Ex-youth umpire’s dedication honored
Ragle Park plaque remembers Padilla, who died in June from heart attack
Mikey Padilla said the outpouring of support and stories from community members — some of whom he didn’t even know — about his dad, Eddie Padilla, has been overwhelming over the past two months.
Eddie Padilla, who died from a heart attack at 57 in June, was a respected baseball umpire in Northern New Mexico. He spent almost 30 years overseeing games with Santa Fe Little League and Amateur American Baseball Congress, as well as high school, collegiate and Pecos League contests.
When Santa Fe Amateur American Baseball Congress President Tommy Martinez informed the younger Padilla of a plaque and a pine tree placed in the heart of Ragle Park, where Eddie was a familiar sight over the years, in honor of his dad, it caught Mikey Padilla off guard.
Padilla got a chance to express his gratitude to Eddie Padilla and to a group of about 20 people who attended the dedication ceremony at the park Saturday morning, held amid a series of youth baseball games.
“My heart sunk,” Mikey Padilla said. “I mean, Tommy
didn’t have to do it. I was real grateful, that was how I felt, and thankful that his legacy will live on.”
Martinez said it wasn’t a hard gesture to make. He saw Eddie Padilla as the epitome of what an umpire should be. He even noted how the umpires at the AABC games during the ceremony wear their uniforms with pride, because that was how Eddie Padilla wore his uniform.
“There have been a lot of people who come and go,” Martinez said. “When you have someone like Eddie, who is a staple like this, you have to memorialize him. It is important to remember somebody who put so much energy into the game.”
Eddie Padilla’s brother, Larry Padilla Jr., said that passion stemmed from his father, Larry Padilla Sr., who was an umpire and a constant presence in the youth and high school baseball scene. Larry Padilla Sr. had three sons who became umpires, including Larry Padilla Jr., but Eddie Padilla was the most dedicated to the craft.
At the age of 17, Eddie Padilla paid to attend the Wendelstedt School of Umpiring and became a certified umpire, which helped him later in his career to get games with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the Pecos League.
“It was in our blood,” Padilla Jr. said. “[Padilla Sr.] started it, and we all picked up after him, and that was what made baseball thrive [in Santa Fe].”
Mikey Padilla said his dad had an influence on how umpires handle themselves today. He said it was common for other umpires to show up for youth games with their uniform not tucked in or their baseball cap worn askew. But his dad always had his shirt tucked in, his cap on straight and his shoes polished.
“If you didn’t have a tucked-in shirt and shined shoes, he wouldn’t let you umpire with him,” Mikey Padilla said.
Martinez said Eddie Padilla’s knowledge of the game and understanding of the rules was above reproach. Whenever there was an issue with a rule, Eddie Padilla was often the one youth officials called upon to settle a dispute.
Martinez added, he knew he didn’t have to worry about a game Eddie Padilla was umpiring because of that.
“Eddie was the smartest guy on the field when it came to knowing the rules,” Martinez said. “I could put Eddie in a place, and I was comfortable that nothing would happen because he could handle whatever came up. You could walk away from a game knowing that it was going to be fine.”