INDEPENDENT GAME LOSES LONGTIME UMPIRE BOSS BUTCH FISHER

Baseball prefers those in the umpiring fraternity work anonymously whenever possible because that means they are doing their job. That goes for umpiring supervisors, as well, but when they leave us a void is felt by so many whose lives they touched.

We tell you this because longtime Independent Baseball Director of Umpires Butch Fisher passed away Wednesday morning after a battle with lung cancer which he had known about for only a short time.

The Stacy, MN resident played a major role in the Independent game, starting that very first year of the modern era in 1993. He was Supervisor of Umpires in the Northern League in 1993-94, then again from 1996-2004, and this season was the umpire boss in the new South Coast League. He also served the Central League for a time.

Fisher also had major impact in helping form an umpires association in his home state. Products of that group include current major league umpires Jeff Nelson, Tim Tschida and Mark Wegner.

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