Brookline umpire calls final game after 63 years behind the plate

BROOKLINE – Just shy of his 85th birthday, Jim Hennessey umped his final game Tuesday night, closing out a career of calling balls and strikes that began with Little Leaguers in 1959 and a simple philosophy.

“I always had the attitude, do the best job you can do,” he told WBZ-TV. “I feel good, I’m healthy, I’m on top of my game but there might be a day I won’t be.”

Roasting the umpire is pretty much a national pastime, so it was surprising when Hennessey said the thing he’ll miss most is the camaraderie of the diamond.

“I don’t think I’ll miss the umpiring, but I will miss the people,” he said.

Those people are the players with whom he forged a mutual respect through more than 7,000 games while making the weekly drive from his retirement home on the Cape these last several years to maintain it.

“I’ve known the guy a long time, he’s done a ton in this town,” softball player Bob Allen told WBZ.

For example, teach for forty years, raise six kids and never miss a call.

“I never miss one,” Hennessey told WBZ.

Not true, of course, as players sometimes remind him, like the guy who once yelled from a passing trolley.

“‘Jimmy you blew it, I was safe!’ It’s the only time I ever got yelled at from a moving street car. True story,” Hennessey recalled.

But the respect factor made for a clean slate every game, which is why after his last game Tuesday, Brookline named their men’s softball league championship trophy for him.

“Be fair, be kind. It’s not about you. It’s about the players,” Hennessey said.

Players often shake hands with each other after the game. On Tuesday night though, they hugged the ump.