Total Baseball (1994 Edition)/Total_Baseball_1994_Edition_Creative_Multimedia_1994.iso/dp/0119/01196.txt

Text File | 1994-01-31 | 39KB | 539 lines

$Unique_ID{BAS01196}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Umpires}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Gerlach, Larry R.}
$Subject{Umpire Umpires umpiring McLean Kelly Hurst Young Sheridan Connolly
Klem MLUA}
$Log{}

Total Baseball:  Registers, Leaders, and Rosters


Umpires

Larry R.  Gerlach


     Traditionally regarded as villains by fans, adversarial autocrats by
players, and invisible men by the press, umpires have been, as Furman Bisher
put it, "submerged in the history of baseball like idiot children in a family
album."  Yet the umpire is baseball's indispensable man, for the arbiter
transformed baseball from a recreational activity to a competitive sport and
has personified the integrity of the professional game.  Since attorney
William R. Wheaton officiated the first recorded "modern" game on October 6,
1845, umpires have made important contributions to the National Pastime.
Indeed, the history of the umpire mirrors the distinctive eras and
developments of the game itself.
     From the creation of the modern game in the 1840s through the Civil War,
the umpire was the personification of base ball (two words then) as an amateur
sport played by gentlemen.  According to the September 23, 1845, rules of the
Knickerbocker Club of New York, which created modern baseball, the president
of the club "shall appoint an Umpire, who shall keep the game in a book
provided for that purpose, and note all violations of the Bylaws and Rules."
As "match" games between clubs became more frequent, three officials were
commonly used--one umpire chosen by each team and a neutral "referee" to
decide the often partisan split decisions.  In 1858 the National Association
of Base Ball Players sanctioned a single umpire, sometimes a spectator or even
a player, chosen by the home team with the consent of the rival captain.
There was no dress code, but contemporary prints depict the idealized portrait
of the gentleman arbiter--a distinguished-looking gentleman resplendent in top
hat, Prince Albert coat, and cane, who stood, kneeled, or sat on a stool in
foul territory along the first base line.  Although the attire became less
formal by the Civil War, the volunteer arbiters continued to receive no
remuneration for their services other than the "honor" of being chosen "the
sole judge of fair and unfair play."
     The nationwide popularity of the game after the Civil War led to the
professionalization of baseball and, in turn, to professional umpires.  In
1871 the newly formed National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
continued the tradition of unpaid volunteers by allowing the home team to
choose the umpire from a list of five names submitted by the visiting club,
but gave the arbiter greater authority by limiting appeals to decisions
involving rules interpretation, not judgment.  In 1878 the National League of
Professional Base Ball Clubs, organized two years earlier, instructed home
teams to pay umpires $5 per game, and in 1879 National League president
William A. Hulbert appointed baseball's first umpire staff--a group of twenty
men from which teams could chose an arbiter.  The approved list and
compensation did not free the umpires from the "homer" syndrome (ruling in
favor of the home team as a civic gesture) or suspicion of collusion with
gamblers.  Indeed, in 1882 Richard Higham of Troy, New York, former manager
and National League player, was banished from the league for advising gamblers
how to bet on games he umpired, thus earning the infamous distinction of being
the only umpire ever judged guilty of dishonesty on the field.  That same year
a new professional circuit, the American Association, pioneered in the
creation of an umpiring staff that was hired, paid, and assigned to games by
the league itself.  Paid $140 a month and $3 per diem for expenses while on
the road, American Association umpires were required to wear blue flannel
coats and caps while working games.  The next year the National League adopted
its own permanent paid and uniformed staff, thus completing the
professionalization of major league "men in blue."
     Despite increased status, umpiring in the major leagues was an uncertain,
stressful, and even dangerous occupation through the end of the century.
