BROOKLINE, MASS. (WHDH) - An umpire from Brookline has called his last game after six decades behind the plate.
Jim Hennessey umped one last game Tuesday at Brookline Avenue Playground, wrapping up 63 years of calling balls and strikes for the 84-year-old.
“My wife said to me about three weeks ago, Carol, ‘Jimmy, I think it’s about time,” Hennessey said.
“About time” came after some 7,000 games, making calls in a sport that was not always his favorite.
Football was Hennessey’s first love, what with him playing quarterback for Brookline High School before going to work as an assistant football coach for Northeastern.
His career with America’s pastime began on a whim, when he started calling little league games back in 1959.
“I had a baseball background, I didn’t coach baseball,” he explained. “So I figured I’d start umpiring.”
In the 50s Hennessey made just $5 a game but, he said, he never did it for the money.
“I never thought it was about me, but it was about me being fair, being honest, making the right calls,” Hennessey said.
Decades later, after becoming a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather, he said retirement is bittersweet
“The league’s in good hands and when I walk off, I might be a little sad,” he noted. “I don’t know, but, you know, it’s time to go!”
He told 7NEWS he is most looking forward to spending more time with his family.
“I told my wife I was gonna spend more time with her, but she said ‘Well, how much?'” Hennessey explained. “I said ‘Well, I have nowhere to go at night anymore so, when you go out, I’ll say, ‘wait a minute, I’m goin with ‘ya.””
In addition to being a mainstay behind the plate for little league and softball games, Hennessey was also a teacher at Brookline High School for four decades.
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