LAKE MARY — In 2018, the Florida League established the Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year Award to honor the historic achievements and contributions to our league and college baseball of Randy Harvey, who passed away in 2020 after a five-year battle with a rare kidney disease. The award is designed to recognize an umpire who embodies the professionalism, excellent judgment and spirit of the award's namesake.
The 2024 Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year award winner has been a mainstay on Florida League fields, and has served a prominent role in his community. The 2024 winner for the Florida League's Randy Harvey Award is John Dowdy.
Florida League president Stefano Foggi remarked that Dowdy has been a constant on fields across central Florida, and has made the FCSL better with his service to the League.
"John Dowdy is as constant as they come, and we are thrilled to have him on our umpire roster," Foggi said. "He brings quality, consistency and enthusiasm to every game he works, and he genuinely cares about everyone he shares the field with, which was one of Randy Harvey's trademarks.”
John Dowdy is one of the most respected umpires in the Florida League, and has honed his craft across college baseball. Dowdy has called games in the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference and the NAIA Southern States Conference, and earned the assignment to work NAIA Opening Round contests this spring.
Away from the field, the Huntsville, Alabama native is a Fellowship of Christian Athletes leader in Lake County, and is active in his community. Scooter Morrison, the Umpire Coordinator for the Florida League, recounts a story where Dowdy drove several hours on Thanksgiving to volunteer to feed the homeless.
Morrison also described Dowdy as a servant leader, truly embodying one of the main traits of the award's namesake.
"John is dependable and will do whatever it takes for success; he's not just doing a job out on the field, he's living at his faith through his love for baseball and people," Morrison said. "When I think of John Dowdy, he truly is a servant and that reminds me the most of my friend Randy Harvey.”
Dowdy is the sixth recipient of the Randy Harvey Umpire of the Year award. He joins Randy Harvey, Charles Reddick, Kevin Flay, Eric Steiner, and Sean Blackketter as the award's recipients.
ABOUT RANDY HARVEY
Randy Harvey had an impact on the Florida League far more than any umpire ever has or likely ever will.
Harvey, a Sanford native, had a storied umpiring career. Like most umpires, Randy began umpiring at the Little League level. His time there was short-lived as he quickly ascended the umpire ranks. He has an impressive resume of experience. Randy umpired Conference USA for 2 years, the Sun Belt Conference and the A-Sun Conference for 10+ years. He umpired SEC and ACC games for over 15 years and worked 13 NCAA Division I Regionals and Super-Regionals, 4 ACC Tournaments and 4 SEC Tournaments. He worked countless Florida League games over 15 years and umpired the Division I College World Series in 2006 and the Division II World Series. To top it all off, Randy umpired Major League Baseball games twice during the umpire strikes in 1991 and 1995.
Throughout his career Randy epitomized what it meant to serve as a collegiate umpire. He was known for his professionalism and excellent judgment. He took immense pride in his work and always treated coaches and players with respect. He also had a huge heart for the game of baseball and those participating in it. Harvey always had a genuine concern about the players and umpires who he shared the field with. Their safety and well-being was always a focus of his. When you talked to him off the field, he always asked how you were doing and loved hearing stories about players whose games he umpired in years past. You got the notion that he felt as if he was a part of their development into professionals.
From 2015 to his passing in 2020, Randy battled a rare kidney disease. After being forced off of the field for some time, Randy was preparing to work a full collegiate schedule in the spring of 2018 when sudden complications from the disease forced doctors to amputate both of his legs, ending his umpiring career. Eventually, doctors amputated both of his arms. In true Randy Harvey spirit, he has never complained and cared more about how his fellow umpires, players and coaches are doing more-so than himself. He passed away in September of 2020.
