From home plate to lunch plate: meet the Baltimore umpire who serves the hungry

From CNS and Baltimore’s Catholic Review:

When Major League Baseball umpire Mark Wegner, a Catholic, is in Baltimore to work at an Orioles game, one way he likes to spend his spare time is by helping people in need.

“I have free time, and I try to use it productively, but nothing is more productive than, going to Mass, No. 1, but No. 2, coming to do some things like this,” said Wegner.

Dressed in an Under Armour T-shirt, baseball cap and a green apron, the umpire was working with other volunteers on a recent Friday at Our Daily Bread, a Catholic Charities of Baltimore program that serves meals to the city’s homeless. He and the others were preparing tables, mixing salads and filling plates for the lunch crowd.

Wegner, who wears uniform No. 47, got off the field at Camden Yards at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 6, after the Orioles beat the New York Yankees 10-6, temporarily tying for first place in the race for the American League East crown.

At 9 the next morning, he was part of Our Daily Bread’s 11,422nd day of uninterrupted food service.

Wegner, 40, tries to visit Our Daily Bread every time he is in town for Orioles games, once or twice a year, he said.

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Photo: CNS/Bill McAllen, Catholic Review