B4
THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, July 20, 2021
FIELD TEST
Candidates Wanted
URGENT NOTICE: You may be qualified
to participate in a special Field Test of
new hearing instrument technology
being held at a local test site.
An industry leader in digital hearing devices is
sponsoring a product field test in your area next
week and they have asked us to select up to
15 qualified candidates to participate. They are
interested in determining the benefits of GENIUS™
4.0 Technology in eliminating the difficulty hearing
aid users experience in difficult environments, such
as those with background noise or multiple talkers.
Candidates in other test areas have reported very
positive feedback so far.
We are looking for additional candidates in
Warrenton and the surrounding areas.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian
Umpire Fred McKeown in action during a Little League Baseball tournament in Scappoose on Saturday.
Little League umpire
leaves field after 40 years
always in control. He’d just tell me that was
enough, and the discussion was over.”
When Hudlow’s son, Nick, turned 12, he
When Fred McKeown, a Little League told his father that he wanted to one day be a
umpire, learns the story is going to be about professional umpire. Hudlow called McKe-
him and not the kids who play baseball, he’s own, who volunteered to work with the boy
reluctant to talk. McKeown is most com- — for free.
fortable behind the scenes, quietly slipping
“My first impression of Fred was he was
away when the game ends and letting the a strict guy who was going to be hard on
spotlight fall on the players.
me,” said Nick Hudlow. “But he’s so good
But in Oregon Little League circles, at delivering a message to help all umpires
McKeown is a legend. For the past 40 years, get better. Whether it is a kid or a 65-year-
he has umpired Little League baseball games old grandfather. Here I am 14 years later still
in Oregon District 1, a territory that includes umpiring.”
teams in north and northeast Portland, Park-
Nick Hudlow rose through the Little
rose, St. Helens and Scappoose. With a total League ranks. He also umpires high school
of about 2,400 players, the teams have a sea- ball, and a few years ago was selected to
son that runs from March
be part of the Western
until August.
Regional tournament in
‘HE HAS A BARK
McKeown, a north
San Bernardino, Cali-
Portland cabinetmaker
fornia. The games were
TO HIS VOICE
by profession, typically
on ESPN, and Hud-
WHEN HE MAKES low’s father got to see
umpires three or four
him work the game. On
games a week and a cou-
A CAll. HE
ple on Saturday, all of
the second to last night
which adds up to nearly
of the tournament, the
SOuNdS lIKE
150 games a season. He
umpiring crew received
HE’S 10-FEET
also umpires in a girls
an award for their work.
softball league. He has
“I stood up there in
TAll. BuT HE’S
mentored the next gen-
front of everyone and
eration of Little League
bawled my eyes out,”
ONE OF THE
umpires, runs statewide
said Hudlow. “I thanked
KINdEST ANd
umpiring clinics and
my parents. But first
leads an annual umpire
and foremost I had to
MOST PATIENT
camp in California.
thank the man who made
All for free.
it all possible — Fred
PEOPlE yOu
Now, at 73, the man
McKeown.”
WIll MEET. NO
considered the dean of
McKeown,
who
Oregon Little League
PRIdE OR EGO TO played Little League in
umpires is calling it quits
Portland in the 1960s,
GET IN THE WAy.
when the 2021 season
fell into umpiring one
ends. He and his wife
afternoon when he went
EVERyTHING HE
plan to move to Spokane,
to watch his daughter’s
Washington, so she can
softball team. When the
dOES IS dONE
be close to her sisters.
umpire didn’t show up,
TO MAKE IT FuN
“This guy has been a
the coaches asked the
fixture in Little League
parents at the game if any
FOR THE KIdS.’
forever,” said Matt Farr,
of them would volunteer.
Jon Coney | Little League umpire
who met McKeown long
McKeown
stepped
who was trained by Fred McKeown
ago when his kids played
forward.
Little League. “He does it
“I made a call that a
out of the goodness of his
girl was out,” he said.
heart.”
