LYNN — Charlie Reed lived a life filled with challenges. He just never let any of them get him down.
“Charlie lived with disabilities all his life,” said James Cowdell, who is now the executive director of the Lynn Economic Development & Industrial Corporation (EDIC/Lynn), but was once president of the Lynn Parks Softball Association. “But he never let those challenges defeat him.”
Just the opposite, says Jim Ward, who was also a past president of the association. He lived a full life despite them.
“He was one of the best fast-pitch softball pitchers we’ve ever had in Lynn,” said Ward, a sentiment backed up by Cowdell. “He only had one arm, and a stump for the other arm. He’d put his glove under the arm, throw the ball, and then put the glove on his hand, just like (former Major League pitcher) Jim Abbott used to do. Same exact thing.”
In fact, says Cowdell, Reed is a softball legend.
“At one time,” Cowdell said, “there were 143 teams in Lynn. In 1984, when I was president, that’s what we had. And I’d say he was among the very best pitchers in the system.”
Reed, 73, died on February 23.
After his playing days were over, Reed became one of the most popular softball umpires in Lynn.
“He basically broke me in,” said Ward. “I umpired with him a lot, in the city leagues and in state tournaments. The women’s league used to have a tournament … the Mud Bowl. They used to flood the field and play in the mud. Charlie used to umpire that all the time.”
Yes, said Ward, Reed did have that crazy side to him that would allow him to do something like that. But, he said, Reed also had his serious side. And he took umpiring very seriously.
“He was always right on top of the call,” Ward said. “He’d even let you argue.
“I remember arguing with him,” Ward said. “Finally, he’d say ‘OK. You got it out of your system. Let’s get back to the game.’ He knew the game, and he understood it. And he recognized that people could get a little hot-headed. I know I could get volatile at times.”
Cowdell said that even if Reed missed a call — which wasn’t often — “you couldn’t be mad at him. He was such a good guy.
“He was a legend. Let’s just start with that. Especially with people my age and older, and especially when it came to softball. Despite his physical handicaps, he was one of the best fast-pitch pitchers in New England, I’d say.”
Back when the softball association was in its heyday, in the mid-1980s, “Charlie was the go-to umpire. He’d umpire five nights a week and play on the other two. He also thought that it was important to get minorities into umpiring. He helped recruit minorities.
“He had the type of personality that you just wanted to be around him,” said Cowdell. He had this great, big, infectious belly-laugh. And he could break the tension with it too.
“Later on, he lost a leg to diabetes, and then he lost another leg. He was a double amputee. But even then, he was more concerned about you than he was about himself.
“He was a wonderful person,” Cowdell said. “Everyone who knew him loved him and respected him.”
Cowdell remembers that in 1987, when he first ran for the Lynn City Council, he asked Reed to help him campaign.
“By the end of the day, I told him that he should be running and I should be helping him,” said Cowdell. “He knew more people than I did.
“He was part of the fabric of the city of Lynn. He really was an inspiration. This city is full of characters, and he was one of them. And I mean that only in the best sense of the word. People really looked up to him.”