Frequent revisions in the rules and innovations in playing techniques made the
umpire's job exceedingly difficult, while the physical and verbal abuse from
fans and players alike often made an umpire's life intolerable.  Umpires were
routinely spiked, kicked, cursed, and spat upon by players, while fans hurled
vile epithets and all manner of debris at the arbiters.  Mobbings and physical
assaults were frequent, so much so that police escorts were familiar and
welcome sights to the men in blue.  The transformation of the umpire from
esteemed arbitrator to despised villain was largely deliberate.  As club
owners and league officials recognized that umpire baiting boosted gate
receipts, they refused to support the umpires' field decisions, dismissed or
paid player's fines, did little to curb rowdiness, and even joined
sportswriters in depicting umpires as scoundrels and scapegoats.  Occasionally
umpires retaliated by hurling objects back into the stands or by punching
players and reporters--and were summarily punished for so doing.  But most
found other jobs.  In an era when "Kill the umpire!" was not mere rhetoric,
there was a high turnover rate in umpires as few men were willing to endure
such trials and tribulations for paltry pay and poor working conditions.
     Nonetheless, baseball's tumultuous era produced several umpires of
historical importance.  William B. "Billy" McLean, part-time pugilist from
Philadelphia, was the first professional umpire.  So great was his ability and
reputation for fairness that National League officials in 1876 not only agreed
to his demands for the unheard of $5 per game but also sent him on a
expense-paid tour of every city in the league.  The most famous early
exponents of the two basic styles of umpiring were Robert V. Ferguson and John
H. Gaffney.  Ferguson, known during his playing days as "Robert the Great" and
"Death to Flying Things," ruled as an iron-fisted autocrat, while Gaffney,
dubbed "The King of the Umpires," controlled the game through tact and
diplomacy.  Gaffney also popularized the technique of working behind home
plate until a player reached base and then moving behind the pitcher.  (Before
this the umpire worked either behind the batter or behind the pitcher and did
not shift.)  In 1888 Gaffney was the highest-paid umpire in baseball, earning
$2,500 a year, plus expenses on the road.  Other umpires of note include John
O. "Honest John" Kelly, who appeared in more World Series (five) than any
other umpire of the day; feisty Timothy Hurst, quick and handy with curses,
quips, and fists; Benjamin F. Young, killed in a railroad accident en route to
a game, who in 1887 drew up a professional code of ethics for umpires as well
as a ten-point proposal to improve their status; John F. Sheridan, the
prototype of the modern umpire; and John A. Heydler and Thomas J. Lynch, each
of whom later became president of the National League.
     With the 1903 peace agreement between the National League and the new
American League, major league baseball entered the modern era and brought
stature and stability for umpires.  Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson, president of
the upstart American League, led in providing the strong support from league
officials that was essential to the morale and effectiveness of the umpires.
Noted for his backing of umpires when he had been the head of the Western
League, Johnson insisted that umpires be respected and backed up his words by
supporting their decisions and suspending players who were guilty of flagrant
misconduct.  In turn, he insisted upon tactfulness in contrast to the
combativeness of the previous era.  The National League followed suit,
especially under ex-umps Lynch and Heydler, and by World War One, major league
umpires enjoyed "unprecedented authority, dignity, and security."  As umpire,
manager, and baseball executive, Clarence "Pants" Rowland later remarked:
"All umpires ought to tip their hats whenever Ban Johnson's name is
mentioned."
     Johnson also took the lead in dealing with the obvious handicaps
presented by the single-umpire system.  The game had long since become too
fast and the players too devious for a lone arbiter to follow the action, let
alone control the contest; moreover, in case of illness or injury clubs had to
use a player to officiate the game.  A three-umpire system, suggested in 1885
and actually used in the World Series that year, was an aberration, but a
two-umpire system was much discussed in the 1880s and 1890s.  Although the
Players League of 1890 employed two umpires and in 1898 the two-umpire system
was sanctioned in the rules, club owners continued to resist the expense of a
second arbiter.  After Johnson added a fifth umpire in 1902, the use of two
arbiters became frequent, common, and then standard--an umpire-in-chief to
call balls and strikes and a field umpire to make decisions on the bases.
Again, the National League followed apace and in 1912 both leagues had ten-man
staffs--two umpires per game and two replacements in reserve.
