Charles Van Sickle

The 21st-century epithet “ump show,” coined to describe umpires who make themselves the center of attention, could have been created 100 years earlier to describe Charles Van Sickle.

Brawls, riots, ejections, and suspensions followed Van Sickle throughout his 20-year career, which included 67 games in the 1914 Federal League and stints in more than a half-dozen minor leagues. He could be a martinet who ejected players for the slightest provocation, or a slacker who chatted to distraction with fans and players. He was described more than once as one of the best umpires in his league, and also as one of the worst.1

A run-in with future Hall of Famer Joe Tinker ended Van Sickle’s brief major-league career in August 1914. Van Sickle made the correct call on a controversial play but was fired for losing control of the resulting argument – an ironic outcome for a man known for his heavy hand.

Van Sickle’s tumultuous life included several years living and working under another name, Jack O’Hearne. For this reason, this biography includes a few gaps in which information on his activities is scant.2 Hopefully, the colorful story of Charles Van Sickle will someday be told in fuller detail.

Charles Fowler Van Sickle was most likely born on August 12, 1876,3 in Galveston, Texas.4 He was the third and last child of John Tennant Van Sickle and the former Georgianna Willis, who had married three years earlier.5 Georgianna, known as Georgie, died in 1887; John subsequently remarried.

John Van Sickle was well-regarded in business as an agent for the Morgan steamship line, work that led him from Texas to New York City.6 He was descended from a deep-rooted New York State family of Dutch extraction. A 1902 book called Famous Families of New York included a chapter on the clan, noting that John was “long known for his executive ability.”7

The book reported that the family name, originally Van Siclen, had been spelled many ways over the years.8 This held true during Charles Van Sickle’s umpiring career. His name – before he changed it – appeared in newspapers as Vansickle, Van Syckel, Van Syckle, Van Sicle, Von Sickle, and other variations. The ump was also known by the nicknames “Dixie” and “Jack.”

Charles’s first glimpse of fame scarcely befitted the son of a distinguished family. In July 1896, Van Sickle and a New York acquaintance held a bloody fistfight over the question of which of two theater actresses was prettier. Newspapers as far away as Los Angeles gave prominent play to the lurid story.9 Stories noted that Van Sickle was “well-known in New York club life;” was tall, slender, and dashing;10 liked to brag about his fighting skill; had previously paid romantic attention to a married blonde; and had moved out of his father’s home over a disagreement about the late hours he was keeping.11

Van Sickle was a “player” in New York clubland, but the extent of his playing on the baseball field is unclear.12 Van Sickle attended a military college prep school called Riverview Academy in Poughkeepsie, New York, and a story from 1893 mentions a Van Sickle playing shortstop on the school team.13 Several stories in Van Sickle’s umpiring years referred to him as a former player.14 But as of spring 2024, Baseball-Reference listed no professional playing record for him, and Van Sickle’s Sporting News umpire card does not mention a playing career.15

The earliest available records of Charles Van Sickle working as a professional umpire date to 1905, in the Class A Western League. He was described as a successful amateur ballplayer, “a New York man who went to Denver a few years ago for his health,”16 and the son of Morgan’s steamship agent. In April, he apparently worked an exhibition game involving the Chicago Cubs and a Denver team.17 One of the umpire’s early on-field appearances ended in debacle, as Colorado Springs captain Ed McKean threw a postgame cup of water in Van Sickle’s face after a game full of disputed calls.18 A few days later he earned praise for hustling, making impartial decisions, and keeping the game moving.19

This pattern – a strong performance one day; a farce or a brouhaha the next – continued throughout the early years of Van Sickle’s career, which saw him work in the Class C South Atlantic, Texas, and Wisconsin-Illinois Leagues; the Class A American Association; and the independent Federal League in 1913, the season before that loop pursued major-league status.20 In offseasons during this period, he worked as a floorwalker at a store in Chicago.21

Van Sickle became known for taking out his watch and promising to eject a participant, or forfeit a game, if an argument did not end within a certain amount of time. He brought several minor-league games to an early end using this method.22 He brought the stunt to the Federal League as well, once pulling the watch on St. Louis Terriers manager Mordecai Brown.23 “It is a bet that Umpire Van Sickle in every dream pulls a watch on something or somebody,” a Missouri newspaper reported early in his career. “Someday the patient populace will become desperate and the face of that time piece will get a disfiguring.”24