“The coach convinced me to call her safe. I
Jon Coney, trained by McKeown to be a later learned I was right. I started to learn the
Little League umpire, said McKeown, about rules of the game. At the time I was coaching
5-feet-6, is quiet and unassuming until he my daughter’s softball team. She finally told
gets on the field.
me no more coaching because she didn’t
“He has a bark to his voice when he want me around. I said I’d be an umpire, and
makes a call,” said Coney. “He sounds like I’ve been doing it ever since.”
he’s 10-feet tall. But he’s one of the kindest
McKeown, who has two daughters, has
and most patient people you will meet. No been behind the plate when his grandson
pride or ego to get in the way. Everything and later his great-grandson played Little
he does is done to make it fun for the kids.” League.
Over the decades, Little League aficiona-
“I called strike three on my great-grand-
dos, familiar with high-strung coaches and son,” McKeown. “He turned around and
parents, have watched McKeown handle told me I was right.”
everyone and every situation by being calm.
McKeown has umpired games for teen
“Even if you don’t like his calls, you like players, but finds the game at that level is
the guy,” said April Rice. Her 19-year-old different than it is with the youngsters.
daughter, who still plays softball, met McK-
“Too many parents try and live their base-
eown when she was 6 and he umpired her ball fantasy through their kids,” he said.
games.
“They expect too much. In all the years I’ve
Bob Hudlow, the former executive direc- done this, I’ve only seen two kids go pros.
tor of Oregon District 1 for 20 years, said What a kid really needs in Little League is
McKeown was umpiring when Hudlow took simple. That’s just the love of the game.”
the position and was still working games
McKeown fondly remembers his time as
when he moved on. “We never had a per- a boy playing Little League. The umpire, he
sonal complaint from a parent, player or said, made the kids feel like they were real
coach about the man,” Hudlow said.
players, letting them imagine — if for a brief
But Hudlow, who coached his son’s Little moment — as if they were in the big leagues,
League team when the boy was 8, admitted not just some kid getting ready for fourth
to arguing with McKeown. “His nickname grade come the start of the school year.
is ‘hummingbird’ because his strike zone is
“Someone made that possible for me,”
as small as a hummingbird’s ass,” said Hud- he said. “I just wanted to give it back for
low. “I’d get to arguing with him. Fred was another kid.”
By TOM HALLMAN JR.
The Oregonian
Dates: July 17th-July 23rd, 2021
Miracle-Ear Center
Youngs Bay Plaza
173 S. Hwy 101
Warrenton, OR 97146
(503) 836-7921
Miracle-Ear Center
2505 Main Ave N, Suite C
Tillamook, OR 97141
(503) 836-7926
In an effort to accurately demonstrate the incredible
performance of these devices, specially trained
representatives will be conducting testing and
demonstrations during this special event.
In addition to an audiometric hearing evaluation,
candidates will receive a fiber-optic otoscope exam,
a painless procedure that could reveal common
hearing problems such as excessive wax or damage
to the eardrum, as well as other common cause of
hearing deficiencies.
Qualified Field Test Candidates:
• Live in Warrenton or the surrounding area
• Are at least 55 years of age or older
• Have experienced some level of hearing difficulty,
or currently wear hearing aids
• Don’t currently work for a market research
company
FIELD TEST
PARTICIPANTS
Will be tested and
selected same-day.
We have a limited supply of the GENIUS™ 4.0 test
product currently on hand and ready for testing.
We have also been authorized to offer significant
discounts if you decide to take the hearing
instruments home. If you choose not to keep them,
there’s no risk or obligation of any kind.†
TO PARTICIPATE:
1. You must be one of the first 15 people to call our
office Mention Code: 21JulField.
2. You will be required to have your hearing tested
in our office, FREE OF CHARGE, to determine
candidacy.
3. Report your results with the hearing instruments
to the Hearing Care Specialist over a three week
test period.
Qualified candidates will be selected on a first-
come, first-served basis so please call us TODAY
to secure your spot in the Product Field Test.
Participants who qualify and complete the product
test will receive a FREE $100 Restaurant.com Gift
Card* as a token of our thanks.
AVOID WAITING – CALL AND MENTION CODE: 21JulField
*One per household. Must be 55 or older and bring loved one for familiar voice test. Must complete a hearing
test. Not valid with prior test/purchase in last 6 months. While supplies last. Free gift card may be used toward
the purchase of food at participating restaurants where a minimum purchase may also be required. See
restaurant.com for details. Not redeemable for cash. Promotional offer available during special event dates only.
†If you are not completely satisfied, the aids may be returned for a full refund within 30 days of the completion of
fitting, in satisfactory condition. See store for details.