Bill Cheek is proud of his election into the Carolina Softball Hall of Fame. This summer, for perhaps the first time in 35 years, Columbia resident Bill Cheek went to a softball game just for the fun of it.

"Someone called me to come out and watch their church softball game, and so I said, 'Sure,' and I went and enjoyed it."

It was a welcome change for Cheek, a veteran slow- pitch softball umpire who hung up his uniform last year after more than three decades behind the plate, citing creaky legs and knees and a refusal to compromise the game with even a hint of diminishing abilities.

"I'm not the kind of person who is going to make AT&T calls," Cheek said. "That's what some people refer to as making 'long-distance' calls because you can't get in front of the play."

Further hastening his decision to get out of the game was the increasing competitiveness in slowpitch softball and new technology that make today's softballs jump off supercharged bats.

"The traveling teams are coming to play," he said. "The ranting and raving from the coaches got a little old. There has just been a lot more pressure in recent years."

Cheek started calling balls and strikes in the late 1960s "when slow- pitch softball was really popular."

"Slow- pitch softball, at that time, was designed for everyone," he said. "Everyone got a hit, and nobody struck out. It was a really great game."

He worked for the City of Columbia at fields such as Earlewood and TS Martin, and for 20 years, umpired church league games in Irmo.

One of the proudest moments of his career was working several slow- pitch youth World Series games, one in Rock Hill and two in Lexington.

But the absolute highlight, Cheek said, was his February election to the Carolina Softball Hall of Fame. The ceremonies took place during a weekendlong affair in Myrtle Beach.

"It was truly a once- in- a- lifetime honor," he said. "I mean, I will never achieve anything like that again. I can't tell you how much that meant to me."

However, the road to the hall of fame was paved with a lot of bumps in the road - 35 years of hot nights, cold mornings, and rainy days.

"I remember standing outside in 95 degree heat, and I just couldn't wait to get off that field," Cheek recalled. "I also remember standing there on the coldest days of the year wearing every bit of clothing I could find, and thinking the same thing."

The most difficult experience, he remembered, was umpiring a women's world series in Lexington, "where it rained, and it rained, and it rained."

"Talk about a massive wet t- shirt contest," he said. "The bases were under water, and when the women slid, it was just a really big mess."

Cheek said the tournament directors refused to cancel the event, so games were played around the clock. He would find himself getting up to work a 3, 4 or 5 am game.

"It was really difficult to work at that time of the day," he said. "I remember standing out on the field, watching the sun rise one of those days and thinking, 'What am I doing out here?'"

But it wasn't all doom and gloom during Cheek's 35- year span. He said he enjoyed the camaraderie of interacting with umpires, players, and families around the state, kidding around with them and forging lasting bonds.

"You might not think of softball as a social sport, but it was to me," he said, "I miss the friendships I developed along the way."

Cheek isn't done interacting with people, even after gracefully walking away from umpiring and retiring, in 1996, from his job teaching math at Irmo High School after 23 years. He taught at Dreher High School before that and has been a substitute teacher at Dent Middle School for the past eight years. He would like to continue until he has a half-century of education under his belt.

"That's a real goal of mine - to teach for 50 years," he said. "I'm four years away from it."

He also enjoys working in his yard but not when it's 95 degrees out. Unlike umpiring on a steamy softball diamond, he can leave that field when it gets too hot.