At other times, it appeared Van Sickle himself might be in line for the disfiguring. In July 1910 he spent much of a game conversing with fans and firing personal insults at sportswriters. It was one of several times in his career that he was criticized for chattiness.25 In August 1911 he was escorted from a ballpark in Wisconsin to save him from a crowd of angry fans.26

And in May 1912, he committed what today would be a career-ending act: He punched out Joe Gardner, owner of the Dallas team in the Texas League, after Gardner insulted his umpiring.27 The league reportedly fired him in July, but stories and box scores indicated he was still working later that season.28 Van Sickle’s continued employment might have been proof of his skill as an ump. It was said that Texas League managers disliked his personality, but never questioned “his sincerity of purpose or his ability to judge play.”29

One especially wild story from Van Sickle’s early career later drew national attention.30 Van Sickle reportedly told a rowdy and hostile crowd at a game in Georgia that only two great men had ever passed through the state – Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman, and himself. The remark triggered a game-ending riot, and Van Sickle supposedly never worked in Georgia again.31

The story appears to be apocryphal. Research for this story turned up no contemporary news account to support it,32 and praising Sherman to a crowd of already angry Southerners less than 50 years after the Civil War seems foolhardy at best. Others were more willing to believe the legend: It was reprinted in The Sporting News in 1927.33

Incidents involving Van Sickle from this period that can be confirmed include having a player shove him and throw a bat at him; getting into a fistfight with another player that started a riot and led the police to draw guns; getting roasted for making poor calls and “[getting] very funny at the expense of the players and spectators;” and, finally, getting fired.34

This last was a disappointing ending to a season that began with a promising opportunity. Presumably with an eye on the major leagues, Van Sickle volunteered in March 1909 to umpire spring-training games of the Pittsburgh Pirates in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a relationship he maintained through 1912.35 At that time, umpiring in spring games was catch-as-catch-can, sometimes handled by players or spectators.36

At first the agreement went well. The umpire was said to be a candidate for a National League job at one point,37 and Van Sickle built goodwill by extolling the genius of Pirates manager Fred Clarke in interviews.38 But by 1912, players were criticizing his “very raw decisions.”39 In the spring of 1913, Van Sickle was replaced by NL ump Brick Owens, with one newspaper noting that “[Van Sickle’s] work was not considered high class by many of the players.”40

Instead, the move that most likely brought Van Sickle to the majors was his involvement with the 1913 Federal League, a six-team outlaw loop in the Midwest. Van Sickle was described as “one of the really few high-class umpires” in the league that season by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. The paper also noted that Van Sickle made a postseason visit to St. Louis to ask league officials for a loan “to tide me over the holidays.”41

The Federal League’s 1914 umpiring staff did not originally include Van Sickle. Among those who landed a job was Steve Kane, a National League ump in 1909 and 1910 who had been working in the minors. Kane lasted 39 games before President James Gilmore fired him in early June, reportedly for health-related reasons.42 Quality umping was an ongoing concern for Gilmore: Just three of the 15 men who umpired at least one FL game in 1914 were brought back the next season.43

Van Sickle, who had already worked a pair of tryout games, was named as Kane’s replacement.44 Van Sickle made his debut behind the plate in Chicago on May 31, working a tense 1-0 game won by Chicago over Indianapolis in the bottom of the ninth. He moved into full-time employment on June 10. He worked 52 of his 67 games behind the plate but was elsewhere for one notable contest. On July 29, Van Sickle umped on the bases during the longest game in FL history – an 18-inning battle between the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and St. Louis Terriers.45

The Chicago Tribune said Van Sickle “had a hard time of it” in his debut, and his reception was no warmer in other cities.46 In Brooklyn, he was criticized for inattentiveness and poor ball and strike calls.47 “Umpire Van Sickle is some poser all right,” the Pittsburgh Press declared in early August, while the Kansas City Times called him “Rip Bum Syckle,” an apparent take on “Rip Van Winkle” and “bum.”48 His quick trigger began to manifest itself as well, as Van Sickle made seven of his 12 FL ejections in his final 10 days in the league.

