CJ Mitchell was one of the very best, behind the plate and in life

Heaven’s baseball team must have needed a better umpire.

It got one Sunday with the passing of Richland’s CJ Mitchell.

Mitchell, who was 84 and died after battling kidney failure these past few years, was without a doubt the best baseball umpire in the Tri-Cities region, if not the Northwest.

He could have been one of the best in the highest reaches of all of baseball, had he wanted to.

In 1972, the Los Angeles Dodgers came calling, asking the then-41-year-old if he’d like to train in Vero Beach, Fla., with the idea of him eventually becoming a Major League umpire.

But he had a wife, Bernice, and five sons and a daughter. The traveling around the country would have been too much.

So he stayed home in the Tri-Cities, working out at the Hanford area and officiating baseball, football and basketball games from youth leagues through high school and into college.

MLB’s loss was definitely our gain.

I grew up in the Tri-Cities and played youth baseball from the time I was 8 through my high school years at Kamiakin.

We always felt great, warming up before a contest, seeing CJ come from the parking lot ready to call our game. We knew, even then as 12-year-olds, that we were getting the best umpire there was to officiate our games.

He had integrity. We may have not been the Oregon State Beavers, the Washington Huskies or the Washington State Cougars, but we knew we were going to get his best effort.

It’s because he cared about the youth of the Tri-Cities.

At one point I played for the Kennewick Dusters, and we were taking on the Richland Knights. This was 1978, when both programs were senior American Legion baseball teams.

CJ was the manager for the Knights.

I don’t even remember who won that game.

What I remember is this: Mitchell, the opposing manager, wrote me a letter of recommendation to any college baseball coach, saying they’d be lucky to have me. He did this on his own.

Ben Jacobs, the former baseball coach at Richland High School, spent a lot of time with CJ these past few months.

“CJ didn’t have any allegiance to the kids in Richland,” said Jacobs. “He had an allegiance to all of the kids in the Tri-Cities. He wanted to see all of the schools win. What he really valued were great citizens.”

Years later, as a sports editor, I was able to work with CJ on the Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame, as we were both members of the Tri-Cities Sports Council.

The Hall was his baby.

Lynn Tegeler, another TCSC member, worked with him too.

“He really wanted the Tri-Cities to have a standalone hall of fame to recognize the local athletes who had an impact in central Washington and beyond, and he told me over and over, ‘We’re going to do it some day, Tegeler, and you’re going to run it!

“I loved that he dreamed big and always saw potential.”

He was also humble.

He should have been inducted into that first class. At least by year two.

But Mitchell held out, believing there were many more athletes and coaches who deserved induction first.

It wasn’t until the sixth class — in 2004, when our nominating committee was meeting — that I’d had enough.

“CJ,” I told him, “this is ridiculous. You need to be in this hall.”

He finally relented.

His shadowbox and those for the other inductees are displayed all around the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

CJ was the youngest 75-year-old I ever met, and he was a lot younger than some 45-year-olds I’ve met.

He stayed busy.

Up until a few years ago, when he began to get sick, he was still evaluating umpires for the Pac-12 Conference.

“He would take Mom and drive to Pullman, and he’d evaluate the umpires up there,” said his son, Greg Mitchell. “I’d get on him about taking Mom up there. Leave her home.”

But he took Bernice with him everywhere.

Even these last few years, he and Bernice could be seen at Tri-City Dust Devils games, sitting in their seats behind home plate.

He also continued to assign local umpires to youth and high school games up until a few years ago. He rarely took time off to just quietly enjoy things.

“Dad was like a hyper little kid, with a very positive outlook on life,” said Mitchell’s daughter, Vanessa Moore.

Jacobs agreed.

“His love was for all of the kids,” said Jacobs. “He was loved by all. And if someone didn’t love him, there must have been something wrong with them.”

Just being around CJ taught me how to be positive in life. That there was always something good to be found in anything. That hard work pays dividends. And countless other lessons.

“The Tri-Cities, and the entire sports community locally and well beyond, has lost a special man with a huge heart,” said Tegeler.

So true.

I will miss his smile. I will miss his laughter, his ‘Hey Morrow, what are you doin’?’ yell.

I will miss this man.

But at least the baseball games in Heaven will be called fairly now.

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "CJ Mitchell was one of the very best, behind the plate and in life."