I was too busy to watch much of the NCAA baseball tournament this year, but I did catch some of the UCLA vs. Cal-State Bakersfield game in the Los Angeles Regional. Dave Condon was working the plate. Both of us are members of the Fox Valley Blues, which assigns the majority of my high school games.
I used to assign work in New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort as the Independent Umpire Association for several years in the 1990s. Condon, who graduated from Lockport in 1994, started umpiring youth games for me at that time. He went on to play baseball at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. We sort of flopped residences as I graduated from SIU that same year and returned home.
I hadn’t spoken to Condon since he did those games for me 20 years ago, back when he used the balloon-style chest protector. It was great to finally catch up.
And, it’s pretty darn cool to hear how successful he’s become.
He worked his 13th season in NCAA Division I this spring and has been working a full D-I conference schedule since 2005. He also worked his ninth conference tournament and sixth regional.
That’s quite impressive, but as someone who puts his all into umpiring, it really doesn’t surprise me.
“It’s weird because when I was playing as a kid, you’d see the same umpires over and over, and two of the guys I saw a lot were Mark Carlson and Mike Tezak,” Condon said. “Those guys really helped me develop, and after my junior year – we had lost to Plainfield in a regional semifinal in 1993 – I saw Carlson and Tezak and told them I needed a job for the summer and I wanted to umpire. They gave some info and someone to contact and I got started.”
Carlson has been an MLB umpire since 1999. As for Tezak, I had no idea Condon even knew him. Tezak and I both went to St. Mary Magdalene for grade school and Providence for high school and used to be teammates. We also share an affinity for the St. Louis Cardinals. What a small world.
Condon officiated basketball and football while attending SIU, but had to put his umpiring pursuits on the backburner as he walked on to the baseball team during his junior year.
“After I got done playing baseball, I told myself that I wanted to give this umpiring thing a shot,” he said. “So I got done playing in 1999 and stayed down there to student teach, and every day that fall I worked scrimmages for (SIU baseball team) fall practices.”
The ensuing spring, while working on his master’s degree, Condon umpired junior college games. Then, in 2002, he got his first real shot, a nonconference game at Illinois.
“After that it really just took off,” he said. “I’ve been on the D-I staff now since 2005 and now I’m trying to get to a super regional. Hopefully that comes in the next couple of years.”
Because he loves the game so much, he always knew he would stay involved in some capacity, but sometimes Condon still has a hard time believing how far he’s gotten.
“In 2012, I got picked to go to South Korea for two weeks for the World Cup,” he said. “It was an unbelievable trip. I never thought in a million years that I would progress to this level. Umpiring has taken me to all these different colleges and beautiful campuses, and I’ve met some amazing people along the way. They’re who I cherish the most.”
He certainly cherishes the years he got to spend playing for the late SIU coach Dan Callahan.
Having worked for SIU’s student paper, The Daily Egyptian, I got to know Callahan, too. He was one of the nicest, most selfless guys I’ve not only met in sports, but in all my life. He had an even bigger effect on Condon, who’s moving back to his hometown of Lockport later this summer.
“He was a father figure in my life and I’ll never forget the conversations we had and the leadership he taught me,” Condon said. “He let me work all those scrimmages and wrote me letters of recommendation. When we were thinking of names for our twins it was a no-brainer to name my son, Cal.
“The day before he passed, I drove down there with (former teammate Joe Schley) and we got to spend 15 minutes with him and I told him that as soon as I get to Omaha, I’m going to pick out No. 37 for you,” he said. “He couldn’t talk but he raised his hand. He was just a phenomenal person. I’ve never met someone like him who could capture a room and captivate people like he could.”
Players and fans enjoy stellar pitching performances, unbelievable catches, bombastic home runs and walk-off winners. Umpires enjoy well-played games that move quickly without arguments in sunny, non-humid, 72-degree weather. Both enjoy the people they meet along the way.
Condon has had the pleasure of meeting and working with some great ones. I’m happy we share some that are mutual.
They say you can’t beat fun at the old ballpark, but reminiscing about it comes darn close.
• Sugar Grove resident Chris Rollin Walker is a baseball umpire with an eye for strikes, balls, gerunds and participles. Contact him at editorial@kcchronicle.com.