The incident that ended Van Sickle’s FL career took place on August 16 at Chicago’s Weeghman Park – later Wrigley Field – in a game between the Chicago Chi-Feds and Baltimore Terrapins. With one out and one on in the bottom of the eighth, Chicago’s Dutch Zwilling was stepping into the batter’s box when first-base coach Bruno Block shouted an accusation that Baltimore pitcher Bill Bailey was dirtying the baseball.

Van Sickle raised his hands to call time and stop play, but Bailey pitched the ball anyway, and Zwilling hit it into the right-field stands for what appeared to be a home run that would give the Chi-Feds a 2-1 lead. Managers Tinker of Chicago and Otto Knabe of Baltimore stormed onto the field – Tinker to argue for the home run, Knabe for the time-out. Tinker, backed by Chi-Feds president Charles Weeghman, insisted he would not resume play unless the home run counted. The argument continued for about 25 minutes, with Van Sickle feebly begging Tinker to “be a good fellow” and send his team back onto the field. Finally, Tinker gave in, finishing the 1-0 Terrapins victory under protest.49

President Gilmore, who was at the game, was so disgusted by the umpire’s lack of control that he fired Van Sickle the next day. Gilmore faulted Van Sickle for not ejecting Tinker – who was fined $100 – or ordering the game forfeited. “I cannot stand for an official who hasn’t the backbone to enforce the rules,” Gilmore said.50 Ironically, one account claimed that Van Sickle gave the Chi-Feds several deadlines to either take the field or forfeit the game. But on this crucial, career-changing occasion, he did not back up his watch stunt with action.51

Van Sickle landed on his feet in the Class A Western League, two levels below the majors, arriving in September 1914 and staying through the following season. He remained polarizing. One summary of his work called him “pompous” but praised him for keeping games moving.52 Another described him as the “cream” of the league’s umpires, but said team owners disliked his quick ejections.53 After an ejection-filled game, one wag quipped that the ump was “engaged in the wholesale canning industry.”54 And yet, Van Sickle was the only 1914 Western League ump retained for 1915.55

At one game in May 1915, he climbed into the stands in Topeka to explain the rules to fans.56 The following month, owner-manager Jack Holland and player Billy Page of the St. Joseph, Missouri, team attacked Van Sickle on the field in Sioux City, Iowa, then were mobbed themselves by fans who disagreed with the attack. Holland and Page were taken into police custody but released on Van Sickle’s insistence.57 Another report from that season described him as a “homer” and claimed he was being kept away from the games of a team with which he had clashed.58

Van Sickle’s charming side surfaces in another tale from that season. Two teams in a Sunday school baseball league in Hutchinson, Kansas, got into a dispute regarding a championship game called for darkness. Seeking outside judgment to settle the argument, a league official wrote to NL umpire Cy Rigler and the sports editor of a Kansas City newspaper, neither of whom responded. Finally, he sent a telegram to Western League ump-in-chief Van Sickle, who replied promptly the next morning to resolve the dispute.59

Van Sickle left pro umpiring in 1916 to become a traveling salesman, a job he’d held in offseasons.60 He compared the professions in a quote dripping with period jive: “A ball player is a business man in a business that’s no business. It’s more fun to breeze into a hotel in a hick burg, lean affectionately on the cigar case and ooze goggles from a blond dice shark than it is to dodge pop bottles.”61 When not on the road that spring and summer, he taught umpires in Omaha and worked games in a local amateur league.62 While information on his personal life is limited, he was reported to have had a family who joined him in Omaha during his Western League years.63

The Van Sickle name was not heard again in pro baseball until December 1921,64 when a wire-service item announced that the Class A Texas League65 had hired an umpire whose name varied from story to story – sometimes Charles O. Hearn, sometimes Charley O’Hearn.66 Hearn or O’Hearn, the stories said, had previously worked in the Texas League “under the name of Van Sickle.”67

