“I see the bunt,” Rose said, “so I just go down into position near second base to be ready for anything to come my way. I saw the Chinese Taipei second baseman running towards me and not first base. At that moment, your heart sinks. You think, ‘Oh, whoa, this is probably over.’ You see the ball sail. Then you take a peek and you look at the runner rounding third, and you pretty much just wait for him to get home. Then you walk off the field. It was crazy to see that happen.”
The game represented the peak of Rose’s umpiring career. He umpired 12 games in Williamsport, Pa., during the Little League World Series. He was behind the plate for the United States championship game between Florida and Texas on Saturday.
“You can’t sum it up, other than to say it was a dream come true,” Rose said. “A lot of people ask me what I do in my spare time. I spend time with family. I spend time with work. If you can’t find me with my family or at work, I’m on a little league field. It’s something I’ve dedicated countless hours toward. To be selected to go to the Little League World Series as an umpire it’s something I can’t put into words.”
The bunt that was heard around the world 🌎
— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 25, 2024
Here's the historic play that won Florida their first-ever #LLWS title 😱 pic.twitter.com/Ba0HjhRFQC
Rose started umpiring so he could spend time with his dad Dave, a fellow Wayne graduate. He always played for his dad’s teams growing up in Huber Heights but that ended when he turned 14. He played one more year but missed playing with his dad.
Rose and his dad saw an add in the Huber Heights Courier about a need for umpires at youth games. The pay was $20 a game.
“It was just a way for my dad and I to stay connected and be around the game we love,” Rose said. “We just kind of took to it.”
Rose steadily advanced, joining the Ohio District 8 Little League staff in 2009.
“You practice, and you get better at it and I was kind of a natural,” he said.
Rose moved to McCordsville, Ind., 10 miles east of Indianapolis, in 2014. He’s the regional director of operations for Dirty Dough Cookies. His parents still live in Huber Heights.
Rose’s mom Michelle traveled to Williamsport with his family, including his wife Eric and their three daughters: Ember, 10; Devyn, 8; and Scarlett, 3. His dad Dave, who teaches at the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center, couldn’t attend because of work responsibilities.
The opportunity to umpire in the Little League World Series came about when the organization started a process to identify the best umpires. Rose attended an ID Camp in Indiana in October. According to the Little League website, the camps are used to “help identify high performing, qualified umpires to be considered for selection to our various Region and World Series Tournaments each year.”
Rose said Little League started the camps in response to the backlash on social media about the quality of umpiring at the World Series.
“You know the phrase ‘Little League strike,’” Rose said, “because maybe you’ve watched in years past and you’ve seen strikes called in the other batter’s box, or whatever the case may be. Little League has understood that’s not necessarily good brand exposure. It’s just not good for the game, and it’s not a fair competition for the participants. We want to make sure that we’re ensuring a great experience for the participants involved.”
Rose was one of 16 umpires, plus four veteran crew chiefs, assigned to the Little League World Series in February. He shared the news with his friend Mike Kidd and then posted a video to Facebook of Kidd’s reaction to the letter Rose received from Little League.
“No way,” Kidd said. “I’m shaking reading this.”
Kidd gave Rose a big hug after finishing the letter.
“The feeling still truly hasn’t sunk in yet, but I am excited for this opportunity,” Rose wrote on Facebook in the post with the video. “The next several months leading up to the tournament in August will undoubtedly fly by, and I hope to capitalize on every chance I have between now and then.
“I am so thankful for my friends and family who have supported me and cheered me on whether it has only been for a season or since I started back in Huber Heights Little League. Big thanks to my Dad and Brother for spending so much time with me early on in my ‘career’ and to my mom for letting us do it, and remaining calm when parents yell at her boy.”
In preparation for umpiring the games in August, Rose traveled to Williamsport in May for an orientation event with the rest of the umpires. He called his wife from the top of the hill that overlooks Howard J. Lamade Stadium, the site of the championship game and many other games throughout the tournament.
“I started crying,” Rose said. “It was just so beautiful. Unless you’re looking at it, you would drive by it. It’s truly just nestled into the side of the mountain.”
Rose didn’t let the pressure of people yelling at him get to him in Williamsport, even though he was umpiring in front of the biggest crowds of his career.
“When you’re behind the plate,” Rose said, “you’re just focused so heavily on the pitcher and watching the ball from their hand into the mitt, and you really just don’t see (the crowd). You hear it a little bit, obviously, especially when people don’t like your call. But you really only see it in between innings when you’re taking a second to take it all in. It’s kind of like Kevin Costner in ‘For Love of the Game.’ I clear the mechanism, if you will. You go out there and focus on the job at hand.”
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