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Ump Durwood Merrill makes Texas Hall of Fame

Ump Durwood Merrill makes Texas Hall of Fame
Dur, right, was seated with sports analyst Norm Hitzges at the Hall of
Fame banquet.

Durwood Merrill (BS ’60) recently was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame along with Will Clark, Larry Hays, Doug Crabek, Ruben Sierra, Jack Lindsey and Curt Walker.
by Jim Ball (BS ’63) member of the University’s Foundation Board

Reggie Jackson said that Durwood Merrill’s act was so good that you would pay to get into the ballpark to see it. Before he became a National League skipper for the Cardinals, Tony La Russa said that Merrill was the best umpire in baseball. And over on the other side of Missouri, Hall of Famer George Brett said of Merrill, “He puts a kid’s perspective back into the game, and that’s what baseball needs.”
For 33 seasons, Durwood Merrill gave the National Pastime an unparalleled mixture of authority and showmanship that earned him the respect of players, managers and fans that few in his fraternity enjoyed before or since. Author Jim Dent called him part John Wayne, part Will Rogers and part Elmer Gantry, and if that triptych doesn’t evoke the image of an awesome man, you’ll believe it when you shake his hand.
Durwood Merrill grew up in western Oklahoma, and like his older brothers, Gailon Eben and Arvis Lee, was taught to believe in hard work, God and the American Way. As the son of a Baptist preacher, he had little chance, or time, to know another kind of life and that was a good thing. Without that early grounding in the virtues of honesty, duty, perseverance and reliability, baseball would have been cheated of the pleasure of watching and knowing an important figure, one that elevated his profession from Lodi to Boston’s venerable Fenway Park.
In 1952, the Merrill family moved to Dallas where Durwood’s father landed a day job painting cars at the Ford assembly plant. At night he attended the Baptist seminary, and after a year, got a call from the Austin Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in the northeast Texas town of DeKalb. The family was back in the country, but the move enabled Durwood to discover football and Cecil Pirkey, former All-America end at East Texas State and pro receiver with the Philadelphia Eagles. “Other than my dad, Coach Pirkey was the most influential man in my life,” Merrill said.

At DeKalb, Durwood met his future wife, Carolyn Carter, the church pianist. She strongly supported his quest to pursue football, and the sport became Durwood’s ticket to Texarkana JC and East Texas State College. He graduated from ETSC and returned to DeKalb to coach. After a 10-year coaching, teaching and administrative career, the principal of Hooks High School made the biggest decision of his professional life when he sent his résumé to the Umpiring Development School in Florida. Encouraged by Texas League president and former major league player and manager Bobby Bragan, Durwood went to class and graduated. When he reported to the Cal League for the 1973 season, son Mickey Dale and daughter Maria were 11 and 8.
In 1976, AL ump Lou DiMuro was suffering from a degenerative hip condition, and Durwood was called up from Triple-A to replace the 20-year veteran on a part-time basis. During the few games he worked, Durwood was the fifth member of a crew that also included Rich Garcia, Davey Phillips and Bill Kunkel, umpires who would welcome him back in 1977 as a full-time rookie. Umpire chief Dick Butler assigned Durwood number 33 and made him one of fewer than 135 people to ever work as a regular umpire in a league that was founded in 1901—a pretty impressive accomplishment for a former high school defensive end who once “played football like I pulled cotton—with gritted teeth.”
Through regular seasons, Disco Night at Comiskey Park, division playoffs and All-Star and World Series games, Durwood established himself as a big man who called a big game. His outgoing personality overwhelmed cynics and captured the hearts of suspicious players and surly managers. Dur was chief of all
he surveyed between the lines and, without detracting from the game he loves so much, continued to tastefully exploit his flamboyant style that in 1993 earned him the USA Today title of baseball’s most stylish umpire at first base.
Reggie Jackson didn’t call

