| William Joseph Klem | |
 Bill Klem, the father of baseball umpires, in 1914
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| Born | 1874 Rochester, New York |
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| Died | 1951 Miami, Florida |
| Occupation | Umpire |
| Spouse | Marie[1] |
William Joseph Klem, born William Joseph Klimm (February 22, 1874[2] – September 16, 1951), known as the "father of baseball umpires", was a National League umpire in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each In Baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game including beginning and ending the game enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds making The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball He had the longest career of any major league umpire (37 years) before Bruce Froemming tied that mark in 2007, and was also the oldest umpire in history at age 67 until Froemming surpassed that mark as well. Bruce Neal Froemming (ˈfɹɛmɪŋ born September 28, 1939 in Milwaukee Wisconsin) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who Champions Major League Baseball Regular Season Champions Other champions Minor League Baseball Klem was widely respected for bringing dignity and professionalism to umpiring, as well as for his high skill and good judgment. Klem was also an innovative umpire; he was the first major league umpire to use arm signals while working behind home plate[3], and was one of the first umpires to wear a modern, somewhat pliable chest protector inside of the shirt – a move which he successfully campaigned to have adopted throughout the NL. He was the first to straddle foul lines for better perspective and stand to the side of the catcher for a better look at pitches. Finally, he was the last umpire to routinely work the plate in all games (traditionally the crew chief always worked the plate; today umpire crews rotate base/plate assignments).
Born in Rochester, New York, he worked a record 18 World Series:[3] 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934 and 1940. Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The 1908 World Series matched the defending champion Chicago Cubs against the Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. The 1909 World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. In the 1911 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants 4 games to 2 In the 1912 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Giants four games to three (with one tie In the 1913 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Giants four games to one In the 1914 World Series, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics in a four-games sweep In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one In the 1917 World Series, the Chicago White Sox beat the New York Giants four games to two The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two In the 1920 World Series, the Cleveland Indians beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, then known interchangeably as the Robins in reference to their manager Wilbert In the 1922 World Series, the New York Giants beat the New York Yankees in five games (four games to none with one tie starting this year the World Series was In the 1924 World Series, the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants in seven games The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball (MLB season featuring the St In the 1929 World Series, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago Cubs in 5 games In the 1931 World Series, the St Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Athletics in seven games a rematch and reversal of fortunes of the 1930 World Series The 1932 World Series was played between the New York Yankees ( American League) and the Chicago Cubs ( National League) with the Yankees The 1934 World Series matched the St Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Cardinals' " Gashouse Gang " winning in seven games The 1940 World Series matched the Cincinnati Reds against the Detroit Tigers, with the Reds winning the Series in seven games for their second championship their No other umpire has worked in more than ten Series. Of the 16 major league teams in existence during his career, all but one – the St. Louis Browns, who would not win a pennant until 1944 – appeared in a World Series that he officiated; the only other teams which did not win a championship with Klem on the field were the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies, neither of which won a title during Klem's lifetime, and the Detroit Tigers. The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles California, USA The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA He was also one of the umpires for the first All-Star Game in 1933, and worked behind the plate for the second half of the game; he later umpired in the 1938 All-Star Game as well. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League The 1933 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the first playing of the midseason exhibition Baseball game between the all-stars of the American League The 1938 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 6th playing of the mid-summer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL and National League
He called balls and strikes in five no-hitters, an NL record later tied by Harry Wendelstedt. Harry Hunter Wendelstedt Jr (born July 27 1938 in Baltimore Maryland) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in He was also the home plate umpire on September 16, 1924, when Jim Bottomley of the St. Louis Cardinals had a record 12 runs batted in. Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Champions World Series: Washington Senators over New York Giants (4-3 First Negro League World Series: Kansas James Leroy Bottomley ( April 23, 1900 &ndash December 11, 1959) was born in Oglesby Illinois and grew up in Nokomis Illinois The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St Klem had a number of nicknames amongst the players: his favorite was "The Old Arbitrator", but his jowly appearance also led to some players calling him "Catfish". Klem despised the latter name, and was notorious for ejecting players whom he caught using it. [2] One particular incident involved a player who Klem ejected after he caught the player drawing a picture of a catfish with his foot in the infield dirt.
He also dismissed catcher Al Lopez from a game after Lopez pasted, onto home plate, a photo he clipped from a newspaper, which showed Klem clearly in error calling a play involving Lopez. Alfonso Ramon "Al" Lopez ( August 20 1908 &ndash October 30 2005) was an American Catcher and manager A newspaper is a written Publication containing News, information and Advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called Newsprint. The catcher had covered the photo with dirt and waited for Klem to brush off home plate (Source: Baseball's Greatest Managers, 1961. ).
Klem died at age 77 in Miami, Florida. He and Tommy Connolly were the first two umpires inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953. Thomas Henry Connolly ( December 31, 1870 - April 28, 1961) was an English - American umpire in Major League Champions Major League Baseball World Series: New York Yankees over Brooklyn Dodgers (4-2 All-Star Game [3] They are also the only two umpires to have worked in five different decades. [1]
References
- ^ a b New York Times obituary
- ^ a b SABR biography accessed 18 December 2007
- ^ a b c Bill Klem at Baseball Hall of Fame accessed 18 December 2007
External links
- baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
- BaseballLibrary.com - biography and career highlights
- Retrosheet
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