For over a decade, a plaque hung in the concession stand at Buckhead Baseball that read, “Hoyle Dye; A Friend of Boys.”
It disappeared many years ago, according to Ray Mock, whose father, Jim Mock, was one of the founders of the youth baseball program. With it, generations of coaches, players and supporters never learned the tragic story of the first head umpire of Buckhead Baseball.
Since 1952 Buckhead Baseball has been teaching the game to generations of young boys on the fields of Frankie Allen Park on Pharr Road.
One of the first names associated with the program is Dye’s. He was an outstanding athlete at Boys High School in the 1930s and played baseball professionally as a catcher in Richmond, Va., before World War II. After his playing days were over, Dye began refereeing sports as a way to spend time with his son, Robert. He officiated high school and little league football, basketball and baseball games. He was the first head umpire for Buckhead Baseball.
He was also an outstanding police officer.
On Nov. 9, 1960, his hobby and his profession intersected with terrible consequences.
According to the local newspaper report, Dye switched shifts that day so that he could umpire a game that evening. Just after noon, he and his partner J.R. Weldon received a call about a suspect who had beaten his sister. The brother, George Gray, had left the scene and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.
The officers went to the house and got a description of Gray. Their search led them to a corner grill at the intersection of Northside Drive and Simpson Street. As Weldon talked to the owner, Dye walked to one of the booths in the back, where a man was sitting alone. Weldon said he heard Dye ask a question when suddenly the man jumped to his feet, drew a gun and shot Officer Dye. Weldon was able to hit the suspect several times, but he fled the scene.
Dye died on the way to Grady Hospital.
Weldon apprehended the killer a short time later. He showed no remorse in the killing of the popular Buckhead Baseball umpire. He told officers he was minding his own business when the officer started asking him questions.
Perhaps Buckhead Baseball will one day find that old plaque in a store room somewhere, and the real story of Hoyle Dye – police officer, first head baseball umpire and a ‘friend of boys’ – will regain its rightful place.
ATKII 