‘It’s a social outing:’ Saskatoon umpire enjoys time at the diamond

Sometimes there are bigger things than who wins and loses when it comes to the world of sports.

Gary Dodds is a baseball umpire in Saskatoon who is widely known in the community for being one of the busiest umpires throughout the spring and summer months.

Despite being 70 years old, Dodds loves to pack his schedule with games and goes to the ballpark every day with a smile on his face. On top of that, Dodds is busy assigning other games across the city.

“Everybody says, ‘I don’t want to umpire because I might get yelled at,’ (but) I don’t find that at all,” Dodds said.

“It’s a social outing. I’m just behind the plate (and) I’m just a fan. Every night, I get to see plays that I jokingly say to the catcher, ‘We’re going to see that on SportsCentre later.’ ”

Dodds’ 2022 season was cut short when he underwent double knee replacement surgery in early July.

His final game on the docket was a regular-season game between the Parkland Expos and Saskatoon Cubs on July 3. The under-18 teams compete at the AAA level in the Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League.

The teams and other umpires agreed to surprise Dodds with a special sendoff for the season after all his hard work. They paid tribute to him in a pre-game ceremony, including a signed baseball from the Cubs as the home team.

The Lucky Lake product called it one of the coolest memories he’s had on the diamond over his years as an umpire.

“The biggest thing was I got tricked,” Dodds said with a laugh. “I get into this game and they have this big ceremony. It was very nice.”

Dodds says he’s built some incredible friendships over the years through umpiring and says it’s special to see the same faces at the diamond over the years.

“The relationship I have with most of these kids is pretty amazing and I quite enjoy it. They’ll all come up to the plate and say, ‘Hi Gary.’… They’re good kids out there,” Dodds said.

“(In the) men’s league game, I quite enjoy seeing them. Some of them I’ve seen 15 or 20 years already.”

Dodds will take the rest of the summer off due to his knees and hopes to get back on the diamond in 2023.

Dodds’ daughter, Tiffany Dodds-Little, says her family is so proud of what Dodds has accomplished over the years and says the ceremony meant a great deal to them.

“He was actually quite emotional. It was a very nice touch from both teams … There’s really no place that he would rather be in the summertime than on the ball diamond,” Dodds-Little said.

Now, with Dodds’ season being cut short, that means more family time spent enjoying summer time with the grandkids.

“It’s strange having him around in the evenings. He’s usually on the diamond,” Dodds-Little said with a laugh.

“He’s getting in a lot of quality time with his four grandkids. Even with us, it’s nice that we’re able to have a few evening barbecues where Dad’s with us and not on the diamond.”