Umpire Stories
So, You Want to Be an Umpire? David Vincent Modern umpires like to be invisible on the field and consider it a good day when no one remembers them after a game. There have been days, though, that are memorable ones. Here are some of those days. *** In 1882, National League Umpire Dick Higham, a former player, was expelled from the game for colluding with gamblers. He had been the first umpire to wear a mask on the field. Higham umpired his last game on June 22, 1882 in Buffalo. *** On June 19, 1896, the Chicago Colts (now Cubs) were in Cleveland to play the Spiders. The latter team was well known around the league for acting in a rowdy manner. In the seventh inning, Umpire Tom Lynch fined and ejected Cleveland Captain Patsy Tebeau, who refused to leave. Tebeau instead rushed at Lynch to assault the umpire but the two were separated by other players. Lynch refused to work the rest of that game and left the field. After a long delay, the game resumed with Chicago player Con Daily calling the pitches and Cleveland player Cy Young making the calls on the bases. Tebeau remained in the game and Chicago’s Cap Anson protested the game because Tebeau remained in the contest even though he had been ejected. Chicago won the game, 8-3, so the protest was not lodged. After the game, Lynch told a reporter: “I suppose I should not have permitted my indignation to get the better of me, but after all there are things that pass human endurance, and one of them surely is to be called vile names.” Lynch refused to work in Cleveland after that and did not until 1898.
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