Former Savannah State University baseball standout Dexter Kelley is a Double A umpire now with Major League All-Star memories.
Kelley, 33, got a taste of Hollywood when he received a chance to work several events during the week leading up to Tuesday's Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
He was behind the plate in the MLB & USA Baseball High School All-American Game, at third base for the Futures Game, at first base for the Celebrity All-Star Softball Game and in the outfield during the Home Run Derby.
"It was my first time in Los Angeles," Kelley said. "It's a big city, with a rich baseball tradition, Dodger Stadium. It was a great experience."
Among the many takeaways of the week, he highlighted Denzel Washington's Jackie Robinson tribute speech before the all-star game and talked about rubbing elbows with ESPN's Stan Verrett (a Howard University graduate) and long-time baseball analyst Harold Reynolds and sharing stories with umpires now in Major League Baseball.
Kelley was 90-feet away from a story at the Celebrity Softball Game that drew national attention. Actor Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad argued a called third strike and began kicking dirt on the home-plate umpire before being thrown out of the game.
"He's an actor. I guess he thought he was being funny," Kelley said.Kelley downplayed the verbal abuse umpires often endure. He said he has only thrown one player out this season while working in the Southern League.
"It was really nothing absolutely crazy, just a couple of magic words," he said.
Dexter Kelley at the MLB All-Star Celebrity Softball GameKelley knows the game from both sides.
He was an outfielder for Savannah State baseball coach Carlton Hardy from 2008-2011. As a junior in 2010, Kelley hit .386 and was second in NCAA Division I with .88 stolen bases per game (his total of 44 steals was fourth) and scored 55 runs in 50 games. He finished his collegiate career with a .333 batting average, 120 stolen bases and scored 175 runs in 188 games.
Despite the impressive numbers, Kelley didn't draw much interest from professional scouts and money started to get tight. Tiger teammate Joe McCrary told him about a job umpiring high school baseball which paid $50 for about a two-hour game.
Kelley said he called high school games for a few months before getting invited to MLB umpiring camp in Emerson, Ga. He showed promise and earned a scholarship to another camp in Fort Myers, Fla., then received another scholarship to the Wendelstedt Umpire School (named after legendary umpire Harry Wendelstedt) in Daytona Beach.
Kelley graduated at the top of his class and eventually began working Gulf Coast League games. In seven years, he's climbed from rookie ball to the New York-Penn League, to the Single A Florida State League and now the Double A Southern League.
Triple A fall league and spring training are still rungs ahead before reaching the ultimate goal of being a Major League umpire.
"It's all about moving up and working toward that goal," Kelley said. "Only a small percentage are going to make it."
In the offseason, Kelley stays busy. He has a part-time job as a dispatcher for a logistics contractor and works some college baseball games from January to mid-March.
The last three years, he's run umpire camps in Augusta and Atlanta.
He earned a business management degree from Savannah State and credits the school for putting him on a successful track.
"Savannah State has one of the top business schools and I learned how to be a professional, how to handle yourself and interview well," Kelley said. "I learned a lot of baseball from coach Hardy."
After his all-star week, Kelley is ready to get back to the grind. Six days a week, he'll be in action, calling games and, afterward, thinking about his wife Michelle and his 3-year-old son King back home in Fayetteville, Ga.
"I just had a day off to spend with the family. Now I'm headed to Huntsville to call a game with the Rocket City Trash Pandas," Kelley said.
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