Maine Man Selected To Be An Umpire For Little League World Series

Bill Finley, of Portland, Maine is having a lifelong dream come true. The 61-year-old Portland man will be one of the 16 umpires working the Little League Baseball World Series at Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

He will become just the fourth Mainer to umpire at the Little League World Series.

Finley,  is the umpire-in-chief for Maine’s District 6, which covers Cumberland and Oxford counties.

The Little League Baseball World Series will begin today and games will be televised on ESPN.

Finley has been umpiring for 26 years, following in the footsteps of his father. He applied to umpire at the Little League East Regionals after about five years, and finally got a chance to call those games in 2003.

Chris Parker of Bangor was the last Mainer to umpire at the World Series, in 2009. The others were Dave Adams in 1998 and Harry Dalton in 1964.

All Little League umpires are volunteers.  Little League International will supply a $400 stipend to help offset travel expenses.

Finley works as a sales engineer for Tri-State Packing Supply in Scarborough. He didn’t have any problem getting time off to attend the Little League World Series. The company is owned and run by his brother, Jim.

Finley’s wife and two children will be in attendance.