     While front office support and the two-man system contributed greatly to
the effectiveness of the umpire on the field, the enhanced stature of umpires
was due perhaps as much to the personalities and contributions of the men who
served in the first two decades of the twentieth century.  That so many of the
umpires who loom large in baseball history (and mythology) hail from the early
decades of the century is partly the result of the extraordinary skill
required to manage the game during the dead-ball era, when the bunt, stolen
base, and hit-and-run were primary offensive tactics, and partly because of
the media attention lavished on major league baseball at the time.
     Ban Johnson, who personally selected his umpires with an exacting eye for
ability and character, assembled an imposing staff for the American League.
The senior umpire was John F. "Jack" Sheridan, veteran from the nineteenth
century, who served as the acknowledged model for the younger men in both
leagues and popularized working from a crouch position behind the plate.
Another holdover was Franklin O'Loughlin, nicknamed "Silk" as a boy because of
his long, curly hair, who successfully matched wits and words with players.
College-educated William G. "Billy" Evans, who in 1906 became, at twenty-two,
the youngest major league umpire in history, wrote nationally syndicated
sports columns while working as an umpire, and went on to be a baseball
executive.  A fastidious dresser, Evans set the standard for the appearance of
umpires on the field.  English-born Thomas H. "Tommy" Connolly umpired the
American League's first game in 1901 and thirty years later became the Junior
Circuit's first umpire-in-chief (1931-54); patient and reserved yet firm, he
established the league's tradition of ejecting players only as a last resort
and once went ten years without a banishment.
     The National League had its own illustrious arbiters.  Outstanding were
Canadian Bob Emslie, who for years umpired wearing a wig because his frazzled
nerves caused premature baldness; hulking Cy Rigler, who while in the minors
in 1905 started the tradition of raising his right hand on called strikes;
Hank O'Day, stickler for technicalities, whose controversial Merkle decision
in 1908 is a staple of baseball lore; and William J. "Lord" Byron, "The
Singing Umpire," who periodically announced his decisions in melodious (if not
poetical) singsong verse.  But it was William G. "Bill" Klem, generally
regarded as the greatest umpire in history, who dominated the league staff and
set the style for Senior Circuit arbiters.  Self-righteous and autocratic,
Klem boasted of his scrupulous honesty and encyclopedic knowledge of the
rules, intimidated players with threats of fines, and dramatically illustrated
his insistence upon discipline and authority during arguments by drawing a
mark in the dirt and warning antagonists, "Don't cross the line!"  He also
popularized the inside chest protector, the over-the-shoulder position for
calling balls and strikes, emphatic arm signals for calls, and straddling the
lines instead of standing in foul territory.  Sharp-tongued and tough-minded,
the highly publicized "Old Arbitrator," who for sixteen consecutive years
worked every game behind the plate (instead of rotating with the base umpire
as had become the norm) and vowed, "I never missed one [call] in my life," was
for most of his thirty-six-year career the public's personification of the
major league umpire.  Upon retiring in 1941, Klem served as the league's first
modern chief of umpires until his death in 1951.
     Between World Wars One and Two, when baseball dominated the nation's
sport consciousness as the National Pastime, umpiring became a career vocation
instead of a limited occupational opportunity.  Expanded schedules meant seven
months of employment, and umpires received better salaries and more
recognition.  Staff stability became the norm:  an umpire who passed muster
the first two or three years could look forward to a long career.  Umpires
continued to be vexed by arguments with players, insults from fans, and
occasional flying objects, but the vicious rowdiness declined.  The physical
abuse was curtailed significantly because of the stiff penalties imposed for
fighting and bottle tossing, while the verbal abuse abated as league officials
and the press did an about-face after the infamous Black Sox Scandal by
proclaiming the umpire the personification of the game's integrity.  To
underscore their role as independent arbitrators, umpires had to make travel
arrangements separate from players and patronize different bars, hotels, and
restaurants.
     Umpiring had become a desirable and respectable vocation, but the odds
against a major league career were far greater for umpires than for players.
