HUMMELSTOWN — Ben McLure describes his baseball career as “coming up on the 18th hole.”

He’s certainly made the most out of the previous 17.

McLure, 75, a 1957 Butler graduate, has been a fulltime Major League Baseball scout for 33 years. He coached baseball at Lower Dauphin High School in central Pennsylvania for 22 years before that, winning 167 games and seven league championships.

“Between teaching, coaching and scouting, I’ve been fortunate to have never had to work a day in my life,” McLure said. “And I still feel like I have a little gas left in the tank.”

McLure graduated from Butler a year ahead of late football great Bill Saul. He played in the first-ever Butler Pony League season, played in the Butler Prep and Eagle County Leagues.

He’s always been all about baseball.

“I graduated from Penn State as a history major,” he said. “My dad always told me you can only do two things with history: Teach it or make it. Then he told me that I darn well better plan on teaching it.

“For a while, I was the dean of gasoline, teaching driver’s ed in high school.”

While coaching baseball at Lower Dauphin, McLure got his break as a major league scout. He was coaching against Middletown and a number of scouts were at the game to check out a Middletown player “who really wasn’t very good,” he said.

“I told them they should check out a guy at Red Land High School ... If he pitches against us, he’ll throw a two-hitter and will beat us 1-0. If he plays the outfield, he’ll get three hits and account for at least two runs.”

That player was Greg Gross, who became a longtime major league outfielder with the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.

One of the scouts recommended McLure to the St. Louis Cardinals, who employed him as a part-time scout for 11 years. The Toronto Blue Jays hired McLure full-time in 1983.

After 17 years there, McLure scouted for the Toronto Blue Jays for seven years and the San Diego Padres for six seasons. He was named the Padres’ Scout of the Year in 2003.

McClure has been a full-time scout with the Milwaukee Brewers since 2007.

“I found (infielder) Tommy Herr for the Cardinals, Ryan Thompson for Toronto, and Bobby File, a relief pitcher. Those are the only guys I helped sign that got to the major leagues,” McLure said. “But only four percent of the players signed ever get to the big leagues.”

In the meantime, McLure keeps looking for more.

As a pro scout, he’s covered the International, Eastern, Carolina and South Atlantic Leagues in the minors. He’s covered spring training camps for Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

He’s done the Florida instructional League, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico Winter Leagues.

“To this day, I still enjoy sitting and watching a baseball game. It’s the travel that gets you,” McLure said.

The difference between part-time scout and fulltime scout is simple in McLure’s eyes.

“When I was part-time with the Cardinals, my territory was Eastern and Central Pa. and northern Maryland,” he said. “When I became full-time with Toronto, my territory was Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia.

“That’s a lot of wear and tear on the car.”

McLure estimates he’s seen as many as 300 games in a given baseball season. This year, he was at 137 by Wednesday “and I’ve got September and maybe the Arizona Instructional League still to come.”

With the Brewers, McLure takes in games involving all of the National League Central Division teams along with all of their Class AAA and AA affiliates.

“I travel in five-game intervals,” he said. “I’ll go see five straight games in Pittsburgh, see the Pirates’ entire starting rotation, lineup, their bench and their whole bullpen during that time. Then it’s on to somewhere else.

“While doing the minor league affiliates, I’m watching for talent, but also checking guys’ contract status, who’s up for arbitration or minor league free agency at the end of the year, who the Brewers might want.

“You know those ‘player to be named later’ deals? I’m the guy trying to find that player to be named later,” McLure added.

He’s also accumulated three World Series rings and induction into the American Legion Sports Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and Middle Atlantic Baseball Scouts Association Hall of Fame during his career.

“It’s fun,” McLure said. “I know I’m getting close, but I don’t want it to end. It’s baseball. Who can complain?”