2024 American Legion World Series was 18th and final time for David Brown.
When David Brown starting umpiring Little League Baseball in 1978, he was a junior in high school.
By 1986, he was umpiring American Legion Baseball.
Little did he know at the time that he'd become one of the most frequent umpires in the American Legion World Series — or that the event would end up just 30 minutes from his hometown of Rutherfordton, N.C.
"What's been most important is the relationships with the people," said the 63-year-old Brown. "There's just a lot of special people behind the scenes that make these tournaments work. And it's very significant for me to have been able to do this for such a long time."
In the 2024 ALWS, Brown was on the umpiring crew for the 18th and final time.
With records of umpires available since 1987, only one umpire has worked the event longer — Brown's longtime colleague and friend Jay DeSantis of Wheeling, W. Va., who has worked in 22 series since 1997.
A longtime fixture in North Carolina Area IV games, Brown first worked the 2002 ALWS in Danville, Va. He also umpired the ALWS in 2003 in Bartlesville, Okla., in 2004 in Corvallis, Ore., in 2005 in Rapid City, S.D., in 2006 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and 2007 in Bartlesville again.
Brown's travel got a lot shorter for his last 12 series.
"I did six World Series before they decided to find a World Series 'home,'" Brown said. "How ironic is it that they would choose to pick a place that's 30 minutes from my home."
During his time working with American Legion Baseball officials, Brown credits DeSantis and 28-year national American Legion Baseball Director Jim Quinlan with helping improve umpiring and the selection process of the umpires.
"Jay was heavily involved with Jim back then," Brown said. "They decided they wanted to get involved with who was umpiring the World Series and seek the best umpires.
“In the 1980s, area and state commissioners had a lot of power. Sometimes, it became a popularity contest. So you'd get guys recommending guys just because they liked them.
"Jay's role started expanding and he started the regional advisor program. I've been a regional advisor since 2008. And if you're in the Southeast, you're on a list if your peers think you know how to umpire and you're not being picked just because
the state commissioner likes you."
Some of their selections ended up being good enough to go on to professional baseball.
Angel Campos of Tucson, Ariz. (2023 ALWS) has worked major league and minor league baseball games, while Kevin Daugherty of Phoenix, Ariz. (2010, 2011 and 2012 ALWS), Clint Lawson of Rock Hill, S.C. (2012 ALWS), Cecil Mock of Liberty, N.C. (2002 and 2003 ALWS) and Matt Sullivan of Lexington, S.C. (2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 ALWS) have worked minor league baseball games.
"Two years ago was my last year regularly umpiring," Brown said. "This year, I told Jay I wanted to come back one more time because so much of my life has been devoted to Legion Baseball and it's been so rewarding and so special and it sent me to so many great places all over the country."
- Baseball