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A serious car crash in 1999 couldn’t keep Rick Rogers away from the game he loved.
The former fastball player had transitioned to men’s league slo-pitch in Stratford, but his playing days ended after suffering two broken legs and a shattered spleen in the collision.
Years of surgery helped him walk again, and he took up umpiring 15 years ago.
“He always said he loved the game because it was a game of failures, and it taught you how to fail to succeed down the road,” his wife Kim said. “He loved the game so much and he still wanted to be around it.”
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Rogers was in between games at a provincial women’s fastball tournament in Milverton this past weekend when he died unexpectedly. He was 61.
“I’ll miss his humour, his love for his family,” Kim said. “Anyone who needed help, he would help. He was always going to ball diamonds and willing to help any kid umpiring softball.”
Les Vaters, the Stratford Flames’ umpire-in-chief, bonded with Rogers after going behind the plate six or seven years ago.
“He was family first and ball second,” Vaters said. “He was always willing to help the younger umpires and any umpire who really needed help. He would protect the other umpires. If there was a problem you could phone him up, and he would ask if he needs to come to the diamond, and the problem would go away.
“He was always positive and always had a smile on his face. He’d crack dad jokes and have a few laughs in the change room.”
Rogers was the Softball Ontario Zone 2 umpire-in-chief and mostly worked in Perth and Oxford counties. He became one of Vaters’ mentors and would often check in on his friend who was involved in a car crash of his own last year.
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“It was guys like that who would help you out,” Vaters said.
Conversations on the field didn’t usually involve ball, which is what Vaters will miss.
“It’s just the talks and the laughs. You become a tight group when you spend so much time together.”
Rogers’ kids took up his love of the sport. Joshua, 21, played fastball growing up, and Julia, 17, plays for the Kitchener U17 Klassics.
“He would brag about her all the time,” Kim said.
Jill Dickinson called Rogers one of her best friends. The pair started umpiring around the same time, first in slo-pitch and then fastball.
“We always had a joke that Kim is the diamond wife,” Dickinson said. “She got the diamond on the finger, and I’m the dirt diamond wife since I’m on the diamond with him all summer.”
Rogers would do anything to help, Dickinson said, which included driving her to medical appointments in London.
“I’ll miss his smile and laughter,” she said. “It made the game so much fun.”
The Anne Hathaway diamonds, where most Flames’ games are played, went dark Monday night to honour Rogers.
“He probably wouldn’t have liked it,” Vaters said. “He would want to see us out on the diamond, but we felt it was an appropriate thing for us.”
Games resumed there Tuesday with a moment of silence before the Flames’ U17 matchup against London. Twenty-five umpires lined the baselines and stood behind the plate. Support from the softball community across Ontario has been “overwhelming,” Kim said.
“It’s been crazy with all of the people (reaching out) . . . and it just shows he was a big part of everyone’s life.”
cosmith@postmedia.com
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