By Andy Walter

WILMINGTON — Jim Long never expected to stay in Delaware more than a couple years after he moved here.

That was 56 years ago.

Likewise, the Dover resident didn’t really think he’d be on the DIAA baseball state tournament forever, either.

But here the 84-year-old is anyway, five decades later, still a member of the group that runs the state tournament.

As the president of the Lower Delaware Baseball Umpire’s Association, Long was put on the committee by former DIAA executive director Dale Farmer. The group was then known as the Delaware Secondary School Athletic Association.

“After a few years, I said, ‘How do you get off the committee?’” Long quipped. “He (Farmer) said, ‘You die.’”

On Saturday night, before the DIAA baseball state championship game at Frawley Stadium, Long was honored for his years of service as a coach, umpire, teacher and committee member.

One of the people on hand for the plaque presentation was former DIAA executive director Kevin Charles, who also wrestled for Long at Dover High in the early 1970s.

Long had earlier started the wrestling program at Dover’s Central Middle School. He coached for 38 years, including coaching in football. baseball, softball, soccer and field hockey along with wrestling.

Dover’s Jim Long has been on the DIAA baseball state tournament committee for five decades. SPECIAL TO THE DAILY STATE NEWS/GARY EMEIGH

The West Virginia native also started the wrestling program at Petersbug High in his home state. Back then he didn’t know much about the sport.

“I had never seen a wrestling match and I was the varsity coach,” said Long. “The first match I ever saw was my own.

“Then, when I came to Dover, I figured a West Virginia guy coming to the capital city, that’s the end of my career. The next thing I know, I’m coaching (junior varsity) football at Dover High.”

Charles said he enjoyed wrestling for Long when he was in high school. He also said Long knows as much about the history of Dover wrestling as anybody.

“He was an excellent coach,” said Charles. “What he had to do was he had to turn around kind of a losing mentality at Dover. And he did it in one year.

“We went from losing most of our matches to having a winning record. He made us believe in ourselves. He was a good teacher of the basics, which we needed.”

Long first started umpiring baseball games in 1961. He stayed an umpire until 1995.

“When I first started teaching in West Virginia, I wanted to be a baseball coach,” Long explained. “But they already had a baseball coach. But they didn’t have an umpire.

“I enjoyed the game. When I was umpiring, I liked to be behind the plate. I liked the excitement of it. Now I like to see the good plays and the good players. The ball seems to move so much faster.”

Later, Charles got to work with Long on the DIAA baseball committee. He said he had a lot of respect for his former coach in that job, too.

“That kind of institutional memory and knowledge is pretty valuable,” said Charles. “The thing is, sometimes you get people that are there just because they want to be on the committee.

“But Jim is a worker. He shows up at the early-round games and goes to committee meetings. He’s not just one that’s there to be there. He’s there to work.

“That (50 years) is pretty incredible. That’s a long stretch.

“He’s a good guy — a very knowledgeable guy,” Charles added. “He’s a good guy to have on your team.”

Long admits that 50 years on the baseball sounds like a long time to him, too..

“It sounds like a whole lot,” he said. “I enjoy the camaraderie with people.”

On the other hand, Long has been married to his wife Peggy for 63 years. He said he’s just naturally a guy who sticks with something once he starts.

“My whole life, I hate to quit,” said Long. “I just keep on going.”