Adam Decker
One Great Quarter
I've been umpiring in the Indianapolis area and working at Lucas Oil Stadium for several years. I've always had it in the back of my mind that someday I was going to run into car trouble a long way from home, and although I know there are a lot of people I could contact if I needed help, the thought of being helpless that far away has been a source of concern.
Fortunately for all of these years it's been pretty smooth. That is, until Sunday, April 27, 2014.
I had just finished umpiring four baseball games at the Noblesville Youth Baseball complex, and I was really tired and ready for the trip home. I was thinking during the fourth and final game, "order a Bruno's Pizza about the time you get to Kokomo and it'll be ready when you get there. Sit back on the recliner and watch a movie or two and try to relax after eight hours of umpiring. Sounds good."
The fourth game ended, and I headed back to my car. I got out of my umpires gear, made sure I hadn't left anything lying on the car roof (I drove away from a high school game a week before with my mask still on the trunk of my car. Fortunately some guy honked at me. I was fortunate the mask didn't slide off.) So, everything looked good, and I'm ready to go.
I got into my car and turned the key....Nothing happened...silence...I turned the key again....nothing but silence. I tried several more times, but nothing...my radio was working. My lights were working, but the engine wasn't.....So, what do I do....I decided to walk up to the tournament director's building and see if anyone there could give me the number of a garage, or if anyone knew if there was a mechanic among the many people at the tournament.
I explained the problem to a couple of people, and although they wanted to help, they weren't able. One guy did offer to help me by calling AAA and use his points, whatever that means. I was in a bind, so I was open to any suggestions.
Then, the executive director of the Noblesville Youth Baseball program, Adam Decker, came to the building. I explained the problem I was having to him and we stood around for a little while going over the possibilities. He offered to meet me at my car to see what could be done, but he said he didn't know much about cars - that made two of us.
Anyhow, we both went to my car. The first thing we tried was to jump the battery, but we both didn't think that would work since it didn't seem to be a problem with the battery. But, like he said, before we call someone it would be better to at least try jumping it so at least we could rule the battery out.
Jumping it didn't work. We weren't surprised. The key still turned, and there was still silence. I turned the radio off just because I was tired of listening to it. Adam said he heard some clicking sound when I turned the key.
He then called the owner of a garage close to the baseball complex, but the guy who owned it apparently told Adam that he didn't have anyone available at the time (Sunday afternoon), but that if I left the keys to my car at his garage he would tow it in on Monday and check it out. So, that meant that I'd probably have to call someone in Logansport to come to Noblesville to pick me up, and then arrange for a trip back on Monday. Several names went through my head that I knew I could contact if necessary. Adam also brought up the possibility of towing the car back to Logansport, but those dollar bills were flashing in my face. It sounded like I was going to be stuck in Noblesville for awhile.
Then Adam thought of someone else he knew who was a mechanic. I'm not sure if it was a relative or a friend. The only problem is that he was in Florida.
But, Adam called him anyway, and explained the problem. The guy apparently had some idea of what the problem might be, so he told Adam to send him a picture of my engine compartment. Adam used his cell phone to send the picture.
A few minutes later the guy calls back, and says he believed it was the starter solenoid that was the problem. He explained where the solenoid was located, and asked Adam if he had a quarter.
A quarter? I was thinking.....I did have a quarter in my pocket, so I gave it to him. Adam began following the guy's instructions. "Get into the car and turn the ignition to the start position," he said. Then the guy told Adam to place the quarter between two wires on the solenoid.
This will never work, I was thinking. I've never heard of anything like that before. Adam carefully held the quarter against the wires, but nothing happened. I think he must have wiggled the quarter around those wires for a few seconds, and then all of a sudden - the engine started !!!! I don't know who was the most excited about it, me or Adam. "Unbelievable," I thought. I think Adam thought the same thing. "It's running. It started," he yelled to the guy with whom he was talking.
I don't know who was on the other end of the phone, or what he was saying, but I'm sure he couldn't have been as happy about the result as we were.
Of course I thanked Adam for his assistance, which to me was way beyond what most people would do. He was in charge of a tournament that was wrapping up, and we probably spent more than an hour trying to figure out what to do with the problem I was having. He didn't have to do that. He could have very easily let it go when the owner of that garage offered to tow my car in the next day. But, he stuck with me in what to me was a real problem.
As I was traveling home, I was thinking how fortunate I was to be driving on U.S. 31, instead of looking ahead to a couple of days of what I was figuring were going to be a real pain.
I remember saying to Adam early in the ordeal that it was probably a simple fix for someone who knew what they were doing. Little did I know that a "quarter" would be the difference between being stuck an hour and a half away from home, or being on the road.
I did stop at Bruno's on the way home, and later that night I tried to start the car. Again, there was nothing. So, just on a hunch I thought, if I use one end of a set of jumper cables and attach it to the two terminals on the solenoid, I might be able to start it myself. It worked. The next day I took it to a local auto repair shop and they replaced the starter solenoid.
So, thanks to the very admirable assistance from someone who I've only had casual conversations, a very real problem to me turned out to be quite a learning experience....although the four games that I worked that day was about enough to pay for the repairs. That's about the only bad part about it. All of the rest turned out just fine.
