(Above) Major League Baseball Umpire Marwin Hudson showing kids and their mentors from Big Brothers Big Sisters some spots at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore during the first ticket program visit in 2004.
UMPS CARE Charities is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. On the 20th of each month, we will share some stories and memories of the charity. Our first story is about the charity’s beginnings and how two umpires who met in umpire school – Samuel Dearth and Marvin Hudson – got some of our programs up and running.
The way that Major League Baseball Umpire Marvin Hudson tells it, all he did was leave a few tickets aside for a game. Just a quick favor for a friend and former rookie ball umpiring partner from the Appalachian League. Nothing more, nothing less.
What happened, however, proved to be much bigger than Marvin ever envisioned. Those tickets that he left for Samuel Dearth and his “little brother” from the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization 20 years ago in Baltimore was the genesis of a charitable program that later evolved into UMPS CARE Charities.
“I left a few tickets, and Samuel ran with it,” Marvin said. “I thought I’d just help him out and see some kids. It just caught on with the rest of the guys I was working with at the time.”
There’s a lot of truth to the fact that Samuel Dearth got the ball moving in the beginning stages of UMPS CARE Charities, but there’s also a lot of truth that the charity would not be where it is today without Marvin, too.
Samuel and Marvin met at the very end of Brinkman-Froemming school when they were assigned to work the Appalachian League as a two-man crew for the 1992 season. You get to know one another pretty well after a season of driving from ballpark to ballpark, but they went their separate ways. MLB hired Marvin in 1999. Samuel never made it to the big leagues and pursued various business pursuits but the two connected when Samuel had become a big brother with BBBS. When Samuel first approached Marvin about leaving tickets aside for his little brother, Marvin was a little confused because he had never heard about a younger sibling.
But after that first game in Baltimore with Samuel and his “little,” and a few other big-little matches, an idea was born. Marvin enjoyed seeing the kids’ faces light up when he rubbed some dirt on baseballs and walked on the field. He also liked the bond between the adult mentors and the children.
“There wasn’t really a plan; this was more of a one-off,” Samuel said.
There was no formal organization. No charity staff. No sponsors. Just two men doing something nice.
(Above) MLB Umpire Marvin Hudson (yellow shirt) and Samuel Dearth (yellow hat) escorted a group from Big Brothers Big Sisters to a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore in what became the first ballpark visit in UMPS CARE Charities history.
From when it’s started to where it is now, I would just have to go, ‘Wow.’
After that first visit in Baltimore, Marvin called Samuel to get feedback. With a positive review, Marvin told Samuel, “We should do more things like that.”
From then on, the two were off and running.
They decided to keep hosting small groups of kids and their mentors to meet MLB Umpires at a few ballparks. Samuel was the connection with Big Brothers Big Sisters; Marvin managed all things with Major League Baseball.
Sometimes, there was a quick on-the-field visit; sometimes, Marvin and his crew simply set some tickets aside for a group at Will Call. Other umpires wanted to get involved, and although there was no road map, they plowed forward and planned more visits.
Not long afterward, they started talking about other ways to do more in the community. They landed on an idea of delivering 25 Build-A-Bear® stuffed toys to a children’s hospital. The first visit was in Baltimore, not far from where Samuel lived, at Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital.
“We didn’t know what to take or anything,” Marvin said. “It was more let’s just look right here and feel our way through and see what happens.”
Marvin flew solo at the first hospital visit, but it didn’t take long for other umpires to ask to join him. Among the first umpires who saw what Marvin was doing and wanted to participate were Fieldin Culbreth, Mike DiMuro, Ted Barrett, Bob Davidson, Mark Wegner and Tim Timmons. Word spread, and guys started reaching out, saying “Count me in.”
Blue for Kids, a nod to umpires being called, “blue,” was the official non-profit entity for these programs. These visits proved to be emotional for all parties involved – the umpires, the parents, the young patients and the caregivers. Many of the children were battling significant challenges – kids with cancer, children who were burn victims, children undergoing transplants. The umpires quickly learned how impactful these interactions were for these children and their families.
