Taylor, Terry

It all started for Terry Taylor at the softball youth leagues in Campbellsville, KY where the kids and parents first oved his umpiring enthusiasm. Then, Bobby Brockman put a bug in the ear of Campbellsville H&W Classic tournament director, Ronnie Hord. Brockman said. "Why do you keep getting umpires from around the state when you have one of the best right in your back yard." Mr. Hord took Brockman's advice, and a star was born.

"To top that off, Mr. Raymond Moscoe brought his Kentucky Softball News publication into town for the H&W Classic along with his team, and afterwards Raymond asked me if I wanted to umpire outside of City County Park, and--that day literally changed my life"--said Terry.

Since I (Raymond) do the write-ups on the Kentucky Hall of Fame plaques, this induction and write-up will be even more special to me. The reason I asked Terry to umpire around the state was his energy, his full control of the game, and a personality second to none behind the plate.

Mr. Taylor took that authority throughout the Bluegrass, and he quickly earned the respect of coaches and players alike. "He put a little pizazz in his calls, he was authoritative, and you could talk to him," recalls coach, Cobbie Harrison.

After the H&W, umpire Taylor called balls and strikes at virtually every big tournament in Kentucky like the Daniel Boone Classic, the Thoroughbred, Bowling Green Spring Classic, the Southern, the Lake Cumberland Classic, and eventually the Super Slam ASA Super Qualifier where the top teams from around the country gathered.

And, Terry was able to handle the egos of the Supers and Majors and simply said, "they put their pants on just like the rest of us." And, if you heard the emphatic phrase, "Oh no you didn't--that's 3," as he moved down the line towards first you knew you were the one being struck out.

He recalls striking out J.C. Phelps at least twice--once at the Southern. JC was the nation's leading hitter winning the Silver Slugger award from TPS. Terry said, "I hated doing it, especially since JC's wife was my boss at Amazon (Taylor's other job of 25 years). JC and I became great friends at the ballpark after that, and I told him--like any big-time player--I've got a $3 clicker, and you have a $300 bat, you might as well swing it."

Terry became noticed and respected as an ASA umpire and Kentucky Softball Hall of Famer, John Combs, head of umpire hiring asked Taylor to help him with the women's and men's district, regional, and state tournaments, and Terry was eager to say yes.

From ASA, Terry went to NSA and featured nationals like the worlds in Knoxville, TN and Columbus, OH and later at the WSL Worlds in Panama City, FL.

Currently, Mr. Taylor is retired except for giving back to his community by umpiring the 8 & Under coach pitch where it all started.

"I'm truly blessed, and I wasn't in the in-crowd back in those days. I never thought this could happen," Terry said, talking about his induction. Terry is now not only in the in-crowd, but he's also in an exclusive club being honored as the newest member of the Kentucky Softball Hall of Fame.