Competition was keen, as normally only one or two of the some two dozen
umpiring positions came open each year.  And the low pay, primitive working
conditions, wearisome travel, and vicious abuse from players and fans that
characterized the life of the minor league umpire drove out those who would or
could pursue other employment.  Moreover, there was no prescribed system of
career development.  Becoming a professional umpire was a matter of chance
opportunity or personal contacts; there was no systematic evaluation or
supervision of minor league arbiters; and advancement, even to the major
leagues, was sometimes more a matter of politics and personalities than merit
or ability.  Nonetheless, those who persevered as "men of the cloth" and
proved their mettle in the big time enjoyed a secure and esteemed career.
Where Tim Hurst justified working as an umpire by saying, "You can't beat the
hours," Bill Klem would declare, "Baseball to me is not a game; it is a
religion."
     Still, major league umpires received far greater recognition than
remuneration.  The pay scales for umpires were the same in both leagues.  In
the early 1900s the annual salary for major league umpires ranged from $1,500
to $2,000; by 1910 the top salary in the National League was $3,000, with only
four of the seven umpires earning more than $2,000.  Umpires who worked the
World Series received $400 until Bill Klem demanded and received $650 in 1917;
the next year Klem received $1,000 for the Fall Classic, but the pay for all
other umpires remained $650.  In 1937 salaries ranged from $4,000 for new
umpires to $10,000 for the most veteran arbiters; umpires could expect an
extra $2,500 from the World Series.  Five years later the pay scale rose to
$5,000 and $12,000, but compensation for the Series remained the same.
Although the salaries for men at the top of the pay scale seem good for a
154-game, seven-month season, umpires had to pay all their expenses except
railroad fares while on the road until 1940, when they received a $750
allowance for travel, a sum that most umpires argued covered only about
one-half of their expenses.  Moreover, they had to buy and maintain their own
clothing and equipment, including ball-strike indicators, masks, and chest
protectors.  Nonetheless, better pay, working conditions, and status
translated into more attractive and thus longer careers; twenty years' service
was not uncommon.  Consequently, both major leagues established a pension plan
for retired umpires, but they were restricted to those who had served more
than fifteen years and limited to $100 per year with maximum lifetime benefits
of $2,400.
     The size of umpiring staffs was also increased.  The two-umpire system
was the norm during the 1920s, but it became common practice to assign one of
the reserve umpires to critical games or series; by 1933 three umpires were
assigned routinely to regular-season games.  The four-man crew was instituted
in 1952.  In the World Series the two-man crew, one umpire from each league,
was used until 1908, when a pair of two-man teams alternated games.  In the
third game of the 1909 Series, all four umpires were on the field at the same
time, thus establishing the four-umpire tradition that continued through 1946;
in 1947 an "alternate" umpire from each league was stationed along a foul line
in the outfield, thus creating the current six-umpire crew.  Four umpires
worked the All-Star Game from 1933 to 1948; the following year it conformed to
the World Series format in putting the alternates on the field.
     Although major league umpires, save for a few short-lived experiments,
wore blue serge suits and officiated according to the same rule book, subtle
and not-so-subtle differences in the style and technique of umpiring developed
between the two leagues.  Inasmuch as league presidents from the beginning
hired, assigned, and instructed their umpires, personal preferences were
reflected in the umpiring staffs early in the century.  Then interleague
chauvinism sustained and accentuated the distinctiveness.  Under Ban Johnson's
leadership, the American League soon boasted an overall staff that was
superior to the National League, just as the Junior Circuit had more star
players, stronger teams, and more successful managers during the same period.
Because Johnson believed that all of his umpires were good enough to work the
World Series, the prestigious (and lucrative) assignment was rotated among his
staff, whereas postseason honors in the National League went selectively to
the best (or most favored) umpires.  In return for backing his umpires to the
hilt, Johnson demanded reserve and restraint on the field, whereas National
League presidents adopted a more laissez-faire attitude toward their umpires.
