Former school administrator turned umpire is in a league of her own

Baseball has been said to mark the passage of time, and retiree Veronica “Ronnie” Geyer, who calls balls and strikes locally, has a life full of box scores.

“I always loved baseball,” Geyer said. “I started playing baseball as a kid in the Bronx, and they didn't allow girls in Little League back then.”

Ronnie was 8 years old in 1972 when she was told by Little League officials that girls were not allowed to join.

“It was two years later when Maria Pepe from New Jersey sued the Little League organization to be allowed to play,” Geyer said. “By that point, I was already playing softball.”

But she couldn’t shake her first love.

“My twin sister and I were the only girls that would play baseball with the boys, and we'd go down to the A&P parking lot at six o'clock every night,” Geyer said. “It didn't matter that our field was concrete. We'd slide into the bases anyway. That's how we played ball.”

For organized ball, Geyer played softball but still remained interested in baseball. Luckily, Hollywood would help heighten others’ interest up to Ronnie’s level.

“In the ’90s, when the film ‘A League of Their Own’ came out, interest grew in women’s baseball again,” Geyer said. "So, as an adult, I started playing in women's baseball tournaments around the country."

Following her career as a teacher and assistant superintendent, Geyer's knowledge and love for the game eventually motivated her to become certified as an umpire.

"Umpiring allowed me to give back to the community and stay involved with this wonderful game,” she said.

Flash forward to 2026, and the lifelong fan found herself patrolling the base paths at the Boston Red Sox spring training facility in Fort Myers Jan. 6-11. She made the trek for the team’s women’s fantasy camp – which raises money for charitable causes – because of her quality level of governing.

Despite her most recent baseball milestone occurring in Red Sox territory, her love of the game is deeply rooted in Yankees lore and her loyalty as a Mets fan.

“Although my mother, brothers and cousins were Yankees fans, my twin sister and I had to root for the underdogs,” Geyer said. “The Mets were a new team at the time.”

Some of the best Bronx Bombers to ever play are still part of Geyer’s baseball testimony.

“My mother, who was born in 1923 and grew up close to Yankee Stadium, got to see all the greats play,” Geyer said. “Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio.”

Despite that list of stars, it was another moment of history that Geyer’s mom experienced that may have been the most memorable.

“My mother was at the game where Lou Gehrig gave his famous retirement speech on July 4, 1939,” Geyer said. “Mom said there wasn't a dry eye in the stadium. Whenever I have a chance to choose a uniform number, I always choose Gehrig's No. 4. We just always admired him. He was thankful for what he had and he played with all heart, the Iron Horse.”

Gehrig confessed to a packed Yankee Stadium that despite his terminal diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, he felt as though he was the “luckiest man on the face of the earth.” It is a reminder to appreciate a life spent on the diamond, literally or figuratively.

At Fort Myers, there were quite a few baseball enthusiasts soaking in and living the moment.

“I think the average age of the players was about 45,” Geyer said. “But when they arrive at camp, they're like little kids again. They get to go into a big league locker room, and they see their uniforms with their name on it; they get to play on a manicured, big league field, and they're living the dream.”

Boston fans were treated to a chill session with some of their favorite former players while even the umpires got the professional treatment.

“We got to meet Trot Nixon, Brian Daubach and Manny Delcarmen – they were all great, all fun,” Geyer said. We got a professional umpires locker room too.”

Campers and umpires dined at the facility and attended happy hour every night. Coaches and retired players cast playful judgment for the authentic treatment but rewarded whomever they goaded.

"Since this was the 10th year of the Women's Fantasy Camp, they held a hall of fame ceremony honoring the women who first came 10 years ago, presenting them with beautiful, individualized plaques,” Geyer said. “One of the honorees included Jacqui Reynolds, who was recently drafted into the new Women's Professional Baseball League scheduled to start later this summer.”

According to Geyer, there’s a good reason women have been coming back for a decade.

“It is just an overall great experience, celebrating the game, but also celebrating women's participation in it, giving us a chance to live our dream too,” Geyer said.

Sticking with the reunion theme, the camp has welcomed inspirations and actresses from “A League of Their Own” over the years.

“Maybelle Blair was one of the original women that played in the All-American Girls Baseball League. She just turned 99 and is still going strong as an ambassador and advocate for women in baseball,” Geyer said. “Marla Hooch could hit the heck out of the ball in the film, and Megan Cavanaugh, who portrayed the slugger, was a hit at the camp, stealing the show with her personable attitude, karaoke skills and tales from the set.

“She gave a talk about her experience with the movie, sharing anecdotes about Rosie O'Donnell, Madonna and Tom Hanks,” Geyer said. “Megan said that she did all her own hitting in that movie, and she had to learn to switch hit because that was her character.”

Like the film, which featured girls from different backgrounds, the campers were similar, just with a little more walking-around money.

“Among the campers were an emergency room doctor, a dermatologist and about four lawyers,” Geyer said. "The lawyers were particularly good at arguing with us umpires.”

Six female umpires oversaw two games a day, starting at 10 a.m. and wrapping up in the afternoon with a fun lunch break in between. While they still got to experience what the campers playing were able to, Geyer mused that she may return in a different role in 2027.

“Next year, instead of umpiring, I think I want to go back as a player,” Geyer said.

Locally, Ronnie Geyer umpires games at Sports at the Beach in the summer, and while she used to do varsity games, she will help out Lewes Little League this spring. She’s also been selected to umpire games at the all-star village in Cooperstown, N.Y.