5/25/2025
ATLANTA, Ga.- Former Savannah State University baseball standout Dexter Kelley made his Major League Baseball debut on Friday night as a member of the officiating crew of the game between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres at Truist Park.
It was the first game of a three-game series between the Braves and Padres.
Kelly, 36, was the second base umpire on Friday, worked first base on Saturday and will be behind home plate on Sunday as the series wraps up.
Although it was his MLB officiating debut, the Augusta, Georgia native who now lives in Fayetteville, Georgia was not alone. His wife and son were at the game along with his parents and other family and friends.
The road to “The Show” is usually a long and slow climb up the ladder for umpires who normally call games at the high school and college levels before being selected to work Single A, Double A and Triple A games. And because there are only 76 full time positions in major league baseball and because umpires hold their jobs for decades, the turnover rate is very low.
Major League Baseball invites the top umpires to work spring training games and some even get picked to be on-call during the regular season to fill in in case of illness or other absences.
This is what happened to Kelley. Back in mid-February, he was one of 21 umpires selected to work 2025 Major League Baseball spring training games.
Kelley was an outfielder with Savannah State for four seasons (2008-11). During his junior year, the Augusta, Georgia native was second in NCAA Division I with .88 stolen bases per game (his total of 44 steals was fourth).
After earning his undergraduate degree from SSU, he umpired a few high school games before being invited to the MLB umpiring camp. He showed promise and earned a scholarship to another camp in Fort Myers, Fla., then received another scholarship to the Wendelstedt Umpire School (named after legendary umpire Harry Wendelstedt) in Daytona Beach.
Kelley graduated at the top of his class and eventually began working Gulf Coast League games. Since then, he’s climbed from rookie ball to the New York-Penn League, to the Single A Florida State League, to the Double A Southern League was working the AAA League games before getting his shot with the major leagues.
Back in 2022, Kelley had the opportunity to work several events during the week leading up to the MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
He was behind the plate in the MLB & USA Baseball High School All-American Game, at third base for the Futures Game, at first base for the Celebrity All-Star Softball Game and in the outfield during the Home Run Derby.
Source: Savannah State University Athletic Department