He has called a lot of balls and strikes in his career but after 53 years umpire Carl Lake is putting away his counter and cleats.

Lake worked his final game at St. Pat’s Ball Park in St. John’s Tuesday night, an emotional time for his close-knit umpiring family, not to mention his own.

On VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly this morning, Lake recounted several stories including one from the memorable 1982 National Senior Men’s Baseball Championship which was held at St. Pat’s.

Bill “Spaceman” Lee, a very good pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos, was on the mound for Quebec at the time. Lake admitted even umpires can get the jitters now and then, especially one whose favourite team is the Red Sox.

He said he was shaking so much that he didn’t know what he was doing for the entire first inning of that game.