| Posts: Canberra, Australia |
Author: Lance
Cpl. Alec Kleinsmith
1st Marine Division |
Source: Marinelink
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON,
Calif.(Jan. 26, 2006) -- Like
countless children growing up with an infinite supply of dreams and
aspirations, Gunnery Sgt. Marco A. Rico spent his childhood driven to
accomplish one goal – play Major League Baseball.
Rico is part of an elite group. He’s now one of only 23 umpires
at his level in the San Diego County area.
Rico, the staff noncommissioned officer in charge for the 1st Marine
Division Casualty Operations Center, first took an interest in baseball
as a 10-year-old playing for the Cougars, a Little League team in his
hometown of San Antonio.
When he wasn’t playing baseball, Rico would go to Little League
games
with his father, a former umpire in the minor leagues and at the
collegiate level, to watch him officiate.
“I also made extra money on the side by catching foul balls and
home
runs,” said Rico. “Ten cents for a foul and a quarter for
every home
run.”
His passion for the game took him to Bee County College in Beeville,
Texas, where he played shortstop and catcher for the junior college.
It was in his college years that he realized that although he was good
at the collegiate level, he simply didn’t have the skills
necessary to
move on to professional baseball.
“After coming to the conclusion that I wasn’t good enough
for the pros,
I decided that I wanted to get away from home and try something
new.”
Rico joined the Marines May 21, 1985.
While the door to professional baseball slammed shut, another door
opened up that could keep him close to the game he cherishes.
Though Rico, whose career in the Corps spans more than 20 years, no
longer plays competitive baseball, he still remains attached to it in
ways rabid fans could only dream. He’s a collegiate umpire for
the San
Diego County area.
His umpiring career first began in 1991 at the youth baseball level,
where he umpired games for free alongside his father.
In 1995, Rico moved up in the umpire ranks, umpiring traveling youth
teams for $30 a game. After a year, he moved on to the American Amateur
Baseball Conference.
In 1998, the Marines sent Rico to the U.S. embassy in Canberra,
Australia for Marine Security Guard duty. While there, Rico met a local
umpire who was able to get him some work officiating the local games.
“I threw out more players in Australia than anywhere else
I’ve been
because baseball over there is completely different from the
U.S.,”
said Rico.
Rico returned to the United States in 2002. Once back with 1st Marine
Division, he stayed out of baseball for almost two years until his
appeal to the game overcame his absence.
“I got the itch to get back into baseball,” he said.
“I looked into umpiring again.”
He began officiating high school games in the San Diego County area. It
was during this time that he realized one of his callings in life.
“Once I started umpiring high school games, I finally realized
that I
am an umpire and that this is something that I’m good at,”
he said.
The Pacific Baseball Umpires Association took note of Rico’s
talents.
In July 2005 he was offered to join the Southern California Collegiate
Umpires Association and umpire for the junior college circuit.
“My ultimate goal is to umpire at the Division I college level,
which I
think I can achieve in about six to eight years,” Rico said.
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