A Bay St. Louis player checked his swing Monday afternoon and the home plate umpire yelled down to first base for a second opinion.

&#8220Did he go?” the ump asked.

Behind first base, first-base umpire Charlie Miller bellowed an equally emphatic, &#8220yes, he went.”

After 37 years calling every level of youth baseball and softball, Miller still showed some gusto in making the call.

Miller, a Vicksburg resident, umpired his final game Monday afternoon in the 10-year-olds’ Cal Ripken State Tournament.

&#8220I don’t want to be one of those guys people say, ‘why doesn’t he leave?’” said Miller, 62. &#8220At my age it’s all about being at my best. So I decided that this is my last year and this was my last game.”

Miller has umpired in the Mississippi Private School Association for a number of years and has also worked for the Mississippi High School Activies Association.

&#8220I’ve done the MPSA AAA championship game and their all-star game. I’ve also called in the MHSAA for a number of years. I’ve been the chief umpire here for some time and I’ve called two national championship softball games,” Miller said.

Miller has been umpiring games for so long that he remembers calling a game Red Carpet Bowl committee member Ricky Mitchell played in. Mitchell has a daughter in college and a son who played on the 2001 Warren Central baseball state championship team.

&#8220I did one of his high school baseball games,” Miller said of Mitchell, with a laugh.

As for why he has lasted so long as an umpire, Miller gave a simple answer.

&#8220It’s the kids and my fellow umpires. The kids help keep you young,” Miller said.

Miller said one of his favorite stories as an umpire came from a youth baseball game.

&#8220It was a real close game but one of the kids told me he wished he was an elephant so he could fly around like Dumbo. You can’t hear stories like that anywhere else.”