The returning ump appears to have presented the Van Sickle name as a pseudonym. “Like some of the active sluggers in the boxing business, this arbiter adopted another name when he fared forth upon the diamonds of professional baseball,” a paper in Texas reported.68 His name morphed still further from there. The ump first identified as “Charley” or “Charles” was generally referred to in game coverage as “Jack” or “John,” and the Sporting News contract card for this phase of his career calls him “J.F. O’Hearne.”69

Van Sickle’s new identity may have dated at least to September 1918, when a lathe operator in Detroit, Michigan, filled out a military draft card under the name John Fairfax O’Hearne. Based on the draft card and two subsequent marriage records, O’Hearne and Van Sickle had much in common. Both were native Texans with August 12 birthdates, and O’Hearne listed his parents’ names on both marriage records as John and Georgia.70 The two Michigan marriage records – one from January 1920, the other from November 1922 – both have O’Hearne marrying a woman named Winifred Corey; Corey married another man in 1924.71

O’Hearne made his umpiring debut – or Van Sickle his return – in the Class B72 Michigan-Ontario League in 1920, and anyone familiar with Van Sickle’s style would have had no trouble recognizing him. On July 27, the umpire forfeited a game between London and Saginaw after protesting Saginaw players failed to return to the field in a specified amount of time.73 A few weeks later, a pitcher who had attacked him on the field broke into his hotel room that night and tried to assault him with a baseball bat.74

Van Sickle’s ups and downs continued in 1921. “O’Hearne” (sometimes “O’Hearn”) was well-regarded enough to be hired as the Michigan-Ontario League’s umpire-in-chief and was retained to work postseason playoffs. In between, he got into a beef with league President George Maines that resulted in his suspension.75 He was described as “the millionaire umpire” and “one of the wealthiest men in the umpiring business,” reportedly with enough money to buy any team in the league – another aspect of his story that cries out for more explanation.76

“O’Hearne” was reportedly considered for a job in the Double-A International League in 192277 – one step below the majors – but ended up in the Texas League instead. He also returned to Pirates training camp in Hot Springs in March 1922 to work exhibition games. Pirates manager George Gibson, formerly a catcher with the team, recognized the umpire and asked him when he’d changed his name.78 News stories from spring training called him “Umpire Vansickle.”79

This anecdote raises puzzling, unanswerable questions. If “O’Hearne” were trying to distance himself from his old identity, why would he take work with the team whose players, coaches, and staff were most likely to recognize him? Did he know ahead of time that the announcement of his Texas League hiring would reveal his former name? One sportswriter who called him “stubborn,” “bullheaded,” and “wrapped up in himself” suggested O’Hearne had changed his name to fool those who knew him as Van Sickle – but his secret didn’t stay hidden.80

At any rate, “O’Hearn(e),” his cover blown, worked in the Texas League and two Class D leagues – the East Texas League and the Texas Association – through 1925, and surfaced in the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in 1926.81

His exploits continued as before. He was hospitalized after being hit by a thrown soda bottle; got into a fistfight with future Hall of Fame outfielder Al Simmons, then playing for the Shreveport Gassers; feuded with an umpiring partner; and was lectured for his chatter with fans and players.82 And yet, he was still rated highly enough to work a postseason series between the champions of two minor leagues in 1926.83

The umpire, under both identities, dropped from the public eye after that. Research for this story found no news stories or public records that clearly indicated how either Van Sickle or O’Hearne spent the 1930s.84 The Great Depression was financially ruinous to some Americans, and one wonders whether the “millionaire umpire” saw his fortune disappear – or whether it had been a rumor or façade to begin with.

A Nevada death certificate and a pair of items in the Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal provide an ending to the story. Charles Fowler Van Sickle, then employed as a gambling “shiller” at the city’s Last Frontier resort,85 suffered a heart attack there in the early hours of August 30, 1943, and died in the ambulance on the way to a hospital. After services at a funeral home, he was buried in the city’s Woodlawn Cemetery on September 2. The funeral arrangements were made by members of the resort.86

Mrs. Charles F. Van Sickle,87 living in Dallas, provided a scant few tidbits of information by telegram for her late spouse’s death certificate. She noted that he was born in Galveston, Texas, and was “about 67” years old. If the birthdate of August 12, 1876, presented earlier is correct, Van Sickle died 18 days after his 67th birthday.