     As a result, arbiters in the Senior Circuit were far more colorful,
pugnacious, and individualistic than their American League counterparts, just
as National League players and managers were freer and higher spirited than
those in the Junior Circuit.  It was a volatile mix, and there were many more
rhubarbs, fines, and suspensions in the National League, where arbiters had to
be courageous in fending off mean-spirited players and managers.  And because
Johnson liked his umpires to display a strong physical presence, a preference
shared by Tommy Connolly, American League umpires were generally "big" men,
whereas most National League arbiters, because of the dominant role of the
five-foot-seven-inch Bill Klem, were shorter and slight of build.
     More important than general differences in style and appearance were the
specific differences in technique between the two leagues.  At first umpires
in both leagues held large inflated chest protectors in front of their bodies
when behind the plate.  Consequently, they called balls and strikes by
crouching directly behind the catcher and looking over his head.  The American
League continued to use the "balloon" or "mattress" as favored by Tommy
Connolly, but it became de rigueur in the National League to follow Bill
Klem's preference for wearing a more compact chest protector under his coat
and calling balls and strikes by viewing the plate from just over the
catcher's shoulder nearest the batter.  Here, form had great effect:  the
American League umpires became known for calling more "high" strikes and the
National League for calling more "low" strikes.
     Not as well known as the flamboyant umpires of the formative years, the
men who worked between the World Wars were collectively better umpires and
included some of the game's greatest arbiters.  Along with Emslie, Klem,
O'Day, and Rigler, the National League staff boasted George Barr, Lee
Ballanfant, Larry Goetz, George Magerkurth, "Uncle Charley" Moran, Ralph
"Babe" Pinelli, Ernie Quigley, and John "Beans" Reardon.  Joining Connolly and
Bill Dinneen in the American League were such illuminaries as Harry Geisel,
Cal Hubbard, George Moriarty, Bill McGowan, Emmett "Red" Ormsby, and Clarence
"Brick" Owens.  Perhaps the best was McGowan, who for thirty years received
universal praise from his peers and ranks as one of the premier umpires in
history.
     Sociologically, the umpires of the Golden Age represented both change and
continuity.  Like their predecessors, the majority hailed from the Northeast,
the Midwest, and the South; and many were former athletes for whom umpiring
was a way of staying in baseball.  Some were ex-major leaguers--Charlie
Berry, Bill Dinneen, George Hildebrand, Charlie Moran, George Moriarty, Hank
O'Day, Al Orth, Babe Pinelli, George Pipgras, and Eddie Rommel.  There were,
however, important changes.  Ethnically, the umpires reflected a pattern of
cultural assimilation similar to that evident in the rosters of players.
Initially umpires were overwhelmingly English in origin, but then the Irish by
the 1890s and Germans by World War One became conspicuous and were followed by
Jews in the 1920s and Italians and Slavs in the 1930s.  And where collegian
Billy Evans was unique among the mostly unlettered arbiters early in the
century, college-educated (or graduated) umpires were increasingly common.
Essentially, umpires between the wars had become a reasonable cross section of
the white working-class American population.
     Spurred by war-induced prosperity, continental expansion, and television
revenue, baseball led the transformation of professional sport from a
commercial business to an entertainment industry.  Moreover, baseball, like
all organized sport, felt the impact of the social and cultural changes that
swept over America.  After World War Two umpiring truly became a profession,
and by the end of the 1980s major league umpires were not only far better
trained and organized than ever before but also a forceful and independent
voice in baseball affairs.
     Umpiring, like baseball itself, was enormously popular in the days
following World War Two.  By 1949 some fifty-nine minor leagues provided
extensive on-the-job training for an unprecedented number of aspiring
arbiters, but it was the umpire training school that was responsible for
postwar umpires being so much better prepared than their predecessors.  George
Barr of the National League opened the first umpire training school in 1935,
and in 1939 Bill McGowan of the American League established a second school.
In 1946 Bill McKinley, who attended both the Barr and McGowan schools, became
the first graduate of a training school to reach the major leagues.  By the
mid-1950s training school graduates were common, and by the 1960s it was
virtually impossible to become a professional umpire without attending one of
several training schools.
