The last time the Blade checked in with Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott in 2018, he was happily retired and making occasional appearances at MLB Pride nights and Pride parades.
There have been several books published by retired MLB umpires, but Scott didn’t have a desire to follow suit with one of his own. Even though people kept suggesting he write a book, he put the thought out of his mind.
In 2019, he met up with baseball writer Rob Neyer for coffee and to get his copy of Neyer’s recent book autographed. Neyer insisted that Scott had a story and that it was twofold, a baseball story and a gay story.
“Honestly, that was what put me over the hump,” says Scott. “I love sharing baseball stories, details on big games, and what goes on behind the curtain. As for the gay side, I felt that if my story could help one person in a positive way that it would be worth writing it.”
An agreement was struck with Neyer to co-write and 12 months later they found a publisher who gave them a six-month deadline. Scott had saved all of his minor league ejection reports and used MLB stats to refresh his memory of the dates that defined his career.
“The Umpire is Out” was released in April and is a rollicking journey through Scott’s nearly 40 years of umpiring including 33 years in MLB from 1985 to 2017.
In amusing fashion, he spotlights his run-ins with team managers, players, fans, supervisors, and fellow umpires. Along the way, Scott shines a light on how much the sport of baseball actually revolves around the success, or failure, of the umpires to uphold the rules of the sport and ensure that play is fair.
Scott also chronicles the energy that was spent on hiding his sexuality. There were secret trips, a fake girlfriend, and a ‘roommate’ at home that watched his house during his travel months. Scott married his husband Mike in 2013 and came out publicly the following year, receiving a positive response from his peers and the baseball community.
The book tour for “The Umpire is Out” has been a mix of radio podcasts, bookstore signings and appearances at MLB Pride nights. He is currently scheduled for eight MLB Pride nights and will appear at Pride Night OUT at the Nationals on June 14.
When asked about sharing his gay experiences on radio podcasts with straight hosts, Scott says he doesn’t take anything too personally.
“One or two of the podcasts were all about my baseball experiences,” Scott says. “All of the others brought up the personal side. Their questions were all valid and the intent was to get an understanding of what I experienced as a gay man.”
Just last week, Scott appeared on The Jim Rome Show podcast and a tweet came through while he was on-air. A father and his gay son had pulled over while driving to listen to the podcast. The son wants to become an umpire.
For now, Scott is back into the travel routine that he left behind when his career ended. That ending came in his 3,897th MLB game on April 14, 2017, in Toronto when he took a foul ball to the chin area of his mask and suffered a concussion and whiplash.
“I never had a farewell tour or that foreknown knowledge that my career was ending,” says Scott. “It’s been great being on the road again, seeing old friends and visiting old haunts. It has put a little pep in my step.”
Scott is open for whatever comes his way in the future and part of that will include umpire camps and clinics along with following the sports teams of his beloved University of Oregon Ducks. He is also entertaining the notion of an audio book but stands firm on who should be the voice.
“Because of my radio past, I would definitely want to be the voice for the book,” Scott says. “I would just pick anyone else apart.”
You don’t have to be a sports fan, or a member of the LGBTQ community to enjoy “The Umpire is Out.” Scott has presented an enjoyable read that feels like you are sitting at a pub listening to a good friend share a story.
Scott has one last thing he would like to share — his original title for the book.
“I like the title we came up with, but I thought it should be called ‘I Blew the Call, and the Catcher too’,” says Scott laughing. “Now that’s a title.”
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