Umpires in Major League Baseball | Baseabll Almanac

UMPIRES

Major League Baseball Umpires | Baseball Almanac

Baseball is a simple game played by nine, managed by one, and kept under control by an umpire. An unattributable quotation summed up the profession nicely with, "It's the only occupation where a man has to be perfect on Opening Day and improve as the season goes on."

During one of those seasons, Hall of Fame Manager Casey Stengel actually became so enraged that he laid on the ground and continued yelling at umpire Beans Reardon — who after a few moments laid next to Stengel and yelled back. Stengel recalled the incident, "When I peeked out of one eye and saw Reardon on the ground too, I knew I was licked." Research by Baseball Almanac.

"The thing that surprised me most in baseball is the amount of integrity that most umpires have. It actually took me a while to believe what a good game they'd give you the next night after a blow-up." - Earl Weaver

Umpires Major League Baseball Umpires
Umpire Assignments	Umpire Quotations
All-Star Game Umpires Midsummer Classic Umpires	Cal Hubbard Hall of Famer (1976)
Hall of Fame Umpires Cooperstown Ten	Bill Klem Hall of Famer (1953)
World Series Umpires The Fall Classic	Umpire Quotations Quotes From & About Umpires
Umpire Poems	Umpire Lists / Pages
The Umpire by Milton Bracker	Players Who Became Umpires Player-to-Umpire
Untitled (Slug The Umpire) by Anonymous	Umpire Burial Locations Grave Site Photos & Obituaries
Umpire Rules	Umpire Fun & Games
9.00 The Umpire Official MLB Rules	Hall of Fame Umpires Word Search
10 Commandments of Umpiring by Ford C. Frick	Sliding Puzzle The Ump
Umpire Rosters
MLB Umpires – Alphabetical Every Umpire in MLB History	MLB Umpires – Years Served Every Umpire in MLB History
The History of Umpires
The Umpires \| Research by Baseball Almanac

In 1882, the American Association paid four regular umpires a $140 monthly salary, gave them $3 per diem and requested them to take an oath of honesty.

During the National Association (1871-1875) and early years of the National League umpires were hard to find as illustrated by this Al Spalding quote, "To secure the presence of intelligent, honest, unprejudiced, quick witted, courageous umpires at all contests in scheduled games has been one of the most vexatious problems confronting those in control of our national sport."

There were many early incidents where players literally attacked umpires. In 1927, Commissioner Landis required a ninety-day suspension for any such attack and in 1940 it was changed to a one year suspension.