     The umpire schools had profound effects on umpiring.  First, graduates of
the training schools were more knowledgeable of rules and more skilled in
techniques than the earlier "self-taught" umpires.  Second, formal training
had the predictable effect of imposing uniformity of style and personality, as
students were instructed "by the book" and maverick characters were weeded
out.  Finally--and most significantly--the umpire school was the catalyst that
transformed umpiring from vocation to profession.
     The professionalization of umpiring had profound effects.  Formalized
instruction and systematic career development attracted more middle-class
college men, as umpiring was increasingly viewed less as a way of staying in
professional sport than as a desirable career choice.  And, reflecting the
demographic shifts that prompted continental expansion, most umpires, like
players, now hailed from the Sun Belt or the Pacific Coast.  The lone area in
which umpires lagged far behind players in mirroring the social changes of
society at large was race.  It was not until 1966, twenty years after Jackie
Robinson broke the color line, that Emmett Ashford joined the American League
and became the first black major league umpire.  (He was also the first black
professional umpire, breaking in with the Southwestern International League in
1951.)  In 1973 Art Williams integrated the National League.  Despite the
strong presence of Latino players since the 1940s, Armando Rodriguez (1974)
and Rich Garcia (1975), both in the American League, were the first Hispanic
umpires in the majors.
     Umpires also adopted a more professional attitude.  They candidly
admitted errors and portrayed themselves not as omnipotent enforcers of the
law who demanded respect but as impartial judges who deserved respect.  That
umpires were skilled but fallible men became clearly visible in 1956, when Ed
Rommel and Frank Umont broke a long-standing taboo by wearing eyeglasses on
the field.  But the most important effect of growing professionalization was
that umpires increasingly viewed themselves as deserving the pay and
perquisites of professionals.
     In contrast with the strong support from league headquarters for their
actions on the field, umpires historically were unable to protect themselves
from monetary and personnel injustices because they negotiated individually
instead of collectively with the leagues.  Umpires repeatedly were dismissed
arbitrarily, and in 1953, for the first time in fifteen years, umpires
received a modest salary increase--a salary range of $6,000 to $16,000 and an
increase in World Series pay to $3,000.  Early efforts at organizing were to
no avail, and in 1945 Ernie Stewart of the American League was fired for
alleged unionizing activity.  But in 1963, led by Augie Donatelli, umpires in
the Senior Circuit organized the National League Umpires Association, headed
by Chicago labor attorney John J. Reynolds.  After Reynolds' success in
raising salaries, American League umpires became unionists.  When Bill
Valentine and Al Salerno were dismissed in 1968, allegedly for incompetence
but patently for unionizing activities, an appeal to the National Labor
Relations Board resulted in umpires in both leagues being organized into the
Major League Umpires Association.  A one-day strike of the first game of the
championship playoffs on October 3, 1970, the first by umpires in major league
history, prompted the league presidents to recognize the Association and
negotiate a labor contract that set a minimum salary of $11,000 and raised the
average salary to $21,000.
     Eight years later the Umpires Association made major advances under the
new leadership of Richard G. "Richie" Phillips, a Philadelphia lawyer who
also represented National Basketball Association referees.  A second umpire's
strike on August 25, 1978, lasted only one day, owing to a court injunction
against the Association, but a third strike from Opening Day to May 18, 1979,
won major concessions for the union, including a salary schedule of $22,000 to
$55,000, based on years of service; annual no-cut contracts; $77 per diem
while traveling; and two weeks' midseason vacation.  The aftermath of the
prolonged strike, which demonstrated the power of the Association and the
inadequacy of replacement umpires, was marked by ill will between the union
umpires and "the Class of '79"--the four "scab" umpires retained on each
league's staff.  A fourth strike of seven of the eight 1984 playoff games was
settled by the intercession of new Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, who granted
the umpires a sizable increase for playoff and World Series games as well as
providing that the money go into a pool that would be distributed in part to
umpires not working postseason contests.  A fifth strike was averted in 1985
when an arbitrator--former President Richard M. Nixon--awarded umpires a 40
percent pay increase for the expanded best-of-seven playoff series.  An MLUA
strike appeared certain in 1991 until prodding of both sides by Commissioner
Fay Vincent produced an eleventh-hour settlement.  The new four-year contract
called for a salary scale ranging from $61,000 to $175,000 and a third week of
in-season vacation, in exchange for a return to a "merit" instead of
"rotation" system for postseason assignments.  However, agreement on the pact
came too late to avoid using substitute umpires for games on Opening Day.
