ORLANDO, Fla. – Lake Mary’s run to the Little League World Series marks just the fourth time a team from Central Florida has made it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
In 2005, a team from Maitland would go on to produce some MLB players, including Dante Bichette, Jr. of the New York Yankees and Max Moroff, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates
However, they weren’t the only ones to represent Central Florida on the field that year. Orlando City Commissioner Robert Stuart was one of about 16 umpires who earned a spot on team blue to call the 2005 Little League World Series.
When you walk into Stuart’s office at Orlando City Hall, you might expect to see a lot of mementos from the City Beautiful, but there, you’ll also find plenty of keepsakes from America’s favorite pastime.
“It’s a big deal and it’s a big deal for a variety of reasons,” Stuart said. “It’s a big deal among your peers, because everybody’s trying. If you’re umpiring and you’re good at it, you want to go to the next level, and the next level always eventually is Williamsport. The second reason it’s a big deal is that you only can do Williamsport one time.”
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For Stuart, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — a grand slam, you might say — in a 56-year career as a Little League volunteer umpire. During the World Series, Stuart worked nine games, including two behind the plate. He manned second base during the final game. It was a moment forever chronicled in Sports Illustrated.
“This is a picture of the walk-off home run. I’m on second base, and the guy from Hawaii hits his home run and I swear it was going to knock my head off. It was a line drive right over my head,” Stuart said as he looked at the photo published in Sports Illustrated. “So I turn and watch this ball, and I’m telling you, I don’t think it got 15-feet high. It was just a line shot and then I come back in and my task at second base is do nothing but watch, make sure he tags the bag, and that’s all I do and here’s the picture from Lamade Stadium looking down from the top”
Stuart says it’s important to him to have these mementos prominently displayed in his office.
“I often tease in my role as city commissioner that there are great books that control my life and they are very similar. One is, in my mind, the Bible. One is the Little League rule book and they are similar in that there are some things in life that are just black and white — four balls, three strikes, black and white — then the rest of the Little League Baseball rule book is all around judgment, and judgment for an umpire is to be the best prepared you can be,” Stuart said.
As for his advice to the Lake Mary All-Stars?
“My advice is to enjoy it. They’re going to want to go up there, and they’re going to want to win everything, and and every team that’s up there wants to win everything, and every team that’s there thinks they can, but when they come back, they ought to come back with a memory that says, ‘This was fun,’” Stuart said.
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