Download or read book Dean of Umpires written by Bob Luke and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hall of Fame umpire Bill McGowan controlled the field of play as much with his personality as with the rulebook; his respected 30-year career, including 2,532 consecutive games, was among the longest in baseball history. McGowan was the home plate umpire in the first-ever American League pennant playoff game, Cleveland versus Boston in 1948. Famous for his sense of humor, great dramatics, and wild gestures, he was known to turn a strike into a ball if he thought a player deserved a break, or to eject half a team if they annoyed him. He promoted such players as Goose Goslin, Moe Berg, Stanley "Bucky" Harris, and Jimmy Dykes; wrote articles and newspaper columns; and founded a school for umpires in College Park, Maryland, which continues today as the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School. This richly illustrated biography gives an intimate view of this talented umpire, from his birth in 1896 and long marriage to his death from diabetes in 1954. With research including interviews with former players as well as family members, the work provides a wealth of anecdotes and insights into his profession. The textbook McGowan wrote for his students is included as an appendix.

Download or read book The SABR Book of Umpires and Umpiring written by Larry R. Gerlach and published by Sabr Digital Library. This book was released on 2017-03-18 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collaboration of 34 SABR members. This book includes biographies of all the umpires in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, other notable arbiters, essays about professional female umpires, umpiring in the Negro Leagues, explorations of the baseball rules, umpire equipment, and much more. During the work on this book, we interviewed 56 major league umpires, former umpires, supervisors and umpire administrators, and others whose jobs cause them to interact with umpires. We hope to shed light on the umpiring profession past and present, the work involved on the field, and the arduous challenges and sacrifices it takes to become an umpire at the top of the profession. We have tried to look at the occupation from many different angles. No book can cover all facets of the job, but we hope to give readers a fuller appreciation of baseball and those charged with the integrity of the game. Contributions by David W. Anderson, Andy Andres, Mark Armour, Perry Barber, John Behrend, Dennis Bingham, Alan Cohen, Reynaldo Cruz, Kevin Cuddihy, Rob Edelman, Eric Frost, Larry Gerlach, Dennis Goodman, Leslie Heaphy, Harold R. Higham, Bob Hurte, Gil Imber, Rodney Johnson, Chuck Johnson, Stephen Johnson III, Bob LeMoine, Hank Levy, Bob Luke, Shaun McReady, Brian Mills, Bill Nowlin, Al Piacente, Bill Pruden, David Vincent, Bob Webster, Chris Williams, Herb Wilson. HALL OF FAME UMPIRES Al Barlick Nestor Chylak Jocko Conlan Tommy Connolly Billy Evans Doug Harvey Cal Hubbard Bill Klem Bill McGowan Hank O'Day OTHER NOTABLE UMPIRES Emmett Ashford Charlie Berry Augie Donatelli Tom Gorman Steve Palermo Babe Pinelli Ernie Quigley Beans Reardon Rev. Dr. Crew Chief Ted Barrett Chris Guccione HISTORICAL DATA Retired Numbers (and un-retired) from the Umpires Media Guide Honor Rolls of Baseball Umpires who Played and/or Managed in the Major Leagues Umpire Records Umpires and No-Hitters Historical Timeline of Major League Umpiring from the Umpires Media Guide Umpires in Postseason OTHER UMPIRES, OTHER PLACES Umpires in the Negro Leagues Three Arizona League Umpires Once Upon a Blue Moon: A Love Affair with Umpiring Around the World of Umpiring by Clark G. "Red" Merchant Larry Young and International Umpiring Cuban Umpiring Umpire Elber Ibarra Umpiring in Korea PROFESSIONAL WOMAN UMPIRES Amanda Clement: The Lady in Blue The Stained Grass Window by Perry Barber Yanet Moreno, the First Woman Umpire in Any Country's Major League Umpire Schools: Training Grounds for the Guardians of the Game An Umpire School Diary A Visit to the Wendelstedt Umpire School in 2017 The Evolution of Umpires' Equipment and Uniforms Ted Barrett's Chest Protector and Plate Brush What Do Umpires Do Exactly? When the Rules Aren't the Rules Baseball Q & A - Applying the Rules Umpire Mechanics Umpire Changes During A Game A History of Umpire Ejections Throwing Out 17 Players In One Game Dave Mellor, Director of Grounds, Fenway Park Dean Lewis, Umpires Room Attendant Chris Cundiff, Batboy Replay As An Umpiring Tool Larry Vanover -- the first umpire to make a call at the Replay Operations Center Rich Rieker, Director of Umpire Development Umpire Observer Kevin O'Connor Ross Larson, Instant Replay Coordinator Replay Behind the Scenes -- At the Ballpark Andy Andres, Field Timing Coordinator Dan Fish, Replay Headset Coordinator Jeremy Almazan, Replay Headset Coordinator John Herrholz, Ballpark Camera Technician Umpire Analytics The Chest Protector