Sometimes, umpires – grown men who faced down angry managers on the diamond – would have to excuse themselves after meeting with a patient for a cry. The smiles from the patients made it all worth the while.
Nowadays, UMPS CARE Charities hosts 15 to 17 visits at pediatric hospitals each year so virtually every crew makes a visit each year. The program has become so beloved that after the pandemic, UMPS CARE was among the first – and in some cases the first – organization allowed back into hospitals.
Major League Baseball teams have provided their mascots to join in the fun, and umpires have been asked to participate in these visits during the World Series in partnership with the league.
Often, patients and families have no idea who the umpires are or what their often hectic lifestyles are but after these visits they appreciate them as fellow human beings with challenging jobs. The umpires, meanwhile, are often far from home for weeks at a time, and these visits provide opportunities to connect with families and children away from the ballpark.
It’s rare that fans pay umpires compliments, but for at least for a short spell, they are actually applauded for delivering joy and comfort.
MLB Umpire Marvin Hudson during a hospital visit early on in the program’s history. To date, more than 24,000 children in hospitals nationwide and in Canada have received Build-A-Bear® joy from umpires and UMPS CARE Charities.
Meanwhile, another group of MLB Umpires led by Gary Darling, Larry Young and Jim Reynolds had been raising funds to support umpires who had lost their jobs during the 1999 labor dispute. Fay Vincent, MLB Commissioner at the time, urged the two parties to join forces and, in 2006, UMPS CARE Charities was born.
Samuel became the executive director, and the charity grew. More umpires got involved, and the planning, fundraising and number of programs expanded to include college scholarships and youth umpire and leadership training.
Today, 20 years later, the charity hosts programs in every Major League Baseball market, in addition to all 30 Triple-A markets and about 8-10 Class AA affiliates each season.
Since 2006:
- More than 10,000 participants from youth-based organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, HopeKids, Ronald McDonald House and others, in addition to military members have enjoyed VIP visits with umpires at ballparks across the country and in Canada.
- More than 24,000 children in hospitals have received Build-A-Bear Workshop® furry friends. This year, a child will receive our 25,000th Build-A-Bear®!
- More than $600,000 has been awarded in college scholarships to children who have been adopted later in life, many of whom were in foster care.
- More than 1,000 teens have been trained in umpire mechanics and leadership skills and are working youth baseball and softball games.
“With each passing year, we have just grown bigger and bigger,” Marvin said. “That wasn’t what we had intended. With each passing year, it’s grown leaps and bounds.”
“From when it’s started to where it is now, I would just have to go, ‘Wow,’ ” Marvin said.
MLB Umpire Marvin Hudson during a more recent visit with a young patient at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Perhaps more impressive is that every single MLB Umpire crew has participated in UMPS CARE Charities programs – whether it was umpires taking time out for a hospital visit or helping with an umpire clinic for teens or mentoring a college student – all 19 crews are connected with the charity.
There are so many special memories created over the years, but a few moments stand out. Once when Marvin was at a hospital visit, a little girl undergoing treatment started singing, “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” and the rendition left Marvin in tears.
“I couldn’t move; tears were just rolling down my face,” he said. “She was smiling, and her mom was smiling, and I was trying to keep my composure with tears rolling down. She enjoyed us being in there, and it touched me in a way, that I’m a very fortunate fellow, at the time with kids and grandkids. Here this little girl and this family is going through all of this.”
For Samuel, it all comes back to the beginning and that first visit at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore with kids from Big Brothers Big Sisters.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Samuel said. “I remember where we were with the kids, and the kids rubbing mud on the baseballs and laughing. That visual sticks in my head.”
UMPS CARE Charities has truly come full circle, and all of us are grateful to Samuel and Marvin for paving the way. Twenty years later, helping people remains an easy call.