     By the early 1990s the MLUA had transformed the umpiring profession as
well as the role of umpires in major league baseball.  Although most attention
has been focused on contract negotiations, umpires have also successfully used
the power of the Association to seek from league presidents and the
commissioner the impositions of fines and suspensions on players, managers,
and even owners for objectionable conduct and comments.
     Most significant, the press and the public increasingly viewed umpires in
a critical, even cynical manner.  It was charged that umpires, because of the
protection afforded by the MLUA, had unilaterally created a strike zone much
smaller than that prescribed by the rules, had become belligerent and
confrontational in dealing with players and managers, and had assumed too
large a role in games through quick ejection and exaggerated motions when
making calls.  To many, plate umpire Terry Cooney's ejection of Boston Red Sox
star pitcher Roger Clemens in the 1990 American League Championship Series
symbolized the aggressive action and arrogant attitude of the "new" umpire.
That such perceptions did not square with reality was secondary to the fact
that umpires no longer enjoyed the unqualified respect of fans and
journalists. (On the other hand, admiration for umpires as individuals
increased after one of the American League's top arbiters, Steve Palermo,
suffered a career-ending gunshot wound in 1991 while attempting to prevent the
robbery of two waitresses in a restaurant parking lot.)
     The growth and success of the umpire's union was made possible by two
factors.  First, with the expansion of franchises from the traditional sixteen
(8 in each league) to twenty in 1961-1962, twenty-four in 1969, and twenty-six
in 1977, umpires became a numerically significant force.  Second--and far more
important--was television, which not only brought unprecedented publicity to
umpires but also generated the enormous revenue that made it possible for
major league baseball to meet the monetary demands of umpires as well as
players.
     Finances aside, television was a mixed blessing for umpires.  If
heightened visibility underscored the umpire's skill and central role in the
game, it also glaringly exposed errors to millions of viewers.  The
photographer's camera had occasionally exposed an incorrect call, but
television's instant replay both emphasized mistakes and encouraged
second-guessing.  When slow-motion replays began to be shown on scoreboard
screens, one crew in 1975 left the field and refused to return until the
practice stopped.  Television also affected performance and appearance.  It
had once been axiomatic for umpires to develop a subdued, even somber
appearance, and take pride in anonymity.  But in the Age of Television,
arbiters began to project themselves into leading roles.  From the time
televised games became popular in the early 1950s, some umpires played to the
camera through flamboyant, demonstrative motions when making calls.  While a
few like Emmett Ashford and Ron Luciano subsequently developed "showboating"
to a fine art, umpires no longer shunned the spotlight of publicity; Luciano
even parlayed his popularity for comedic calls on the field into a career in
the telecast booth and as a writer.
     In contrast to increased tolerance regarding on-field behavior, the
personal lives of umpires received unprecedented scrutiny.  In November 1988
Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti, acting on behalf of club owners, released
ten-year National League umpire Dave Pallone because of the fear that the
arbiter's homosexuality might compromise his on-field performance and
baseball's image.  NL president Bill White suspended Bob Engel in April 1990
after he was charged with two misdemeanor counts of shoplifting baseball
cards; baseball's insistence upon the unquestioned integrity of umpires
prompted the twenty-five-year veteran to retire immediately upon his
conviction in July.  And in 1991 two unidentified umpires, one in each league,
were placed on a year's "probation" because of alleged association with
bookmakers even though there was no indication that they had ever bet on
baseball games.
     The physical appearance of umpires was also tailored for the public eye.
Increased emphasis was placed on size, as taller and more muscular men were in
vogue--perhaps to personify the umpire's authority in an antiauthoritarian
age.  The American League's adoption of gray slacks in 1968 and maroon blazers
in 1971 was part of an effort to project a distinctive "sporty" image, as was
the case later when umpires in both leagues began wearing numerals on their
sleeves and baseball caps with letters designating league affiliation.