Download or read book The Umpire Was Blind written by Jonathan Weeks and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-06-01 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the words of former American League umpire Nestor Chylak, umpires are expected to "be perfect on the first day of the season and then get better every day." Forced to deal with sullen managers and explosive players, they often take the blame for the failures of both. But let's face it--umpires are only human. For well over a century, the fortunes of Major League teams--and the fabric of baseball history itself--have been dramatically affected by the flawed decisions of officials. While the use of video replay in recent decades has reduced the number of bitter disputes, many situations remain exempt from review and are subject to swirling controversy. In the heat of the moment mistakes are often made, sometimes with monumental consequences. This book details some of these more controversial calls and the men who made them.

Download or read book Lion of the League written by Larry R. Gerlach and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2024-05 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Dean Emslie (1859–1943) spent fifty-six of his eighty-four years in professional baseball—eight as a player and forty-nine as an umpire. When arm problems ended his career as a Major League pitcher, he turned to umpiring, serving in that capacity for thirty-five seasons, then as an umpire supervisor for thirteen years. His longevity is all the more remarkable considering he toiled during the three most contentious and difficult decades umpires ever faced: the years from 1890 to 1920, when baseball transitioned from amateur to professional sport and from regional business to commercial entertainment industry. Emslie endured the rough-and-tumble umpire-baiting 1890s, the Deadball era, injuries from thrown and batted balls, physical and verbal assaults from players and fans, and criticism in the press. Among his most notable games, he called four no-hitters and worked as the base umpire in the famous Merkle’s Boner game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds in 1908. He often clashed with Giants manager John McGraw, who nicknamed him “Blind Bob.” Yet he was widely praised by players and his peers. Honus Wagner, the great Pittsburgh shortstop, ranked Emslie the best National League umpire he had seen during his twenty-year career. Umpires Bill McGowan and Billy Evans respectively regarded him as “the greatest base umpire of all time” and “one of the greatest umpires the game ever produced.” Emslie was also the acknowledged master of baseball’s rules such that National League presidents regularly consulted with him on controversial calls and protests. Emslie accepted a position as the chief of National League umpires, serving as an adviser to the National League president. Lion of the League is the biography of an umpire whose career spanned the formative years of modern baseball.

Download or read book Umpires written by John C. Skipper and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2010-06-21 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They are known by a variety of names, many of them unprintable. Like the big league players, they are the very best in their profession and spend years honing their craft, yet some fans pretend to believe they are incompetent boobs. They are the men in blue on the baseball diamond, major league umpires. In this work, nineteen umps provide their unique insight on some of the most important and pivotal moments in baseball history. Don Denkinger recounts his call that turned the 1985 World Series. "Red" Flaherty and Bill Kinnamon recall the excitement of Roger Maris' 61st homer. From these men and Bill Jackowski, Bill Haller, John Rice, Dutch Rennert, John Kibler, Bill Valentine, Terry Cooney, Andy Olsen, Marty Springstead, Doug Harvey, Ken Burkhart, Ed Runge, Hank Morgenweck, Art Frantz, Jerry Neudecker, and Steamboat Johnson, we get a different view of the game and a new appreciation for the job the umpires do on a daily basis.

Download or read book Standing the Gaff written by Harry Johnson and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 1994-01-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harry "Steamboat" Johnson brought to early baseball great integrity and a pugnacious style. Toughness?being able to "stand the gaff"?was essential during his long career afs an umpire. From 1909 to 1935 Johnson umpired in exhibition games andøminor leagues (except for the 1914 season in the National League) from Los Angeles to Toronto. When fans screamed "Kill the umpire!" he responded he'd rather die on a baseball field than anywhere else. With disarming directness and humor, Steamboat Johnson tells what it was like umpiring for various leagues (the wild Western was nicknamed "101 Ranch"), being on the road (lonely because umpires could not fraternize with players), and getting into all sorts of jams (he once took on Ty Cobb in a 1922 exhibition game between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals). "Standing the gaff" meant surviving the wrath of players?and of fans, who hurled insults and pop bottles. After a game, Steamboat would be escorted to his hotel by the police. Johnson instructs would-be umpires, answers questions from fans, and names the best players he ever saw. Until now, Standing the Gaff, originally published in 1935, has been hard to find. This Bison Book edition makes it available to buffs and social historians and those curious about baseball in its rowdy adolescence. In a new introduction, Larry R. Gerlach tells more about Steamboat's life.

