The Sabr Book Of Umpires And Umpiring

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

The philosopher Jacques Barzun thought that "whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." And whoever wants to know baseball had better learn about umpires. As Larry Gerlach points out in The Men in Blue, these arbiters transform competitive chaos into organized sport. They make it possible to "play ball," but nobody loves them. Considering the abuse meted out by fans and players, why would any sane person want to be an umpire? Many reasons emerge in conversations with a dozen former major league arbiters. While nobody loves them, they love the game. Gerlach has elicited entertaining stories from these figures under fire--about their lonely travels, their dealings with umpire baiters, battles for unionization, breaking through the color line, and much more. From Beans Reardon, who came up to the National League in 1926, to Ed Sudol, who retired in 1977, here is a witty and telling portrait of baseball from the boisterous Golden Age to the Jet Age of Instant Replay.

SABR 50 at 50 celebrates and highlights the Society for American Baseball Research’s wide-ranging contributions to baseball history. Established in 1971 in Cooperstown, New York, SABR has sought to foster and disseminate the research of baseball—with groundbreaking work from statisticians, historians, and independent researchers—and has published dozens of articles with far-reaching and long-lasting impact on the game. Among its current membership are many Major and Minor League Baseball officials, broadcasters, and writers as well as numerous former players. The diversity of SABR members’ interests is reflected in this fiftieth-anniversary volume—from baseball and the arts to statistical analysis to the Deadball Era to women in baseball. SABR 50 at 50 includes the most important and influential research published by members across a multitude of topics, including the sabermetric work of Dick Cramer, Pete Palmer, and Bill James, along with Jerry Malloy on the Negro Leagues, Keith Olbermann on why the shortstop position is number 6, John Thorn and Jules Tygiel on the untold story behind Jackie Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers, and Gai Berlage on the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s team in the 1990s. To provide history and context, each notable research article is accompanied by a short introduction. As SABR celebrates fifty years this collection gathers the organization’s most notable research and baseball history for the serious baseball reader.

Robert Dean Emslie spent fifty-six of his eighty-four years in professional baseball, eight as a player and forty-nine as an umpire. His thirty-five seasons as a National League umpire included the three most contentious decades umpires ever faced, the 1890 to 1920 era, when the game transitioned from amateur to professional sport.

The ultimate umpire relives the good old days on the diamond. Jocko Conlan was an outfielder for the Chicago White Sox when, one afternoon in 1936, he became an umpire. Thus began a career lasting more than a quarter century, most of it with the National League. Through the skillful writing of Robert W. Creamer, the ebullient Jocko makes his many years of umpiring so real that the reader can smell the peanuts and hear the swat of the ball. Jocko is packed with funny stories about famous players and the beleaguered umpire?s lot.

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.

"Few people have influenced a team as much as did Tom Yawkey (1903-76) as owner of the Boston Red Sox. After purchasing the Red Sox for $1.2 million in 1932, Yawkey poured millions into building a better team and making the franchise relevant again. Although the Red Sox never won a World Series under Yawkey's ownership, there were still many highlights. Lefty Grove won his three hundredth game; Jimmie Foxx hit fifty home runs; Ted Williams batted.406 in 1941, and both Williams and Carl Yastrzemski won Triple Crowns.Yawkey was viewed by fans as a genial autocrat who ran his ball club like a hobby more than a businessand who spoiled his players. He was perhaps too trusting, relying on flawed cronies rather than the most competent executives to run his ballclub. One of his more unfortunate legacies was the accusation that he was a racist, since the Red Sox were the last Major League team to integrate, and his inaction in this regard haunted both him and the team for decades. As one of the last great patriarchal owners in baseball, he was the first person elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame who hadn't been a player, manager, or general manager. Bill Nowlintakes a close look at Yawkey's life as a sportsman and as one of the leading philanthropists in New England and South Carolina. He also addresses Yawkey's leadership style and issues of racism during his tenure with the Red Sox. "--