The major leagues’ Special Baseball Records Committee provided a coda to the Van Sickle story a quarter-century after his death. In March 1968, the committee ruled that the Federal League of 1914 and 1915 would be considered a major league.88 With that, the multi-monikered martinet of the minors posthumously attained major-league status. Perhaps, in the great beyond, Van Sickle looked at his watch and asked them why they’d taken so long.

Acknowledgments and author’s note

This story was reviewed by Rory Costello and Kim Juhase and fact-checked by Bill Lamb. 

Sources consulted for this biography include four newspaper archive sites (Newspapers.com, the Google News Archive, Fultonhistory.com, and NYShistoricnewspapers.com), two genealogical record sites (Familysearch.org and Ancestry.com), the archives of The Sporting News and Sporting Life, and the Internet Archive.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the sources credited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for background information on players, teams, and seasons.

The author thanks Lynn Blumenau and the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for research assistance.

Photo at top from the Knoxville (Tennessee) Sentinel, July 20, 1909: 16. Photo at bottom from the Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal, April 13, 1910: 10.

Notes

1 A sample of each: “Brant Breezes,” Brantford (Ontario) Expositor, August 8, 1921: 8; “Warm Roast for Umpire VanSycle,” Columbus (Georgia) Enquirer-Sun, July 27, 1909: 6.

2 As another indicator of the limited information available on Van Sickle, his Retrosheet page (as of April 2024) included no information on his birth and death, as well as an incorrect middle initial.

3 In 1909, Van Sickle told a reporter that August 12 was his birthday, though he refused to say how old he was. The 1880 U.S. Census listing for Van Sickle’s family lists Charles as three years old. Online sources indicate that the 1880 Census was conducted in June of that year, so a boy with an August 12 birthday who was three years old in June 1880 would have had to have been born in 1876. “Gold Watch for Umps Van Sycle,” Knoxville (Tennessee) Sentinel, August 13, 1909: 14; 1880 US Census listing for John T. Van Sicle sic and family, accessed via Familysearch.org in April 2024. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBF-9N1S?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMFNN-JF6&action=view. The 1917-18 military draft card apparently filled out by Van Sickle under another name, discussed later in this story and endnotes, gives his birthdate as August 12, 1877.

4 Houston is also a possibility. A news story or two from Van Sickle’s umpiring years described him as a native of Houston, and his family was living there at the time of the 1880 Census. But other information points to Galveston: It’s the birthplace listed on his death certificate, and his two older siblings were born there. Also, a news story from mid-September 1876 noted his father John’s professional departure from Galveston, suggesting that the Van Sickles would still have been there the previous month, when Charles was most likely born. “The Clinton Movement,” Galveston (Texas) Daily News, September 15, 1876: 4. (This news story also notes that a “Captain Fowler” had been John Van Sickle’s professional mentor in Galveston, which may explain the source of Charles Fowler Van Sickle’s middle name.)

5 “Married,” Galveston Daily News, August 28, 1873: 2. Van Sickle’s sister Caroline died in 1956, while his brother, John, died in infancy in January 1876. “Mrs. Caroline Mann,” Denton (Maryland) Journal, August 31, 1956: 8; Findagrave.com entry for John Stephen Van Sickle, accessed April 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126530923/john-stephen-van_sickle.

6 “The Clinton Movement.”

7 Margherita Arlina Hamm, Famous Families of New York (London and New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1902): 234. https://archive.org/details/famousfamiliesof01hammm/page/234/mode/2up?q=%22john+t.+van+sickle%22.

8 Variations noted in the book included Van Sicklen, Van Sichlen, Van Siechelen, Van Sickelen, Van Sychlen, and Vansyckel, as well as the simplified Sickle and Sickles.

9 Associated Press, “Fought on a Roof,” Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1896: 1. Some versions of the news story suggested that the young men might have been put up to the fight as a publicity stunt by the actresses’ agents, and perhaps they were.

10 One of the few items of personal information on Van Sickle’s Retrosheet page as of April 2024 was his height and weight, listed as 6 feet and 180 pounds.

