Written By Jeffrey Reed
LondonOntarioSports.com announces long-time umpire and sports official Joe Serratore is winner of the 1st Annual LondonOntarioSports.com Milestone Award. This new award recognizes a long-time member of the London sports community who has dedicated their life to sports in any capacity–including athlete, coach, official, mentor, administrator, volunteer and fundraiser.
From 1962 until he retired his umpire’s gear in 2011, Serratore, 78, dedicated his life to local sports–all the while providing a voice of reason during even the most heated of competition while keeping the game fun for all. He remains an active member of the local sports community–and a local sports legend.
Known simply as ‘Joe Ump,’ Serratore is one of the most beloved members of the London sports community–and for good reason.
Best known as an Intercounty Baseball League umpire for parts of five decades, Serratore has dedicated his life to serving local baseball, softball, fastball, football, basketball and hockey as an official, timekeeper, announcer, official scorer and administrator. In fact, he has umpired at provincial, national and international levels–all the while earning respect from athletes, coaches and fans while mentoring others.
In 1963, Serratore joined the London Umpires Association, a group he belonged to until 1984 and for whom he filled the role of president in 1978 and ’79. For almost half a century, Serratore served as an umpire, an umpire-in-chief, a football official and a timekeeper, along the way making numerous friends and earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the most well-liked sports personalities in London.
For years, Serratore umpired fastball games, and officiated minor, high school and provincial football–including London Lords games in the early-1970s at Labatt Park. Hockey is in Serratore’s blood, too. In 2003, the Ontario Hockey League recognized him for 25 years as timekeeper, a role he filled for 27 years with the London Knights until 2005.
But it was on the baseball diamond where Serratore shone the most, working for years in the Intercounty Baseball League, from the wood bat era, during the aluminum bat era from 1977 to 1994, and again during the return of lumber until he retired in 2011.
He umpired independent pro baseball at London Werewolves’ Frontier League contests, and London Monarchs’ Canadian Baseball League games at his second home: Labatt Park.
Serratore said he left umpiring in 2011 “because it was my time, and I had nothing to prove. I miss the idea of being a part of the game, and not sitting on the sidelines watching. I miss having fun. But I had a lot of doors opened to me, and I gained the respect of the players. I was very fortunate. It was the time of my life.”
LondonOntarioSports.com honours Serratore with the Milestone Award on April 17 at London’s RiverBend Golf Community.
Award-winning writer
Jeffrey Reed has covered Middlesex County sports since 1980. He is publisher and
editor of
LondonOntarioSports.com. Reach him at
jeff@londonontariosports.com.
