I haven't watched too many professional baseball games on television in recent years. By July, I've umpired more spring and summer games than I would care to have my wife count. Nonetheless, every year I always seem to find the time to schedule the night off to watch the Baseball All-Star Game. This year I will be sitting in front of my television on July 9 watching the game from Miller Park in Milwaukee.

In my opinion, baseball's mid-summer classic is the only major sporting all-star event in which the players really try their best. Each player knows that he has just a few swings at glory, or a few key pitches, to establish his place among the peers in the game.

I can only imagine how a manager must feel when he looks down the dugout's bench and sees the best that the game has to offer this year at his disposal. If he had all this proven talent in hand all season, any manager could strategize a trip to the World Series.

During the game, as the television camera pans down the bench, it captures the images of a wide range of players. There are the famous veterans, selected because of past achievements. There are the game's current stars, working hard to earn that old pro status. And finally, there are the youngsters, who have earned their first and perhaps only ticket to a bench seat next to a future member of the Hall of Fame.

As we prepared this month's issue, I felt like an all-star team manager in his first game. This issue was my first opportunity to select Hanley-Wood's MASONRY CONSTRUCTION magazine "Industry Leader of the Year."

In many ways the selection process was very similar to the way baseball picks its all-stars. For several months we invited the magazine's readers to send nominations for our industry's star. Since the contest was open to everyone regardless of national or local affiliation, the nominations were as diverse as our industry.

The response was overwhelming. Just like a final all-star team's makeup, the nominees ranged from the owners of some of the largest masonry contractors in the country to a small masonry enterprise. We even received a very heart-felt nomination from a jobsite engineer who put forward his choice because the contractor did a great job on a very tough project.

I think you'll see why we chose Jesse H. (Herb) Slavens, who has more than 50 years in the industry. Mr. Slavens' dedication to the masonry industry continues even after his retirement from a large Dallas-based masonry contractor. Through his efforts in developing an apprenticeship training program at Northlake College, the Dallas metropolitan region is sure to have many competent masons on the jobsites in the foreseeable future.

Like the manager in the all-star game, I think it's important for every nominee to have his time at bat. So if your nominee wasn't one of the three included in our feature on important industry trends, I assure you that we will be writing about him in the near future.

One of the ways we'll accomplish this promise is with a new monthly section that will debut in August. This column will feature an interview with a masonry leader who has been active in building our industry. You'll learn how many of this year's nominees are making our industry stronger.

In every post-game interview with a young all-star, the reporter asks what the player enjoyed most. The classic response is that the young player appreciated the chance to meet and learn from the old pros, many of whom were his idols as he was playing high school or minor league ball.

I hope that our effort to connect you with these important industry leaders helps take your crew, division, or company to your own version of the all-star game.