The national umpire shortage was further exacerbated on Saturday when an umpire working at a Texas Little League tournament was arrested in the parking lot in possession of crystal meth. Harris County Sheriff’s Deputies were told the referee was at the height of “suspicious activity” in his car and it led to the arrest of 35-year-old Brent Thrasher.
Police said they found 2.7 grams of crystal meth in Thrasher’s car, and he was immediately kicked out of the tournament and into a police cruiser.
According to KETK, Thrasher was arrested in 2018 for threatening a public official and he has an arrest record dating back over 15 years while he was just having fun with pot.
Lost in all the talk of Thrasher being outed for possessing ice is his on-field performance. How was his strike zone? Did he have any problems calling balls and strikes? Was he a worthy referee? These are legit questions because it’s hard to find a rookie to call balls and strikes.
Little leagues across the country face a severe shortage of umpires willing to get yelled at by parents. It might not be the worst thing in the world for referees to dabble in crystal meth to get them through the game.
Did Brent kick coaches out of games for no reason? Were there any behavioral issues? Let’s not just throw the book at a referee because he jumps on the ice cream cart. However, would it be too much to ask Brent to be a little more discreet with his crystal meth? Come on, Brent. Hide drugs from parents who have binged on pills and alcohol.
“Perfect Game,” the organizer of the little league event, said Brent was 100 percent done with the organization:
“This referee will never work for us again,” Perfect Game told KETK. “Brent Thrasher worked for us years ago and one of our referee assigners brought him back for Saturday’s game. He does not routinely referee Little League games. It is under federal law that we check the backgrounds of everyone who works for Perfect Game and we look for charges of violence against women and children or charges of sexual abuse.