MALCOM HOFFMAN

Spouse: Lynette Years married: 30 Children: Alex, 19; Morgan, 17 Hometown: Houston, Texas Years of experience: 23 Motivation: I love baseball. I always have — going back to

childhood

Pregame routine: I always have the coaches meet at home

plate. I go over the ground rules, especially with 12 and over. I discuss where my strike zone is and what I expect from them and what I won’t tolerate under any circumstances.

Training: With Ronnie Bell, a Triple A umpire, worked under him for a number of years.

Umpire history: Began at Houston as a teenager calling Little League games. You can move up in ages depending on what you’re comfortable with. I started doing senior Babe Ruth and American Legion baseball. When I got to Arkansas I started calling college ball.

Work hazards: College ball is the most dangerous of all. The kids can throw as hard as bullets but they can’t control it. You want to protect your chest, genitals and feet. Whatever is unprotected the ball will find.

Favorite ballpark to work in: White River at Fayetteville. That’s a beautiful facility they have down there. Favorite major league team: Houston Astros

Neatest gimmick or promotion: All-Star game at Camden for 12-year-olds. They put canvas tents all over and had U.S. flags in the outfield. It was like a major league ballpark. They had PA announcers announcing every child when he walked up to bat.

Memorable sports highlights: I’ve seen the inner workings of a major league organization, started out as a ball boy and later as a bat boy for the Houston Astros but never thought about getting autographs from future Hall-of-Fame players such as Nolan Ryan and other great players.

Toughest challenge as an umpire: When we were living at Magnolia, my son was involved in baseball. He played where I was forced to call a game he was pitching in because of an injury to another umpire. There was a huge controversy over that. That didn’t go well. They should have called the game or got another umpire.