Joe Rossi Hall of Fame

1997 Hall of Fame Inductee Howard Wentz – Aurora Howard Wentz started officiating in the Army while stationed in Germany in 1963. He retired 21 years later when, as Howard writes, "My mind would say, 'Get down in position behind the catcher' and my knees would say 'To heck with it. Just let it go'." In between times, Howard worked little league baseball at Fitzsimons Army Hospital, Girls Fastpitch Softball, American Legion Baseball, as well as baseball in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference: His list of mentors and associates in the sport reads like a "Who's Who" in Colorado Baseball, from his involvement with the Rocky Mountain Umpire's Association and men like Julie Carabello and David Letofsky who demonstrated how "the mechanics of hard-working umpires” paid off in the respect of the coaches to his performances in front of legendary baseball coaches like John DeSiato, Terry Schiessler, and the irascible Harry Wise, who as Howard writes, "was noted for eating umpires alive!" Howard's influence extended to his oldest son who now umpires high school and college baseball in Washington State, and he still enjoys watching the professional men in blue blow a call now and then; proof positive, as Howard writes, "To err is human, to 'SELL IT IS DIVINE.' "