Andrea Galiano’s appearance as an umpire at the 2022 Little League Baseball® World Series (LLBWS) was more than two years in the making.
She and her husband, Mike, have umpired countless Little League® games in their Fort Lauderdale, Florida, community for more than three decades.
Little League International initially invited Andrea to the LLBWS in 2020 – which was ultimately canceled due to the pandemic. With the offer to serve in 2021, she then deferred her once in a lifetime experience one more year. Along with many of the other umpires, she wanted to maximize her LLBWS experience in 2022, when international teams and spectators returned to Williamsport for the first time since 2019.
Her patience paid off. Andrea was among the 20-member umpire crew selected for the 2022 LLBWS, a well-deserved honor recognizing each of their longstanding commitments to Little League Baseball and Softball programs within their communities. With her community rallying behind her, Andrea’s husband is perhaps her biggest supporter.
“I love the fact she has gotten the opportunity and I get to watch her do it,” said Mr. Galiano. “You want her to do really well. I’m probably more nervous than she is while she’s out there.”
Notably, Mike is also among the select few whose distinguished volunteerism and umpiring careers have brought them to Williamsport.
Mike was the home plate umpire for the 2009 LLBWS Championship Game, a 6-3 victory for the Park View Little League team from Chula Vista, California, over the Kuei-Shan Little League team from Chinese Taipei. With Andrea working the LLBWS 13 years later, she and Mike are the first husband and wife to have both served as umpires at the Little League Baseball World Series.
“It’s a very neat feat that we’re the first to do this,” said Mr. Galiano. “Not a lot of people get this opportunity, so for us to both have it is great. I can’t imagine it’s going to be done too many more times since there’s not many women umpiring.”
Andrea says it’s been very rewarding to be an umpire in Williamsport, and she wishes more women would give umpiring a try.
“If they did it at least once, I think they’d catch the bug,” said Mrs. Galiano.
For Andrea, playing Little League in the Fort Lauderdale area as a young girl was a rewarding experience, and she takes pride in giving back to Little Leaguers® in her community today.
“I want it to be that way for the kids in my area too,” said Mrs. Galiano. “My favorite Little League memory as a kid is my parents being at every game. And if they couldn’t go, they made sure somebody from the neighborhood did.”
The summer of 2022 has been eventful for the couple. Two months before cementing their place in Little League history, they celebrated their 39th wedding anniversary. Additionally, they purchased a new home in Florida, relocating from the Fort Lauderdale area to the Port St. Lucie area.
However, the couple is not letting their move stop them from continuing to support Little League. Mike and Andrea remain dedicated to leaving their imprint on their community and will serve as umpires in Port St. Lucie next year.