Clinton “Sal” Hovis is a wisp of a man, small in stature and unimposing by nature. But on the ballfield, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Hovis, who’s been umpiring ballgames for more than a quarter-century, will be recognized for his dedication on Saturday, April 15, when a ball field at Johnson Elementary School is to be named in his honor.

Hovis’ interest in sports began early and has endured throughout his lifetime.

“I started playing at 6 and played until I was 32,” he says.

He played baseball for school teams at Harvest and later on, with independent teams at Johnson, East Limestone and Harvest.

“In those days,” he explains, “the season didn’t get started until after people laid by their cotton. People were scared if they played earlier, they’d get hurt and not be able to gather their crops. Lay-by time started about the first of July, after people had chopped and plowed their cotton.”

Hovis had been calling games unofficially, without pay, for several years when one night 23 years ago his paid career in umpiring began almost by accident.

“I went to an Elkmont/Johnson game one night at Elkmont and the umpire didn’t show up,” he recalls. “They asked me to call the game – and I’ve been calling ever since.”

He has called baseball for all age levels and girls softball, but now he restricts himself to the NSA League girls fast-pitch softball. He has called two USSSA World Tournaments – one in Joplin, Mo., and one in Muscle Shoals; he has called 10 USSSA state tournaments in Alabama; and last year he called the SEAA State Tournament held in Athens. He called USSSA Slow-Pitch Co-Ed Softball in Lawrence County for the past three falls, and umpired games in Madison County “off and on for as long as I can remember.”

In addition, he coached at Johnson Junior High School for 12 years, and called Saturday morning basketball at Johnson for at least five years.

Umpires must remain flexible, says Hovis, because their schedules can – and often do – change with little notice. It’s not unusual for him to call two or three games each weekday (excluding Wednesdays, when no games are scheduled), and more on Saturdays. He remembers calling 12 games one Saturday at Clements.

He has called games for three generations of his own family: his children, his grandchildren, and now, his great-grandchildren.

Retired principal Richard Phillips recalls that as the grandfather of Johnson students, Hovis took his involvement further than umpiring.

“As I recall,” says Phillips, “he helped us out on at least two separate occasions – with the gym and the ballfields.”

Some of the labor on those projects was accomplished by inmates, and Hovis took responsibility for transporting them to the work site and supervising them.

“Sal was always one who took an interest in helping around the school,” Phillips says. “Whatever needed doing – he was happy to do it. He was trustworthy, dependable, willing – all of those words describe him. He always worked in the best interest of the school.”

Kevin Duncan, president of Johnson Elementary Booster Club, echoes that sentiment.

“I’ve been around Sal four or five years now,” says Duncan. “He’s a good man who gives his time for the community. We appreciate what he does. I think he’s a great man to be honored in this way.”

To be a good umpire, Hovis says, you have to keep up with the rules of your league – and you never criticize another umpire.

“I try to call it right,” he adds, “but if an umpire says he’s never missed one, he’s wrong. You can’t get them all right. I have come home and laid in bed thinking, ‘Did I miss it, or did I get it?’ It worries you sometime, but I try my hardest to get it right.”

“He calls it like he sees it, even if it’s his own family,” says Betty Hovis, his wife of 51 years. “One time he was calling our grandson’s game. Adam was at bat and Sal called a strike on him. Adam turned around and said, ‘Now Pawpaw, you know that wasn’t a strike.’ No matter who it is, Sal calls them the same.”

On another occasion, Hovis ejected a coach from a game. The coach was angry until, in the next inning, Hovis’ grandson slid into home plate and Hovis called him out.

“That man came up to me and apologized,” Hovis says. “He said, ‘I know if you’d call your own grandson out, you’ve got to be fair.’”

Hovis isn’t often the subject of umpire abuse, but at one game a man jumped the fence and kicked him after Hovis called his young son out.

“The bases were loaded and he walked home,” Hovis says. “He didn’t tag up; he walked across the pitcher’s mound and into the dugout. When he hit the dugout, I called him out. Stanley Hinkle, who was over Dixie Youth Baseball at the time, forfeited the game and sent that team home.”

Hovis says his favorite aspect of umpiring is getting to know the kids.

“Everywhere we go,” says his wife, “somebody comes up and hugs him and says something like, ‘You called my games and now you’re calling my kids’ games.’”

Hovis had to sit out the season in the fall of 2004 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. After 30 radiation treatments and five chemotherapies, he was back to umpiring by summer.

“After the cancer, I said, ‘Sal, don’t call anymore. Just go watch the great-grands play,’” says his wife, “but he said, ‘I’m calling one more year.’ He keeps saying, ‘I’m gonna call one more year, one more year. Probably as long as he can get out on the field, he’ll keep on.”

The Hovises are the parents of two: Debra Sims and the late Dennis Hovis. They have four grandchildren — Adam, Chris, Kevin and Brad — and four great-grandchildren — Laine, Devin, Jenna and Hannah.