He took nothing from nobody--- never
As tough an umpire as they come
Big, boisterous, arrogant
Walking with a strut
"Whatever call you make is only the right call.
Never complain, never apologize," he used to say.
Ken Kaiser may be gone, but his memory will always be in play.
In the off season, his family would tell him to calm down and stop telling them what to do
If you can believe it, before umpiring he was The Hatchet, a professional wrestler, and never won a match.
He was proud that as an umpire he never lost control of a game.
The field was intimidated by him.
Rightly so.

Moments,
Minutes,
Memories,
Thoughts of the days when you were here whisk me away.

Playing catch,
Wandering around the hotels together,
Late night talks over cereal.

I miss it all,
I miss everything we did together.

The memories reply in my mind,
I keep pressing rewind,
“Maybe,”
“Maybe,” I tell myself
“Maybe if I replay it enough,
It’ll seem like your here,
Like I haven’t lost you,
Like you’re still in your car just near,
Like you’re just watching football,
Like you’re going to text me back when I say I love you,
Like you’re just taking mom shopping,
Like you’re just grabbing dinner,
Like you’re just at the softball field umpiring the late game,
Like you’re still in bed snoozing the day away,
Like we’re still a family,
One that’s left less broken than it is now,
A family with a father,
Just maybe,”