One of George TiessenB次元官网网址檚 favourite memories of the late Peter Parsons starts on the ball diamond, before one of the many little league games the pair umpired together.
Parsons brought with him two pairs of gag Coke-bottle glasses, and he and Tiessen decided to prank the coaches at home plate.
B次元官网网址淵ou can barely see through them,B次元官网网址� Tiessen, 84, recalled. B次元官网网址淗e says, B次元官网网址楲etB次元官网网址檚 put these on when we go out and get the lineupsB次元官网网址� [and meet] with the coaches at home plate.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
The coaches B次元官网网址� likely worried the umpires were nearly blind B次元官网网址� didnB次元官网网址檛 know how to react.
B次元官网网址淭hey were looking at us B次元官网网址� I think B次元官网网址� I couldnB次元官网网址檛 see B次元官网网址� kind of strangely, and then we took the lineup cards. We were looking at them. Peter would go over to one of the coaches: B次元官网网址榃hatB次元官网网址檚 that name there?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Tiessen laughed.
Tiessen, who hung up his umpireB次元官网网址檚 gear many years ago, and Parsons, who died in 2007 at the age of 61, were inseparable. TiessenB次元官网网址檚 wife, Ruthe Tiessen, recalled the two riding her husbandB次元官网网址檚 motorcycle together to games, with the six-foot-four Parsons sitting on the back, holding his gear.
The two best friends and neighbours spent more than two decades together volunteering with the Central Saanich Little League, and, now, thanks to a request to the municipalityB次元官网网址檚 council, their days of watching over games as a pair are no longer over B次元官网网址� at least symbolically.
Last month, Central Saanich council approved a request from the league to rename Centennial ParkB次元官网网址檚 Ball Diamond #2 B次元官网网址� the one across from Peter Parsons Diamond B次元官网网址� after Tiessen.
B次元官网网址淚 think itB次元官网网址檚 quite an honour,B次元官网网址� said Tiessen, who was informed of the little leagueB次元官网网址檚 request about a week after councilB次元官网网址檚 approval. B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 expect something like that.B次元官网网址�
Tiessen volunteered with the league for more than 25 years, starting alongside Parsons in the late B次元官网网址�70s when their sons started playing T-ball. He coached and umpired, serving at times as chief umpire and assistant chief umpire, and even re-designed the leagueB次元官网网址檚 logo, which is still used. He also, alongside Parsons, founded umpiring clinics for the leagueB次元官网网址檚 minors and majors divisions.
League president, Morley Wittman, said the decision to request naming the park after Tiessen was an easy one.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to encourage good role models and raise good citizensB次元官网网址�. ThatB次元官网网址檚 really our main goal,B次元官网网址� Wittman said. B次元官网网址淕eorge is a prime candidate for that type of role model that weB次元官网网址檙e looking for.B次元官网网址�
Choosing the diamond across from Peter Parsons Diamond also seemed fitting.
B次元官网网址淏oth George and Peter Parsons were kind of a tag team for years, back in the B次元官网网址�90s and 2000s,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏oth those guys would then be at the parkB次元官网网址� kind of overlooking the park, if that makes sense.B次元官网网址�
Ruthe, TiessenB次元官网网址檚 wife, said she shares the sentiment.
B次元官网网址淚 think thatB次元官网网址檚 really touching. ItB次元官网网址檚 going to be neat to have the two parks named after these guys,B次元官网网址� she said.
The league plans to officially rename the field after Tiessen when next yearB次元官网网址檚 season opens in April.
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