I'm sure that there's not a whole lot that I can do to thank Adam enough for his over-the-top assistance that he gave to me. Noblesville Youth Baseball is very fortunate to have someone in its organization with his character.
I know I'll never forget his kindness and concern.
Fortunately for all of these years it's been pretty smooth. That is, until Sunday, April 27, 2014.
I had just finished umpiring four baseball games at the Noblesville Youth Baseball complex, and I was really tired and ready for the trip home. I was thinking during the fourth and final game, "order a Bruno's Pizza about the time you get to Kokomo and it'll be ready when you get there. Sit back on the recliner and watch a movie or two and try to relax after eight hours of umpiring. Sounds good."
The fourth game ended, and I headed back to my car. I got out of my umpires gear, made sure I hadn't left anything lying on the car roof (I drove away from a high school game a week before with my mask still on the trunk of my car. Fortunately some guy honked at me. I was fortunate the mask didn't slide off.) So, everything looked good, and I'm ready to go.
I got into my car and turned the key....Nothing happened...silence...I turned the key again....nothing but silence. I tried several more times, but nothing...my radio was working. My lights were working, but the engine wasn't.....So, what do I do....I decided to walk up to the tournament director's building and see if anyone there could give me the number of a garage, or if anyone knew if there was a mechanic among the many people at the tournament.
I explained the problem to a couple of people, and although they wanted to help, they weren't able. One guy did offer to help me by calling AAA and use his points, whatever that means. I was in a bind, so I was open to any suggestions.
Then, the executive director of the Noblesville Youth Baseball program, Adam Decker, came to the building. I explained the problem I was having to him and we stood around for a little while going over the possibilities. He offered to meet me at my car to see what could be done, but he said he didn't know much about cars - that made two of us.
Anyhow, we both went to my car. The first thing we tried was to jump the battery, but we both didn't think that would work since it didn't seem to be a problem with the battery. But, like he said, before we call someone it would be better to at least try jumping it so at least we could rule the battery out.
Jumping it didn't work. We weren't surprised. The key still turned, and there was still silence. I turned the radio off just because I was tired of listening to it. Adam said he heard some clicking sound when I turned the key.
He then called the owner of a garage close to the baseball complex, but the guy who owned it apparently told Adam that he didn't have anyone available at the time (Sunday afternoon), but that if I left the keys to my car at his garage he would tow it in on Monday and check it out. So, that meant that I'd probably have to call someone in Logansport to come to Noblesville to pick me up, and then arrange for a trip back on Monday. Several names went through my head that I knew I could contact if necessary. Adam also brought up the possibility of towing the car back to Logansport, but those dollar bills were flashing in my face. It sounded like I was going to be stuck in Noblesville for awhile.
Then Adam thought of someone else he knew who was a mechanic. I'm not sure if it was a relative or a friend. The only problem is that he was in Florida.
But, Adam called him anyway, and explained the problem. The guy apparently had some idea of what the problem might be, so he told Adam to send him a picture of my engine compartment. Adam used his cell phone to send the picture.
A few minutes later the guy calls back, and says he believed it was the starter solenoid that was the problem. He explained where the solenoid was located, and asked Adam if he had a quarter.
A quarter? I was thinking.....I did have a quarter in my pocket, so I gave it to him. Adam began following the guy's instructions. "Get into the car and turn the ignition to the start position," he said. Then the guy told Adam to place the quarter between two wires on the solenoid.
This will never work, I was thinking. I've never heard of anything like that before. Adam carefully held the quarter against the wires, but nothing happened. I think he must have wiggled the quarter around those wires for a few seconds, and then all of a sudden - the engine started !!!! I don't know who was the most excited about it, me or Adam. "Unbelievable," I thought. I think Adam thought the same thing. "It's running. It started," he yelled to the guy with whom he was talking.
I don't know who was on the other end of the phone, or what he was saying, but I'm sure he couldn't have been as happy about the result as we were.
Of course I thanked Adam for his assistance, which to me was way beyond what most people would do. He was in charge of a tournament that was wrapping up, and we probably spent more than an hour trying to figure out what to do with the problem I was having. He didn't have to do that. He could have very easily let it go when the owner of that garage offered to tow my car in the next day. But, he stuck with me in what to me was a real problem.
As I was traveling home, I was thinking how fortunate I was to be driving on U.S. 31, instead of looking ahead to a couple of days of what I was figuring were going to be a real pain.
I remember saying to Adam early in the ordeal that it was probably a simple fix for someone who knew what they were doing. Little did I know that a "quarter" would be the difference between being stuck an hour and a half away from home, or being on the road.
I did stop at Bruno's on the way home, and later that night I tried to start the car. Again, there was nothing. So, just on a hunch I thought, if I use one end of a set of jumper cables and attach it to the two terminals on the solenoid, I might be able to start it myself. It worked. The next day I took it to a local auto repair shop and they replaced the starter solenoid.
So, thanks to the very admirable assistance from someone who I've only had casual conversations, a very real problem to me turned out to be quite a learning experience....although the four games that I worked that day was about enough to pay for the repairs. That's about the only bad part about it. All of the rest turned out just fine.
I'm sure that there's not a whole lot that I can do to thank Adam enough for his over-the-top assistance that he gave to me. Noblesville Youth Baseball is very fortunate to have someone in its organization with his character.
I know I'll never forget his kindness and concern.