News

LAKE MARY, Fla.- In 2018, the Florida League established the Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year Award to honor the historic achievements and contributions to our league and college baseball of Randy Harvey, who passed away in 2020 after a five-year battle with a rare kidney disease. The award is designed to recognize an umpire who embodies the professionalism, excellent judgment and spirit of the award's namesake.

The 2023 Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year award winner not only embodies the Randy Harvey spirit, but is one of the most dedicated members of the Florida League family - Sean Blackketter.

Florida League president Stefano Foggi said Blackketter has become one of the top umpires in the Florida League in a short time in the profession, earning him the admiration of coaches and players around the FCSL.

"The Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year award is such a meaningful award for our league and many of our umpires and we are so proud to present it to Sean Blackketter this year," Foggi said. "Sean's ability to call and manage games is terrific and he has garnered the respect of all of our coaches, impressively achieving that at a young age." 

Blackketter's association with the Florida League goes beyond his duties behind the plate. Blackketter served as an intern with the FCSL in 2016, working for the Winter Garden Squeeze.

Winter Garden general manager Adam Bates, himself an umpire and one of the people responsible for starting Blackketter in the umpiring profession, lauded Blackketter's willingness to work anytime, anywhere, much as the award's namesake did.

"Sean never turns down an assignment, and he is a well respected umpire across the league and Central Florida," Bates said. "He embodies so many qualities of Randy both and off the field; he works hard every game and keeps a level head in the toughest of situations."

Scooter Morrison, the Umpire Coordinator for the Florida League, added that as much as any umpire in the Florida League, Blackketter carries on the legacy of Randy Harvey.

"When Randy Harvey passed away, I gave his chest protector to Sean Blackketter," Morrison remarked. "It is then quite literally fitting that Sean is honored this year with the award that bears Randy's name."

Blackketter is the fifth recipient of the Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year award. He joins Randy Harvey, Charles Reddick, Kevin Flay, and Eric Steiner as the award's recipients.

ABOUT RANDY HARVEY
Randy Harvey had an impact on the Florida League far more than any umpire ever has or likely ever will. 

Harvey, a Sanford native, had a storied umpiring career. Like most umpires, Randy began umpiring at the Little League level. His time there was short-lived as he quickly ascended the umpire ranks. He has an impressive resume of experience. Randy umpired Conference USA for 2 years, the Sun Belt Conference and the A-Sun Conference for 10+ years. He umpired SEC and ACC games for over 15 years and worked 13 NCAA Division I Regionals and Super-Regionals, 4 ACC Tournaments and 4 SEC Tournaments. He worked countless Florida League games over 15 years and umpired the Division I College World Series in 2006 and the Division II World Series. To top it all off, Randy umpired Major League Baseball games twice during the umpire strikes in 1991 and 1995.

Throughout his career Randy epitomized what it meant to serve as a collegiate umpire. He was known for his professionalism and excellent judgment. He took immense pride in his work and always treated coaches and players with respect. He also had a huge heart for the game of baseball and those participating in it. Harvey always had a genuine concern about the players and umpires who he shared the field with. Their safety and well-being was always a focus of his. When you talked to him off the field, he always asked how you were doing and loved hearing stories about players whose games he umpired in years past. You got the notion that he felt as if he was a part of their development into professionals.

From 2015 to his passing in 2020, Randy battled a rare kidney disease. After being forced off of the field for some time, Randy was preparing to work a full collegiate schedule in the spring of 2018 when sudden complications from the disease forced doctors to amputate both of his legs, ending his umpiring career. Eventually, doctors amputated both of his arms. In true Randy Harvey spirit, he has never complained and cared more about how his fellow umpires, players and coaches are doing more-so than himself. He passed away in September of 2020.