OFF HOURS: Biology Professor Ken Miller, NCAA umpire

Professor Kenneth Miller has had every foul word in the book hurled at him, and some dirt, too.

But the molecular biologist does not leave the lab and crouch behind the plate at NCAA fast-pitch softball games to make friends.

"It is not a good hobby for someone who wants to be universally liked," said Miller. "I like the sport and, in effect, when you umpire you have the best seat in the house."

Miller was forced to become more than a softball spectator 15 years ago when the coach for his oldest daughter's youth softball team in Rehoboth suddenly departed in mid-season.

While his two daughters were youths, he coached and served as director for the Rehoboth Girls Softball Association which, at its largest, included 23 teams and 250 players in three leagues. But when his youngest went to high school, Miller lost his immediate link to the sport.

"I liked the sport so much and I liked working with the players, I decided to go to the dark side and become an umpire," said Miller, whose daughters Lauren and Tracy are now 23 and 20, respectively.

Five years have passed since Miller began umpiring. He started at the high school junior varsity level and quickly worked up to the varsity and NCAA levels.

The hours spent behind the plate began with a 12-week course through the Amateur Softball Association, the national governing body for the sport and main certifying organization for its umpires.

Each week the instructor would review a different chapter in the thick rule book. Softball may be a simple game to conceptualize - ball or strike, safe or out, fair or foul - but the rules and mechanics of the games are many and intricate, said Miller.

A good umpire, for example, will never call a fair ball, only a foul one. The two words start with the same sound, so yelling "fair" could confuse and cause a runner to slow briefly on the way to first base, said Miller.

Because umpires' calls are frequently disputed by one team or another, an umpire is not judged by whether or not he is liked, said Miller. Instead, qualities such as fairness, hustle and knowledge of the rules are how one is judged; Miller's promotion to NCAA umpiring was acknowledgment of his ability.

Physically, the job is grueling. Umpires crouch behind the plate about 250 times each game, and work as many as three games in a row in one day. At the same time, the attention umpires devote to the playing field cannot waver. Based on the distance between the mound and the plate, a softball pitcher with a 60-mph fastball is equivalent to a baseball pitcher with a 90-mph fastball.

According to Miller, 50 percent of people in any sport give up officiating within the first year because of the physical and mental demands.

At this time of year, most of the softball games Miller umpires are at the tournament level, scheduled on evenings and weekends, so he does not have to juggle his workload. But during the college season from late March to early May, Miller leaves the lab early once or twice a week to umpire - working it into an already heavy schedule of teaching and research.

"Being able to associate with young athletes is an honor and a pleasure," said Miller. "They enjoy the process of competition and so do I. I am making it a better contest by hustling and making a good call." - Kristen Cole