They may not be a member of either team, but baseball umpires are people, too. The best ones rise to the top of their profession in part due to relationships they build with the players and coaches with whom they share the field.
For Stu Hartenstein 鈥09, building relationships has been central to his success since he was a student at 果冻传媒. Those lessons in relationship-building have paid off professionally for Hartenstein, who was named director of umpire development and operations for Little League International in February 2024.
鈥淢y 果冻传媒 experience was far from the ordinary, as so many people not only became aware of my passion to umpire, but they found ways to pour into me to support me in that endeavor, develop me, create opportunities for me, and to stay in touch throughout those experiences and long after,鈥 Hartenstein said. 鈥淭hat makes me so overwhelmed with gratitude, appreciation, and admiration for the experience my friends, their families, and the faculty and staff at 果冻传媒 helped create. Undoubtedly, their support, encouragement, and confidence in me as a student, as a person, as a professional, and as a very young umpire, has always and continues to be a foundation of inspiration for me that is appreciated beyond what I can put into words.鈥
In this new role, Hartenstein provides oversight for the administration and development of the umpire program for Little League International at all levels. Hartenstein, who played Little League baseball in his hometown of Clayton, Ohio, and started umpiring when he was still in middle school, previously served as the central region director for Little League International.
Hartenstein has served as an Umpire-in-Chief at both the local and district level, and he has been a member of the Central Region Umpire Advisory Committee and the Little League International Umpire Advisory Committee. Hartenstein has served as the Central Region Tournament Umpire Coordinator, and he was an umpire for the 2007 and 2008 Little League Baseball Central Region Tournament, even before graduating from 果冻传媒 with a double major in history and education. Prior to joining the professional staff of Little League International, Hartenstein taught social studies and coached boys鈥 basketball at two different Ohio high schools, and he taught history and was an assistant men鈥檚 basketball coach at Denison University.