Announcements for 15-Nationals

SPRING 2014--WE'VE LOST A GREAT FRIEND WITH THE PASSING OF UMPIRE-IN-CHIEF BERNIE GINSBURG

Posted by Lou Palmer at Sep 4, 2014 5:00PM PDT ( 0 Comments )

Bernie Ginsburg, who served us so well for the past few seasons as Umpire Supervisor and working umpire, passed away at the age of 70, in the early hours of Tuesday, September 2, 2014. He was recovering in a rehabilitation facility in Wellington, from back surgery performed the week before in the Miami area.

In addition to his umpiring work in the NABA Palm Beach League, Bernie worked many games for the New York Mets and their minor league affiliated players at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, where he was well liked by the late Hall of Famer Gary Carter and present Mets' manager Terry Collins. He came into contact with many players who have gone on to major league stardom with the Mets and other organizations.

In attending his funeral service, I learned a lot more about this wonderful man. He was unabashed in his love and loyalty to his wife, Rona. They were married for 46 1/2 years and raised two children--Adam, an assistant basketball coach at the University of Massachusetts, and Alana, his daughter who is a pediatrician. Each of Bernie and Rona's children have two children of their own, all of whom adored their Papa Bernie.

It was so gratifying to see so many umpires and players who attended the morning funeral service. He was laid to rest on Thursday, September 4.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bernie was a high school biology teacher in his home town, and worked other part time jobs to help support his family. He began his umpiring career in Long Island, New York, working Adult League games there before moving to Boynton Beach, Florida, and becoming our fifth Umpire Assigner.

He was a golfer, an avid fisherman (his email address--umpangler@comcast.net tells us that), and enjoyed bowling, neighborhood family card games with Rona and friends, and was an accomplished car mechanic as well. He also loved music, played clarinet and was famous for sending out jokes and other articles of interest to many of us. He had a great sense of humor and an infectious laugh that permeated any discussion we had.

Personally, Bernie's passing leaves a great void for me. We talked many times each week, not only about baseball (for both of us, the greatest game in the world), but about our families. Bernie was so proud of his kids and grandkids, and attended all of the many family events. With Bernie it was always---God, family and his great love of baseball, traits that all of us should want to emulate.

In the past couple of years, Bernie umpired games through lots of pain. He had hip and knee problems and underwent surgery for both. A tireless worker, Bernie worked many doubleheaders in his heyday, but the pain he suffered through most recentlylimited him to mostly one game on any given Sunday.

We will sorely miss Bernie and we will dedicate the league championships this Sunday, September 7 to the memory of this wonderful man. I will ask the teams to observe a moment of silence before their games as a tribute to a truly great human being.

His umpiring partner for many, many games---Hector Cruz, will take over as umpire assigner, and Andy Sadowsky has volunteered to help Hector in several ways, including the recruiting of more umpires for the Palm Beach League.

It is with great sadness that I say----Shalom, my dear friend.

Lou Palmer, President

NABA Palm Beach