An article the Detroit paper did about my Dad, who just stepped down after 35 years of service to the local sporting community. It even mentions the game he officiated (second base) at Tiger Stadium when my brother got to be the bat boy!
Story here, and the entire article is below.
“Time Gives Wine a Different Perspective”
Not to be trite, but Ron Wine’s busted leg turned into a pretty good break.
Not just for Wine, but also the folks at Warren High School and Warren-Mott High School.
Wine is stepping down after 35 years of working the official game clock at those two schools.
“I officiated high school sports for 22 years,” said Wine. “I did football, basketball and baseball.”
He was working a football game between Warren Fitzgerald and Warren High when something happened that altered
his future plans.
“A Warren boy intercepted a pass and he was running down the sidelines,” said Wine. “It was my responsibility to follow him into the end zone. I’m not sure where the Fitzgerald player came from, but I apparently was in his way, and he ran me over. I broke my leg.”
While that sidelined his career as an official, it led to his work on the clock.
“Warren High athletic director Cosmo Plotts told me there was an opening in the press box for a clock operator and asked if I wanted to give it a try. I told him sure,” said Wine.
That singular football season 35 years ago quickly evolved into working volleyball, wrestling and girls’ basketball at Warren High.
Ron and his wife of 58 years, Eileen, have four children: Lorie, Cherie, Kevin and Colleen. All the kids are Warren High graduates. Kevin played basketball for the legendary George Steele in high school.
They also have 11 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
This is Wine’s final season as a regular in the press box.
“Two knee replacements and 47 steps,” chuckled Wine, when asked why he was stepping down. “I’ve met so many good people over the years; it has been a great ride.”
Thirty-five years in the press box have given Wine a unique perspective. He’s seen so many great plays over the years. The quarterbacks who can throw a football from here to the Continental Divide. The running backs who are quicker than fleeting thoughts. The middle linebackers who could tattoo people long before body ink became the stuff of reality television.
Great plays are not limited to the field itself, either.
“I just did my last junior varsity game. One of the assistant varsity coaches was sitting behind me and he spent the entire second and third quarters helping one of his players with algebra. After they were finished, the coach told the young man to make sure he went home and finished his homework, but also to get a good night sleep. Things like that go on all of the time, not only at Warren-Mott but at a lot of our high schools.
“Parents are very fortunate to have someone like Tom Milanov guiding their sons. There is a great bunch of people here.” said Wine.
Warren High School closed at the end of the 1991-92 school year. The building was renovated and is now a community center.
The community is fortunate to have someone like Ron Wine who has been there without fail all of these years. People like him are invaluable. They are on the periphery of events that could not go on without them. They do the clock. They do the public address announcing. They handle down markers, take tickets and sell hot dogs and soda at the concession stand. They allow the rest of us to walk into a stadium or gym, sit down, and have the game proceed without a hitch.
We do not really think that much about those folks, but we should. We should say thanks every now and again.
This is our way of saying thanks.
Wine is 78 years old. He works out regularly at the community center. While he will still be at most of the games, he just might take a night or two off.
Ron Wine graduated from Port Huron High. Eileen is a Marysville High grad. He worked in the environmental area for TRW for years.
“My dad, Frank, was a baseball umpire. I went with him one day to watch him work a game at Marysville High School, and the base umpire did not show up,” said Wine.
He was drafted by the Marysville coach, who promised him five bucks.
“I blew a few calls that day because of poor judgment and being out of position, but that’s what got me started. I was very fortunate that Frank Sekory, a National League umpire, lived in the area and took the time to help me out. I remember one time he told me ‘Remember Ron, nobody ever bought a ticket to come watch you officiate. Do not attract attention to yourself.’ ”
Umpires can’t always help but attract some attention. It is part of the job description. Wine laughingly recalls doing a church league softball team years ago when a group of three women sitting in the bleachers started razzing him.
“They were good natured, but they were on my case,” he said. “I made a call at home plate, and one of the women said loudly to another ‘He must be Baptist.’ I looked back at them, crossed myself, and said ‘Not me, lady.’ From then on, they were my three best friends.”
Wine worked a game at Tiger Stadium once. He took his son, Kevin, who was in the fourth grade. Wine was on the base paths, and Kevin was recruited by one of the teams to be a bat boy.
The Macomb Daily published a photo of Ron Wine making a call at second.
“And it was the correct call,” said Wine in mock surprise. “Believe me, I never worked a game where I was 100 percent correct, and there are a lot of coaches who will confirm that.”
Maybe not, but he enjoyed himself 100 percent of the time. There is something about working with young people that keeps a person young. It might be down on the field. It might be up in the press box. Every time you hear a negative story about teens, you should head to a high school event and get the counter point.
Maybe it is football. Maybe it is basketball. Maybe it is a band concert, a science fair or an art exhibit. There are a lot of good kids. Ron Wine knows that as well as anyone. He’s been on the field of play. He’s been up in the press box.
He has been an eye witness for years. A fractured leg wasn’t such a lousy break at all.
