Former major league ump visits VA Medical Center
Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2006
Patients at the Fayetteville Veterans Administration Medical Center got a visit Wednesday from a man they may have recognized from television, a familiar figure often crouching behind home plate at major league baseball games or arguing about a particular call.
Larry Barnett, a former umpire in major league baseball, said most of the veterans he visits are happy to see him, a far cry from his days calling balls and strikes in the American League.
Barnett has been visiting veterans at VA medical centers since 1976, and now that he is retired from umpiring, he visits five hospitals every month.
Barnett worked in the American League from 1969 to 1999 before becoming the major leagues' supervisor of umpires in 2000-2001.
In 1975, a friend of his in the Disabled American Veterans organization asked him if he'd be interested in visiting hospitalized veterans.
"I asked him, ' How much fun could that be ?'"he said. "That was 31 years ago, and I've done about 3, 000 visits."
Through the DAV Voluntary Service program, Barnett has visited every VA medical center in the nation.
"Outside of my wife and children, this has been the great- est experience I've had," he said.
Barnett autographed baseball posters at the VA Medical Center on Wednesday, stopping in each patient's room to say "thank you for serving our country."
"These are the unsung heroes," he said. "They're the reason we've been able to do what we do in professional sports for over 37 years."
Barnett said veterans are often forgotten as is the staff that takes care of them as patients.
"The staff does an amazing job throughout the country taking care of our veterans," he said. "I like to come in and talk to the staff. I come in for a day and have a good time, but they're here all the time. I can't say'thank you'enough."
The visits have just as much of an impact on Barnett as they do on the patients.
"I met a lady today and she was sort of down, but she broke into a beautiful smile," he said. "That makes my day. I feel a lot better now than I did when I walked in this morning."
The staff said Barnett's visits make the patients feel better as well.
"It's been a fun experience for the guys," Assistant Nurse Manager DeAnna Drake said. "He has such a positive attitude. It really brightens them up."
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