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12 | LIFE IN SOLERA | NOVEMBER 2024 | By Jerey Stern of Referee Magazine Reprinted by permission An unfortunate aspect of social media involves postings about officials. Unhappy fans often use online sites to point out what they perceive to be erroneous rulings or other negative perceptions of officials on X (formerly known as Twitter), Snapchat, Facebook and other online sites. So it was a breath of fresh air when the Eastvale (Calif.) Roosevelt High School baseball team tweeted two photos and the message, "Congratulations to umpire Alan Hollosy on his 2,000th game! Fifty years on the field!" Hollosy, 75, had already achieved the noteworthy mark of a half-century on the field. And then he hit a milestone April 22 when he worked his 2,000th high school game at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino, home of the Inland Empire '66ers minor league team. In an event known as the County Clash, Fontana Summit defeated Riverside North, 6-4. "It was a thrill," Hollosy told the Redlands Community News. "I like being out there with the kids and helping them by making great calls. It also gets me away from assigning games." Hollosy refereed football for 42 years and officiated basketball for 35 years. Now that he hit the milestone number of games, Hollosy plans to only umpire games when there is an emergency. He says his wife, Carol, is somewhat dubious about that decision. "She asked me what I'm going to do (with my free time)," he said. As you might expect of someone who has officiated a half a century, Hollosy has seen just about everything there is to see on a baseball field. He recalls a game between Riverside Poly and Riverside Arlington that wound up in a brawl. Arlington's catcher got drilled by a pitch, igniting a brouhaha that included the coaches wrestling on the infield. Hollosy also fondly recalled a 16-inning game between Canyon Springs and Arlington that finished 1-0 in only three hours and 15 minutes. "It was a battle back and forth," Hollosy said. "A team would get a few guys on and then there'd be a strike out or a double play and no runs were scored. If you have to play a 16-inning game, then that's the way you want it." As the assigner for the Inland Empire, Hollosy is taxed with finding umpires for 90-plus schools in his service area. He tries to put some of the better umpires on high-profile games and to pair veterans with newer partners who can learn from the more experienced umpires. As in other areas of the country, his efforts are made more difficult by poor sportsmanship and verbal abuse heaped on umpires. Such was the case last season in a game that resulted in several players being suspended. Jerey Stern is Referee's senior editor. He formerly ociated high school and college football and high school baseball. Alan Hollosy has umpired an average of 40 baseball games per year for the last 50 years. ••••• •• -• RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT

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