One of his former Little League teammates is quickly climbing the baseball ladder, just a step from making his major league debut with the Atlanta Braves. And one of his teammates from Cascade High School is a young superstar for the Cleveland Indians.
While former Jackson High star and current infielder for the Class AAA Richmond Braves Brent Lillibridge could be on the verge of following the Indians’ Grady Sizemore to the big leagues, Bobby Leon is planning to join them in the majors one day.
That might sound like a far-fetched goal for a guy who was a mediocre relief pitcher for an NCAA Division III college program, but Leon is on the right track.
Leon, you see, is trying to make it not as a player but as an umpire. And at the age of 24 years old, the 2001 Cascade graduate already has taken one step up the baseball ladder.
Leon is at Everett Memorial Stadium this week as part of a Northwest League umpiring crew that’s working the five game series between the Everett AquaSox and the Boise Hawks. Leon made the jump from last summer’s stint in the Arizona Rookie League, and he’s hoping to keep on jumping all the way to the majors – eventually.
“The earliest anyone makes it is after eight years in the minors,” he said. “So, at the earliest, I’m looking at 2015. It takes a lot longer for an umpire than for a player. It just does.”
Leon first gave up on any dreams of playing major league baseball during his junior year at Cascade, when a bout with elbow tendinitis took a few miles per hour off of his fastball. He eventually played his way onto the Linfield University baseball team, but knew his playing career would end at graduation.
During his college years, Leon made extra cash by umpiring recreation league games. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to continue on after his Linfield days were over. He enrolled at the Jim Evans Umpire Academy, where he quickly established himself as one of the better students of the game. After graduating near the top of his class, he was invited to the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp (PBUC) and, eventually, got a ticket to work at the Rookie level.
Asked to compare umpiring to his days as a player, Leon said he gets less attention while calling strikes instead of throwing them.
“As long as you’re doing your job right, you don’t get a lot of criticism in amateur ball,” he said. “I haven’t made an ejection in 21 games, and there haven’t been any major arguments, but it definitely gets more intense as you move up the levels.”
Leon, who now lives in Mukilteo when he’s not traveling was excited about his homecoming.
“It’ll be good to have the support of friends and family,” he said.
Of course, Leon hopes he won’t be spending too many summers working in Everett. His goal is to be working in places like Richmond and Cleveland, just like his ex-teammates.
“I have the drive” to make it to the big leagues, Leon said. “But it’s a journey. Right now I can’t say I’m ready to umpire a major league game. But I think I’ve got what it takes.
“Time will tell.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
