“Gentleman Umpire" inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 1998, Umpires Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Canadian Baseball Sports Hall of Fame in 2017, founding member of the BC Black History Awareness Society.
Doug Hudlin worked for the City of Victoria but his love was being on the field as an umpire. He umpired generations of Island ball players over four decades. He was known for his empathy toward all the young players. He is quoted as saying "In Little League, you're the umpire and the coach at the same time".
He was the first non-American to be invited to umpire the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1967 and in 1974. He also umpired twice at the Senior Little League World Series in Gary, Indiana.
He was a founder and served as first president of the B.C. Baseball Umpires Association, a position he held from 1974 to 1979. He was inducted into the association's hall of fame in 2011. To honour his legacy, the B.C. Baseball Umpires Association presents the Doug Hudlin Distinguished Service Award each year to a dedicated and long-serving umpire in the province. Doug also served as an umpire in the National Little League for over 40 years. To honour this service Doug’s niece, Barbara Hudlin, presents the “Doug Hudlin Award” annually to a junior umpire “who is never late, never misses a shift, and deemed by their peers and the league to always be professional and respectful to players, fans, and coaches.”
Away from the diamond, Doug was a founding director of the B.C. Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS). His interest and enthusiasm for the Society's work was largely inspired by the fact that he is the grandson of the earliest Black pioneers, Nancy and Charles Alexander, who arrived in Victoria in 1858 and who started a farm in what is now a suburb of Saanich. They had 12 children and 21 grandchildren. The Alexander name remains prominent on the South Island. Doug prepared a family tree in the mid-1990's, recording more than 400 descendants, among them Kevin Alexander, a great lacrosse star.
In 2011, on behalf of the BCBHAS and along with Canada Post officials; Doug introduced Ferguson Jenkins, the first Canadian inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, at a public event in Victoria that launched the Ferguson Jenkins commemorative Canada Post stamp.
Doug was inducted into the B.C. Baseball Umpires Association Hall of Fame in 2011 and inducted posthumously into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. The 21st induction ceremony took place in June 2017 in St. Mary's Ontario.
Beginning in 2018, "Doug Hudlin Day" is now celebrated each year in June in Victoria with a charity baseball game to support "Step Up to the Plate" a program of sports for children who do not have the financial means to participate. This program is supported solely by funds raised at the charity game and by the Hudlin Family.