Download or read book Ruling Over Monarchs Giants Stars written by Bob Motley and published by Sports Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2007 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a decade, umpire Bob Motley called balls and strikes for the Negro Baseball League, earning the opportunity to work with such legends as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, and Willie Mays. "Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants & Stars" is his revealing, humorous memoir.

Download or read book Frick written by John P. Carvalho and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2016-11-18 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ford Frick is best known as the baseball commissioner who put the "asterisk" next to Roger Maris's record. But his tenure as commissioner carried the game through pivotal changes--television, continued integration, West Coast expansion and labor unrest. During those 14 years, and 17 more as National League president, he witnessed baseball history from the perspective of a man who began as a sportswriter. This biography of Frick, whose tenure sparked lively debate about the commissioner's role, provides a detailed narrative of his career and the events and characters of mid-20th century baseball.

Download or read book The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour written by Phil S. Dixon and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-08-26 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book follows Dizzy and Daffy Dean’s All-Stars as they barnstormed across the country in 1934, taking the field against the greatest teams in the Negro Leagues. It shows the glory of the games as well as the disingenuous journalistic tactics that proliferated during the tour with an introspective look at its impact on race relations. In 1934, brothers Dizzy and Daffy Dean were stars of Major League Baseball’s regular season and World Series. Following their St. Louis Cardinals’ victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game Seven, Dizzy and Daffy went on a fourteen game barnstorming tour against the best African-American baseball players in the country. The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour: Race, Media, and America’s National Pastime examines for the first time the full barnstorming series in its original and uncensored splendor. Phil S. Dixon profiles not only the men who were part of the Deans’ All-Star teams but also the men who played against them, including some of baseball’s most monumental African-American players. Dixon highlights how the contributions during the tour of Negro League stars such as Satchel Paige, Chet Brewer, Charlie Beverly, and Andy Cooper were glossed over by sports writers of the day and grants them their rightful due in this significant slice of sports history. The Dizzy and Daffy Dean Barnstorming Tour gives careful consideration to the social implications of the tour and the media’s biased coverage of the games, providing a unique window for viewing racism in American sports history. It is more than a baseball story—it is an American story.

Download or read book American Umpire written by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-04 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commentators call the United States an empire: occasionally a benign empire, sometimes an empire in denial, often a destructive empire. In American Umpire Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman asserts instead that America has performed the role of umpire since 1776, compelling adherence to rules that gradually earned broad approval, and violating them as well.

Download or read book Frederick Lillywhite s Cricket scores and Biographies from 1746 to 1826 1841 to 1848 Compiled by A Haygarth Continued as Arthur Haygarth s Cricket scores and biographies from 1855 to written by Frederick Lillywhite and published by . This book was released on 1877 with total page 678 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Universal Baseball Association Inc J Henry Waugh Prop written by Robert Coover and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1992-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Referee Staying Up to Snuff written by Chuck Wenstrom and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2009-11 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chuck Wenstrom is a retired secondary school teacher in Corvallis, Oregon. He is married to Joanne and they have a son and daughter. He is a life-long follower of sports, as a participant, spectator and as a sometimes writer.

Download or read book As They See Em written by Bruce Weber and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named One of the Best Baseball Books Ever Written by Esquire An insider’s look at the largely unknown world of professional umpires, the small group of men (and the very occasional woman) who make sure America’s favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true.​ Millions of American baseball fans know, with absolute certainty, that umpires are simply overpaid galoots who are doing an easy job badly. Millions of American baseball fans are wrong. Bruce Weber, a New York Times reporter, not only interviewed dozens of professional umpires but entered their world, trained to become an umpire, then spent a season working games from Little League to big league spring training. As They See ’Em is Weber’s entertaining account of this experience as well as a lively exploration of what amounts to an eccentric secret society, with its own customs, its own rituals, its own colorful vocabulary. Writing with deep knowledge of and affection for baseball, he delves into such questions as: Why isn’t every strike created equal? Is the ump part of the game or outside of it? Why doesn’t a tie go to the runner? And what do umps and managers say to each other during an argument, really? Packed with fascinating reportage that reveals the game as never before and answers the kinds of questions that fans, exasperated by the clichés of conventional sports commentary, pose to themselves around the television set, Bruce Weber’s As They See ’Em is a towering grand slam.

