Dean of Umpires

Dean of Umpires PDF Author: Bob Luke
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786421363
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
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.

Dean of Umpires

Dean of Umpires PDF Author: Bob Luke
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786421363
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
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.

The SABR Book of Umpires and Umpiring

The SABR Book of Umpires and Umpiring PDF Author: Larry R. Gerlach
Publisher: Sabr Digital Library
ISBN: 9781943816453
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
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

As They See 'Em

As They See 'Em PDF Author: Bruce Weber
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416545387
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
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.

Lion of the League

Lion of the League PDF Author: Larry R. Gerlach
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496239997
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
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.

Willie Wells

Willie Wells PDF Author: Bob Luke
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292778260
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
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

Where Nobody Knows Your Name

Where Nobody Knows Your Name PDF Author: John Feinstein
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307949583
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
Minor league baseball is quintessentially American: small towns, small stadiums, $5 tickets, $2 hot dogs, the never-ending possibility of making it big. But looming above it all is always the real deal: Major League Baseball. John Feinstein takes the reader behind the curtain into the guarded world of the minor leagues, like no other writer can. Where Nobody Knows Your Name explores the trials and travails of the inhabitants of Triple-A, focusing on nine men, including players, managers and umpires, among many colorful characters, living on the cusp of the dream. The book tells the stories of former World Series hero Scott Podsednik, giving it one more shot; Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoya, shepherding generations across the line; and designated hitter Jon Lindsey, a lifelong minor leaguer, waiting for his day to come. From Raleigh to Pawtucket, from Lehigh Valley to Indianapolis and beyond, this is an intimate and exciting look at life in the minor leagues, where you’re either waiting for the call or just passing through.

The Men in Blue

The Men in Blue PDF Author: Larry R. Gerlach
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803270459
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
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.

The Yankee Years

The Yankee Years PDF Author: Joe Torre
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0767930428
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 554

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Book Description
The definitive story of one of the greatest dynasties in baseball history, Joe Torre's New York Yankees. When Joe Torre took over as manager of the Yankees in 1996, they had not won a World Series title in eighteen years. In that time seventeen others had tried to take the helm of America’s most famous baseball team. Each one was fired by George Steinbrenner. After twelve triumphant seasons—with twelve straight playoff appearances, six pennants, and four World Series titles—Torre left the Yankees as the most beloved manager in baseball. But dealing with players like Jason Giambi, A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson is what managing is all about. Here, for the first time, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci take readers inside the dugout, the clubhouse, and the front office, showing what it took to keep the Yankees on top of the baseball world.

Nice Guys Finish Last

Nice Guys Finish Last PDF Author: Leo Durocher
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226173895
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
“I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren't any rules, how could you break them?” The history of baseball is rife with colorful characters. But for sheer cantankerousness, fighting moxie, and will to win, very few have come close to Leo “the Lip” Durocher. Following a five-decade career as a player and manager for baseball’s most storied franchises, Durocher teamed up with veteran sportswriter Ed Linn to tell the story of his life in the game. The resulting book, Nice Guys Finish Last, is baseball at its best, brimming with personality and full of all the fights and feuds, triumphs and tricks that made Durocher such a success—and an outsized celebrity. Durocher began his career inauspiciously, riding the bench for the powerhouse 1928 Yankees and hitting so poorly that Babe Ruth nicknamed him “the All-American Out.” But soon Durocher hit his stride: traded to St. Louis, he found his headlong play and never-say-die attitude a perfect fit with the rambunctious “Gashouse Gang” Cardinals. In 1939, he was named player-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers—and almost instantly transformed the underachieving Bums into perennial contenders. He went on to manage the New York Giants, sharing the glory of one of the most famous moments in baseball history, Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ’round the world,” which won the Giants the 1951 pennant. Durocher would later learn how it felt to be on the other side of such an unforgettable moment, as his 1969 Cubs, after holding first place for 105 days, blew a seemingly insurmountable 8-1/2-game lead to the Miracle Mets. All the while, Durocher made as much noise off the field as on it. His perpetual feuds with players, owners, and league officials—not to mention his public associations with gamblers, riffraff, and Hollywood stars like George Raft and Larraine Day—kept his name in the headlines and spread his fame far beyond the confines of the diamond. A no-holds-barred account of a singular figure, Nice Guys Finish Last brings the personalities and play-by-play of baseball’s greatest era to vivid life, earning a place on every baseball fan’s bookshelf.

The Modern Pocket Hoyle

The Modern Pocket Hoyle PDF Author: William Brisbane Dick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Card games
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description