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© St. Petersburg Times, published June 23, 2002
Although baseball had always been one of Steve Rippley's favorite sports growing up, umpiring the game was not what the 1972 Northeast High graduate expected for a career.
The St. Petersburg native has spent the last 19 years as a major-league umpire.
"After I graduated from Northeast, I signed up to go to (St. Petersburg Junior College) but then decided against doing that," Rippley said. "Instead, I did some odd jobs and then in 1974 signed up for umpire school.
"I had done a little umpiring when I was in high school to earn gas money. I worked for the city and did things like lining the field or keeping score. Sometimes, when no one showed up to umpire, I would."
After completing umpire school, Rippley began the journey to the majors by working in the minor leagues. Generally, it takes seven to 10 years to reach the big leagues -- nearly twice the time it normally takes for a player to advance.
"It took me nine years to filter to the majors," Rippley said. "Umpires follow the same ladder as ballplayers. There are just 68 umpires in the majors and 225 in the minors. It's not so easy to advance."
With Rippley's years of experience in the majors -- he's sixth in seniority -- he's one of 17 crew chiefs. This year, Rippley is working with Gary Darling, Paul Emmel and Tim Timmons.
"A crew works together all season and rotates positions around the field each game," Rippley said. "The role of the crew chief is more or less of a tiebreaker when decisions must be made, such as in a rain situation."
Last month, while working behind the plate in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays-Oakland Athletics game at Tropicana Field, Rippley was hit in the temple by a foul ball.
"It so happened that one of my four weeks off was the week after that occurred," Rippley said. "I'm okay, but the umpires' doctor is keeping an eye on me."
Among the memorable moments Rippley has acquired over the years is working the first and seventh game of the 2001 World Series, which Rippley describes as an instant classic between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"I've worked three World Series in six years," Rippley said. "And I was working the game when Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris' home run record."
In 1998, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger belted his 62nd home run in a game against the Chicago Cubs, breaking Maris' 1961 record. McGwire went on to hit a record 70 homers. He lost the record when San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds hit 73 last season.
"Baseball has changed a lot since I became an umpire," Rippley said. "When I started, we umpired in either the National or American League, working 16 clubs. When they combined three years ago, we now work all 30 clubs.
"With the team expansion, I think there's a watered-down product in talent, even though players are bigger, in better shape and work out year-round. Pitchers aren't as dominant as they used to be."
SOFTBALL: Nikki Meyers (St. Petersburg) was one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award. The Florida Atlantic senior pitcher was ranked second in the nation in victories, fifth in strikeouts and 21st in saves.
Off the field, Meyers was among 106 to be named to the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic Team for maintaining at least a 3.0 GPA.
BASEBALL: East Tennessee State's Michael Giroud (Shorecrest) was named honorable mention freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Giroud made 48 appearances at third base for the Bucs and finished fourth on the team in hitting with a .318 average. Giroud drove in 39 runs and scored 24 runs. His .397 on-base percentage was the team's third-best.
Patrick Hudspeth (Tarpon Springs) pitched 27 games in relief for Saint Leo and had a team-best 1.70 ERA. Hudspeth's 2-0 record and three saves helped him make the All-Sunshine State Conference second team.
Nick Masset (Pinellas Park/St. Petersburg College) is 2-3 with a 3.84 ERA at the end of the first half of the Class A Savannah Sand Gnats' season. Masset has pitched 63 innings for the South Atlantic League team, an affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Patrick Boyd (Clearwater Central Catholic/Clemson) is the second-leading hitter for Savannah with a .288 average in 66 at-bats. The switch-hitter has 19 hits, including three homers, and 13 RBIs.
Joe Jiannetti (St. Petersburg/Daytona Beach CC) is recovering from a broken shoulder sustained in a collision with Boyd in a South Atlantic League game. Before the injury, the second baseman was hitting .259 for the New York Mets' Capitol City Bombers.
Designated hitter Cory Agar (Dunedin) is batting .151 in 15 games for Class A Quad City River Bandits, an affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, in the Midwest League.
Outfielder Matt Bowser (Tarpon Springs/UCF) is hitting .188 in 32 at-bats for the Oakland Athletics' Class A Modesto squad in the California League.
Right-hander Boof Bonser (Gibbs) threw a no-hitter for Class A San Jose in his debut in the California League and followed that up by limiting opponents to a .186 average in three starts. In 17 innings, Bonser struck out 18 and walked 11.
Bonser, 20, the Giants' No. 2 draft prospect, was sent to San Jose from Double-A Shreveport this month to work on a slider to add to his fastball, curveball and changeup.
First baseman Casey Kotchman (Seminole) is among the top 10 hitters for the Anaheim Angels Class A team, the Cedar Rapids, with a .254 average. Kotchman has 32 hits and has scored 15 runs.
Greg Jones (Seminole/Pasco Hernando CC) is 5-1 with a 3.77 ERA for the Anaheim Angels' Triple-A team, the Salt Lake Stingers.
Switch-hitter Andrew Beattie (Clearwater) is hitting .262 with 28 hits, including five home runs, for the Cincinnati Reds' Class A team, Stockton. Left-hander Ryan Snare (East Lake) joined Stockton in April and is 2-1 with a 4.12 ERA.
SWIMMING: Freshman Heather Skaggs (Northeast) was one of two University of South Carolina swimmers in the NCAA Championships. Skaggs competed in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events for the Gamecocks and placed 40th in the 50 free with a time of 54.73 seconds.
This fall, Skaggs' younger sister Haley (Northeast) will swim for South Carolina.
BASKETBALL: Tampa guard Jill Terry (Countryside) earned her second consecutive Lady Spartans academic award. The sophomore sported a 3.9 grade-point average her freshman year and a 3.734 this year.
TENNIS: Aleksey Bubis (Palm Harbor U./Saddlebrook) completed his senior season at Arkansas with a 23-13 singles record.
Natalie Tirapelli (Canterbury) netted a 22-7 singles record her freshman season at Connecticut and was 10-6 in doubles in the Big East Conference.
-- News for this column may be faxed to Nancy Morgan, (727) 445-4119, e-mailed to namgamma@gte.net or sent to 710 Court St., Clearwater, Fla. 33756. Please include phone number.