Download or read book You re the Umpire written by Wayne Stewart and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-07-16 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you think you have what it takes to be a Major League umpire? Well, now you can test your knowledge of the game with Wayne Stewart’s You’re the Umpire. Divided into three sections, this unusual handbook, now in its third edition, offers Routine Calls, which deal with scenarios and rules that typically come up in games and deal with clear-cut rules—fair and foul, strike zone questions, and the like. The next section, Basic Situations, deals with umpiring matters and rules that are just a bit more unusual or, for the casual fan, obscure. Interference and obstruction calls, for example, don’t come up too often, but they remain standard stuff involving rules that umps and many fans know quite well. In the final section, Obscure Rules and Situations, you will be presented with what many baseball people call “knotty” problems. Here, you will be asked questions involving the complex infield fly rule and other arcane matters. This section, then, is the ultimate test of your umpiring skills and knowledge. Most of the situations in You’re the Umpire come from real games, such as the time a fastball from Randy Johnson killed a bird in flight and what the umps did regarding that pitch, but some scenarios are made up to illustrate specific points or rules. Test yourself against your friends or against the iconic baseball rulebook. It’s a challenge and it’s fun.

Download or read book Bad Call written by Harry Collins and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How technologies can get it wrong in sports, and what the consequences are—referees undermined, fans heartbroken, and the illusion of perfect accuracy maintained. Good call or bad call, referees and umpires have always had the final say in sports. Bad calls are more visible: plays are televised backward and forward and in slow motion. New technologies—the Hawk-Eye system used in tennis and cricket, for example, and the goal-line technology used in English football—introduced to correct bad calls sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong, but always undermine the authority of referees and umpires. Bad Call looks at the technologies used to make refereeing decisions in sports, analyzes them in action, and explains the consequences. Used well, technologies can help referees reach the right decision and deliver justice for fans: a fair match in which the best team wins. Used poorly, however, decision-making technologies pass off statements of probability as perfect accuracy and perpetuate a mythology of infallibility. The authors re-analyze three seasons of play in English Premier League football, and discover that goal line technology was irrelevant; so many crucial wrong decisions were made that different teams should have won the Premiership, advanced to the Champions League, and been relegated. Simple video replay could have prevented most of these bad calls. (Major League baseball learned this lesson, introducing expanded replay after a bad call cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.) What matters in sports is not computer-generated projections of ball position but what is seen by the human eye—reconciling what the sports fan sees and what the game official sees.

Download or read book Willie Wells written by Bob Luke and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first complete biography of an important Negro League baseball player from Austin, Texas. Willie Wells was arguably the best shortstop of his generation. As Monte Irvin, a teammate and fellow Hall of Fame player, writes in his foreword, “Wells really could do it all. He was one of the slickest fielding shortstops ever to come along. He had speed on the bases. He hit with power and consistency. He was among the most durable players I’ve ever known.” Yet few people have heard of the feisty ballplayer nicknamed “El Diablo.” Willie Wells was black, and he played long before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. Bob Luke has sifted through the spotty statistics, interviewed Negro League players and historians, and combed the yellowed letters and newspaper accounts of Wells’s life to draw the most complete portrait yet of an important baseball player. Wells’s baseball career lasted thirty years and included seasons in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada. He played against white all-stars as well as Negro League greats Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Buck O’Neill, among others. He was beaned so many times that he became the first modern player to wear a batting helmet. As an older player and coach, he mentored some of the first black major leaguers, including Jackie Robinson and Don Newcombe. Willie Wells truly deserved his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Bob Luke details how the lingering effects of segregation hindered black players, including those better known than Wells, long after the policy officially ended. Fortunately, Willie Wells had the talent and tenacity to take on anything—from segregation to inside fastballs—life threw at him. No wonder he needed a helmet. “Willie Wells: “El Diablo” of the Negro Leagues is well researched and well written, so the average baseball fan should find it to be an entertaining read.” —Dale Petroskey, president, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum “The story of Willie Wells opens another window on the conditions and constraints of Jim Crow America, and how painfully difficult it can be, even now, to remedy the persistent effects of discrimination. Every baseball fan will love this story. Every American should read it.” —Ira Glasser, executive director, American Civil Liberties Union, 1978-2001 “Reconstructing, indeed resurrecting, the career of a peripatetic Negro League baseball player is a daunting task. Negro and Major League great Monte Irvin tells us that his fellow Hall of Famer, shortstop Willie Wells, belongs on the same baseball page as Gibson, DiMaggio, Paige, and Feller. This fine biography by Bob Luke does a wonderful job in telling us why and how that is the case. We have here a Hall of Fame telling of the story of a true Hall of Famer.” —Lawrence Hogan, author of Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African American Baseball