Are umpires really necessary? Don’t be too sure.
On June 28, 1941, the Boston Braves were scheduled to face the Brooklyn Dodgers. But a short time before game time, Casey Stengel, the manager of the Braves, received a telegram. He showed it to Leo Durocher, the manager of the Dodgers.
It was from the umpiring crew. All three umpires were fogbound on a boat and would not arrive in time for the game.
Durocher scratched his head. He never got along well with umpires anyway. “What are they doing on a boat?” he asked. “They’re supposed to be here umpiring a game.”
“Beats me,” agreed Casey. But we’ve got a crowd in the stands. We can’t call the game.”
“Got any ideas?” inquired Durocher.
Stengel suggested that they start the game without umpires. “One of my men, Johnny Cooney, can umpire behind the plate for balls and strikes,” he said. “Is that O.K. with you?”
Durocher readily agreed. He picked one of his team, Freddy Fitzsimmons, to umpire on the bases.
With Johnny Cooney of Boston and Fred Fitzsimmons of Brooklyn doing the umpiring, the game got under way. The fans had learned one of the telegram and the plight of the umpires. They enjoyed the situation thoroughly.
The first inning passed without incident. The Dodgers never questioned Cooney’s calls behind the plate, and Fitzsimmons had little to do on the basepaths. Before the second inning began, umpires Pinelli, Barlick and Ballanfant trotted onto the field. The fans greeted them with much laughter and mock foghorn calls. Cooney and Fitzsimmons retired from their umpiring chores.
Later, Casey Stengel remarked, “We didn’t miss ’em. For all I cared that boat could’ve been fogbound all day.”
From The Giant Book of Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
I don’t know any umpires but I briefly dated a guy in HS who became a NFL referee. And like most of the guys I dated he was an asshole.
Was it Ed Hochuli? I really want it to be Ed Hochuli.
Years ago, Mrs. Butcher wrote a poem for me on Valentine’s Day that included every single man she ever dated, plus her first husband, and what the problem was with each one. I think my favorite was the hippie that wanted her to join his commune which happened to include three other women he was sleeping with. It was quite a read.
No, not Ed Hochuli. Mrs Butcher sounds awesome.
Indeed, she is.