Similarly, contact lenses were favored over glasses and in 1988 obese umpires
were put on weight-reduction programs.  By the early 1990s the "casual look"
was completed when umpires wore short-sleeved shirts without jackets during
hot weather and satin warmup jackets on cool nights.  Contact lenses were
favored over glasses until 1991 when Al Clark (AL) and Frank Pulli (NL) wore
spectacles while umpiring behind the plate as well as on the bases. In 1988
obese umpires were put on weight-reduction programs during the offseason; by
1991 those who failed to lose prescribed poundage were subject to suspension
pending compliance.
     Aside from the superficialities of cap insignia and jacket color, there
was little to distinguish the two umpire staffs in appearance.  Training in
umpire schools and minor league supervision by the Umpire Development Program
had the effect of imposing uniformity of style and technique on umpires and
thus on the leagues.  Moreover, by the 1970s American League arbiters had
adopted the inside chest protector, while the National League mimicked the
preference for "big" men.  However, a reversal in league images also occurred:
just as the players in the Senior Circuit were widely regarded as superior to
those in the Junior, National League umpires were similarly perceived as
better in the 1960s and 1970s; meanwhile, the American League, with umpires
like Ashford and Luciano and fiery managers like Billy Martin and Earl Weaver,
became more volatile than the now staid National League.
     Despite television exposure, heightened after 1969 by intraleague
championship playoffs, umpires as a group were personally more anonymous
than before.  Exceptions like Luciano notwithstanding, the individuality of
umpires was submerged by the four-member crew, the numerical expansion of
staffs, the rotation among cities, the standardization of styles and
techniques, the decline in the frequency of rhubarbs, and the attempt to
project a more staid professional image.  Few umpires stood out as
demonstrably superior to their colleagues, partly because systematic training
and preparation had increased generally the competence of all arbiters and
partly because professional basketball and football now offered competition
for outstanding officials.  Nonetheless, there were some premier umpires in
the postwar era, chief among them Nestor Chylak and John Stevens of the
American and Al Barlick and Doug Harvey of the National League.
     During the course of a century of major league baseball, the umpire
became transformed from a despised, untrained, semiprofessional "necessary
evil" to a respected, skilled professional who epitomizes the integrity of the
game itself.  In the process some arbiters became immortalized in record books
for notable achievements and distinctions.  J.L. Boake umpired the first
professional league game (1871), Billy McLean the first National League game
(1876), and Tommy Connolly the first American League game (1901).  Hank O'Day
and Connolly umpired the first modern World Series (1903), while Bill Dinneen,
Bill Klem, Bill McGowan, and Cy Rigler worked the first All-Star Game (1933).
Bill Klem holds the record for most seasons in the majors (thirty-seven), most
World Series (eighteen) and most World Series games (one hundred-eight).  Al
Barlick and Bill Summers worked the most All-Star Games (seven).  Doug Harvey
has umpired the most League Championship Series (nine) and LCS games
(thirty-eight).  George Hildebrand holds the record for most consecutive games
umpired (3,510).  (Babe Pinelli has claimed that he did not miss a regulation
game in his twenty-two-year career.)  Emmett Ashford was the first black
professional umpire in both the minor (1951) and major leagues (1966), while
Armando Rodriguez (1974) was the first Hispanic umpire in the majors.  Bernice
Gera was the first female professional umpire (1972), although she worked only
one game in the Class A New York-Penn League; Pam Postema's bid to become the
first woman to umpire in the major leagues ended with her release from the
Triple-A Alliance after spending thirteen years in the minors.  Evans was the
youngest (twenty-two) and Klem the oldest (sixty-eight) to umpire a major
league game.  Seven umpires are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame:  Jocko
Conlan (1974), Tommy Connolly (1953), Bill Klem (1953), Billy Evans (1973),
Cal Hubbard (1976), Al Barlick (1989), and Bill McGowan (1992).