Durwood the Reggie Jackson of umpiring for nothing. They know each other too well, and while Durwood never clubbed four World Series homers on four straight swings, there are many reasons why he was the Mr. October of his profession. The testimony of three decades of players, managers and countless fans will attest to that.
Fortunately, for the good of baseball and agriculture, the number of big league games called by Durwood—more than 5,500—far exceeded the number of sacks he might have filled as a pro cotton-picker. There are machines for that kind of work, and, besides, none has the heart, brain or style of a real live Durwood Merrill.
Durwood retired from baseball after the 1999 season but has stayed busy calling high school and junior college games throughout northeast Texas.
For more than 20 years, Durwood’s most important calling has been right in his own back yard where he chases and bumps into his impossible dream: the Hooks Christian Service Christmas charity. It’s a year-round endeavor that, in addition to providing food and toys for poor people, sends needy kids to college. “It’s something that brings volunteers and poor folks together in a way that I wish more people could experience,” he said.
Dur continues to work for others the same way he worked the plate and base paths. As Marty Springstead once said about his contemporary, “Durwood Merrill never worked a baseball game he didn’t like.” It’s a nice way to be known and remembered.
To learn more about Durwood, get a copy of his book, You’re Out and You’re Ugly, Too. It’s his and Jim Dent’s final word on a great Texan who remains Oklahoma’s only native umpire.

Conference Honors Lions

All-LSC football selections named

Running back Demetrius Rector, defensive end Bryan Smith, fullback Adrian Barnes and linebacker John Paul Mulligan made the first squad in the All-Lone Star Conference South Football Team.
Rector, the first Lion to rush for 1,000 yards since 1983, collected 1,167 yards (106.1 yards a game) to rank seventh on the single-season rushing list at A&M-C. He becomes the first Lion since Fred Poulser in 1962-64 to earn All-LSC honors on both sides of the football.
Smith earned his second first-team All-LSC South selection as the number two man on the team in total tackles, and one of the conference leaders in tackles for losses with 26 for 79 yards in losses.
Barnes was one of the most punishing runners and blockers in the league this season. He averaged 4.4 yards a play, while rushing 223 yards on 51 carries.
Mulligan was the leader in tackles for the Lions. The middle linebacker chalked up 81 total tackles (7.36 per game), with 11 tackles for losses.
Offensive tackle Corey Homer, center Peter Wilkening, safety Metric McHenry, offensive guard Eric Austin, placekicker Randy Weston, linebacker Tay Weatherspoon and tight end Erron Matthews were second team selections.
Punter Chris Huggins, strong safety Jesse Brooks and receiver Cory Sims were picked as honorable mentions.
The Lions finished the season with a 7-4 record, their best since 1996 when they were also 7-4.

Tiamuh named to All-LSC soccer team
Zita Tiamuh was named to the 2001 All-LSC Women’s Soccer Team. The 5-2 forward from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, was the Lions leading scorer, posting nine goals and six assists for 24 points on the season. She recorded two game-winning goals and tied the A&M-C record by recording a point (scoring a goal or recording an assist) in five consecutive games.
She led the Lions to a 9-8-2 overall record and a second place showing in the LSC at 5-2.
Goalkeeper Sarah Fagan, forward/midfielder Sree Kolloru and defender Cory Copeland were chosen as honorable mentions to the team.

Wallace named LSC North MVP
Middle blocker Amy Wallace was chosen Most Valuable Player as the conference named its All-LSC North volleyball team. Wallace led the Lions and the conference in hitting percentage at .422 and was among the leaders in kills per game at 5.18 per contest.
She set new team records in single-season hitting percentage and in total kills for a season (549) despite missing four matches during the season. Additionally, Wallace led the Lions in total blocks.
Joining her on the first team is Lion outside hitter Christy Alvillar, who was second on the team in kills per game.
Setter Lauren Kitchens, outside hitter Sara Wedberg and middle blocker Davina Goodman were chosen by the league’s coaches as honorable mentions on the team.