“He always had a good saying. ‘Love you and God bless to everybody.’”
AUBURN, Calif. — Robert “Bob” Morris, a fixture on Sacramento-area ballfields and courts for more than 40 years, died after an accident during a slow-pitch softball playoff game. He was 74.
Friends and colleagues said Morris collapsed after colliding with a base runner on at Recreation Park in Auburn on Sept. 11. He hit his head on the ground and later died from the injury on Sept. 23.
Morris began umpiring in the late 1970s and went on to earn national honors. He was a National Indicator Award recipient in 2012 and worked top tournaments. Friends said he kept the same hustle and energy throughout his life, still officiating multiple games a week.
“Bob loved life and he loved people. It was easy to work with Bob,” said Dominic Mercier, Umpire Assigner with the Greater Sacramento Softball Association and longtime friend of Morris.
“His accuracy was very high, his knowledge was really good, and his personality was electric,” said Mercier.
Rudy Aguillio, another close friend and fellow umpire, remembered the same enthusiasm Morris brought to games decades ago when Aguillio played youth sports in Citrus Heights.
“He brought that same energy, whether it is the first game of the day. If he worked three games, youth basketball, and then would come out at night and did three games of softball,” Aguillio said.
Friends described Morris as someone who made an impact both on and off the field.
“Everybody loved Bob,” Mercier said.
Aguillio added, “He always had a good saying. ‘Love you and God bless to everybody.’”
Morris’s family declined to speak on camera, but friends said the community will honor him the way he would have wanted: by keeping the games going.