Umpire Profile
Anthony Hemmans
By Gary Reals
Anthony Hemmans first came to us at MAC-NVBUA in the spring of 2013. During the months that followed in his first year, he came to realize, “They had to find out who I was.” Smart fellow that he is, Anthony determined that if he wanted to become “known,” he might consider a beneficial approach to that doorway, rather than, shall we say, lesser ways.
Fast forward to the following year, when Hemmans signed up for training camp. Not 2-man camp here in the DMV. No. No. Anthony elected to take a trip to Florida in 2014. And that is precisely where he came to be noticed by the trainers and observers of 3-man training. Well, Blues, the very next year after that, in 2015, Mr. Hemmans received his first college game assignments. He’s been working them ever since. I trust we can all agree he chose a pretty efficient, albeit not easy, route to recognition.
The Early Years with a Familiar Ring
Anthony grew up in Brooklyn, a lover of baseball and the New York Mets. At age 12, his family moved to central New Jersey, where he played high school baseball. From there Hemmans landed in the DMV, attending the University of Maryland where he played a couple of years of baseball. Work and family followed a normal life pattern after those college years. Anthony became a father of two sons and operated his own government consulting firm. At the start of the new century, the Hemmans youngsters who had inherited Dad’s love of baseball, began playing Little League in Fort Washington, MD. We know what happened next—don’t we?
First, he helped with coaching. Then he got “a little more involved” serving as Little League President. In 2008, Anthony Hemmans umpired his first baseball games. He says he enjoyed it very much and after a handful of years decided he could probably “do even better.”
Unlearning & Learning
By late 2012, Hemmans resolved to begin climbing the ladder up into the umpire world. A friend suggested Ponce adult men’s league. After working some Ponce games, Anthony remained in search of something “more challenging.” His Ponce pal then steered him to MAC. Sage advice! In early 2013 Anthony signed on to 1st year training with NVBUA and began “unlearning the bad habits” he had developed in Little League. In short order, he learned the ins & outs of proper umpire rules knowledge, mechanics and communications for high school baseball.
Moving Up
With 1st year training under his belt, Anthony took part in his first high school scrimmage in March 2013. Lucky fellow—his crew chief turned out to be a gent by the name of Mitch Evans. Suffice to say Mitch was duly impressed with the new guy. “He’s a very, very good umpire,” Evans recalls from his observations 12 years ago. “Anthony soaked up the information,” Mitch says, “and he ran with it.” That assessment along with a full diet of games in 2013 led Hemmans to Florida camp and his steady rise through the ranks the following year.
Anthony spends most of his time, but not all of it, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. He works a full diet of high school and college games through the early months of the year. Additionally, he also participates in the training of new umpires which he enjoys very much during rec ball season. One of the things about the young fellows, says Hemmans “they have good questions…and I end up learning from them.”
Skilled teacher, experienced father of two sons, Anthony strives to make his new charges “as comfortable as possible…to put them at ease” on the baseball field. His philosophy is simply to avoid, or at least to minimize, stress. He knows that it promotes good learning. In his evaluations, Hemmans endeavors to avoid overloading young, new guys, “…I like to leave them with one or two major points to focus on at a time.”
MMMMM…
Now, Blues, in the life of Anthony Hemmans it is not just about family, work and umpiring. This guy rejoices, “I love cooking!” As a matter of fact, he tends to just about all of the culinary adventures in the Hemmans kitchen. Two of his favs: ”…a lovely spiced curry goat” from the Caribbean and how does a creamy seafood bisque, New England-style, sound on a chilly winter day?
Anthony has another love too. Music! That passion and knowledge is known far and wide in his community. Three or four times a year, this child of the ‘80’s sheds his plate shoes and face mask and dusts off his music, amp and other DJ gear to entertain parties of friends to the lively sounds of R&B and rap.
Looking Ahead
Hemmans seized an opportunity to sell his company a couple years ago and he currently works as a software contractor for the IRS. He expects to retire around the end of the decade….but, not from umpiring. Anthony intends to continue his passion of working with the young guys. He is currently serving his second term on the NVBUA Board. Nevertheless, he still remains somewhat restless. He attended the 3-man camp in Charleston last month and plans to take another step higher. “Eventually I’d like to get some Division 1 games,” he says with determination. And he is preparing himself “…for a 4-man camp to help in that cause” in the coming years.
So, Blues, what we have here with Anthony Hemmans is a fellow who loves umpiring baseball. Who loves to get involved and to learn. Who loves to climb ladders of opportunity. Can we believe the ascendance of Anthony Hemmans is not complete yet? Oh, yes!!