League baseball umpire Rodney Picard, who saw so many hands reach out to him during one of the bleakest times of his life that tragedy was elevated into a celebration of kindness, decency and love.

“Good people, when they see the need, they don’t wait for somebody else to do it,” Picard said. “If they can do it, they do it.”

It was October 2005 when the 42-year-old Picard, a contract engineer from Lake Charles, Texas, was rendered temporarily homeless and jobless by the devastating effects of Hurricane Rita. Picard, his wife Anissa, and children were forced to uproot themselves to nearby Katy, Texas, where they were taken in for two months by Dan and Becky McCue.

During that same time, Picard received a letter informing him that he had been selected to umpire the 2006 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., fulfilling a dream he had since he started umpiring in the early 1990s.

“When I got the letter, without trying to be melodramatic, my wife and I cried,” Picard said. “And I don’t cry that often.”

But would the dream come true, considering the Picards were living on their savings and Rodney was using up the paid time off he had accumulated prior to the storm-induced work stoppage?

The Picards received $10,000 from the Houston-based Spinnaker Exploration Company, owned by the McCues, to help the family’s recovery. “And (McCue) wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, though I tried several times,” Picard added.

But misfortune was destined to visit Picard again. Upon his arrival in Williamsport in August 2006, Picard was stricken with a stomach virus that only worsened as he tried to will it away. During the walkthrough of ground rules with managers and coaches two days later, a dizzy and weak Picard was taken to an on-site nurse, who recommended immediate hospitalization.

“While lying in the hospital, I began to have chest pains,” Picard said. “The doctor did two EKGs and then told me I was having a heart attack due to high enzyme readings. They did a test to check for blockage, but it came back negative.” Picard later learned that he was stricken with myocarditis, an infection of the heart muscle caused by viral infection.

Picard said he “was relieved it was not a heart attack,” but was destined to spend four days in the Susquehanna Hospital in Williamsport. He was feeling well enough to call at least one game, but sensed his opportunity was fading away. Picard’s spirits were lifted again when Stephen Keener, Little League Baseball and Softball president and chief executive officer, stopped by for a visit.

“He then told me, ‘I’m glad you’re feeling better and I know you want to get out there and umpire, but that’s not going to happen.’”

Picard struggled to suppress his sinking emotions when Keener continued after a pause … “We want you to rest and get well and come back next year to umpire,” Keener said. “And we want to pay for your round-trip travel.”

In August 2007, a healthy Picard was back in Williamsport. And this time, he was on the basepaths instead of a hospital room.

“I feel honored to have experienced the thrill of being a part of it all and cherish the friendships made with all my fellow umpires,” Picard said.

Written by Peter Jackel, a longtime sportswriter from Racine, Wis.