In 1987 when Monica was two the Vienna Little League Fall Ball was very short on umpires so I decided to go to Umpire School so I could help out. Jim who was notoriously a challenge for the umpires to manage says “I never thought I’d be married to one”.
I caught Jim once in a game. He explains the signs for me:
I finally asked him, how do i give you the sign for a number 9. he said it doesn’t matter what sign you give me, they’ll all come in the same……
— Norm Gordon
When I was the VP of Falls Church/Annandale Babe Ruth Seniors, the folks at TJ took that field out of play to “do work” just as our season was starting. Since that was our primary field, this would have effectively ruined our season. I got a call from a guy named Jim Beck, who was then scheduling MSBL fields, who said that he’d move as many adult games as needed to accomodate the kids, because “they always come first.” He also went and put out some snow fencing to replace those taken down for the field work so that it would be safe for the kids to play.
Jim was a colorful, fun guy who loved the game and I enjoyed playing with him. What’s more, he showed a ton of class and concern for the kids and came through for those Babe Ruth players when they really needed it. May he have clear skies and a dry field to play many a game.
— James Villa
I also caught Jim a few times and he told me he had twelve pitches. And as we played those games I threw down every sign and today I still do not know what the differences were for each pitch because they all looked the same to me. But with this said, I also batted against Jim and was struck out on possibly the slowest pitch to possibly be thrown in a baseball game. After that I asked Jim what was the minimum speed required to throw a baseball 60 feet and 6 inches? Without hesitation he told me 36 mph.
Jim was such a good friend — back in 1998, he made room on his Falls Church Little League baseball team so that my then eight year old son Chris to play ‘Fall Ball’ when my local Dale City Little League said they no longer had a roster spot for him. Jim would do anything for anyone if you asked. And lastly, Jim played for the Prince William Reds in the 2001 Fall Classic and ended up throwing more innings than anyone on the team — we were in the 25 Division but Jim was 55 years old during that tournament.
Make those Rabbits Quack.
— Jack Holmes
Prince William Reds, 2012 DCMSBL Hall of Fame Inductee
One of my first games ever, (1990?) playing for Matt Carey: I was up, Matt was on deck, razzing Jim who was pitching…Jim came set, then spun and threw his best fastball straight at Matt… IN THE ON DECK CIRCLE!!
Years later, still with Matt: Nationals vs. Storm, Heater pitched 8 innings, we led 8-1 in the 40+ championship game. Matt wanted to pitch the 9th. Long story short: Jim rat-a-tat-tatted Matt the entire inning, causing Matt to implode and we lost 9-8. I can still hear rat-a-tat-tat in my sleep.
— Norm Gordon