11 “Fought on a Roof”; “Fought for ‘Foxie,’” Poughkeepsie Evening Enterprise, July 29, 1896: page number unavailable; “Callow Youths in Battle about Actresses,” New York Press, July 28, 1896: page number illegible.

12 An infielder named Van Sickle passed through minor-league teams in cities like Dubuque and Davenport, Iowa, in the early twentieth century. Several contemporary stories about the infielder Van Sickle described him as a native of Aurora, Indiana. News stories and records made available through Familysearch.org establish James Leib Van Sickle as the player in question, born in Aurora in 1885 and died in Indianapolis in 1940. “Former Aurora Ball Player and Pugilist Dies in Indianapolis,” Aurora (Indiana) Journal, March 21, 1940: 1; “Good Year for the American,” Minneapolis Journal, January 30, 1904: Sports:4; “American Association News,” Arlington (Kansas) Enterprise, May 6, 1904: 2.

13 “Stanfordville Beaten by Riverview 10 to 6,” Poughkeepsie (New York) Daily Eagle, May 8, 1893: 6.

14 “Says Minors Are of Crude Methods,” Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph-Herald, February 11, 1922: 20, https://books.google.com/books?id=eRNeAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA20&dq=%22umpire+van+sickle%22&article_id=3789,5195708&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiLkLuW67iFAxUwEVkFHUWrAaU4ChDoAXoECAoQAg#v=onepage&q=%22umpire%20van%20sickle%22&f=false; H.V. Millard, “Bait for Bugs,” Decatur (Illinois) Herald, August 15, 1926: 11. The latter story dates to the period when Van Sickle worked under the name J.F. O’Hearne (and variants).

15 Van Sickle’s Sporting News umpire card gives yet another incorrect version of his name – “C.J. Van Sickle.” Accessed via Retrosheet April 2024. https://www.retrosheet.org/TSNUmpireCards/VanSickle-CJ.jpg. The Sporting News collection of player contract cards, likewise, did not include a separate card for Van Sickle when searched online in April 2024.

16 The name “Charles Van Sickle” was cited several times in Denver’s Rocky Mountain News in 1899 and 1900 as an out-of-town investor who had done well with mines in Wyoming. There’s not enough information in the stories, however, to firmly connect this Van Sickle to the umpiring Van Sickle. “Fresh Capital for Wyoming,” Rocky Mountain News, September 15, 1899: 8, https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD18990915-01.2.116&srpos=2&e=——-en-20-RMD-1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22charles+van+sickle%22——-2——; “South Pass is Quite Active,” Rocky Mountain News, August 12, 1900: 11, https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19000812-01.2.204&srpos=8&e=——-en-20-RMD-1–img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%22charles+van+sickle%22——-2——.

17 “Denver Wins in Tenth Inning,” the Inter Ocean (Chicago), April 6, 1905: 4.

18 “St. Joe 7 – Colorado Springs 5,” Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald, May 9, 1905: 5.

19 “New Umpire Made Good,” Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, May 13, 1905: 8.

20 All of these stops are listed on Van Sickle’s Sporting News umpire card except the South Atlantic League, and numerous news stories and line scores exist to prove that he worked that circuit in 1909. He worked a temporary assignment in the Wisconsin-Illinois League in 1910 due to another umpire’s illness. “Pollock’s Father is Ill,” Racine (Wisconsin) Daily Journal, July 29, 1910: 6.

21 A floorwalker oversees sales staff. “Base Ball Notes,” Appleton (Wisconsin) Evening Crescent, July 24, 1911: 8.

22 “Van Sickle Has Troubles,” Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, June 7, 1905: 6; “Indians Take Both Games,” Nebraska State Journal, September 17, 1906: 2.

23 “Burlesque Game is Taken by Rebels,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, August 7, 1914: 10.

24 “Western League Notes,” St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press, May 17, 1905: 3.

25 “Chat of the Game,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 4, 1910: 7. Another story that called Van Sickle to task for conversing with fans and players: “Papermakers Take a Wierd [sic] Game, 9 to 6,” Appleton Evening Crescent, June 2, 1911: 8.

26 “Southpaw Burnham Downs Papermakers,” Appleton Evening Crescent, August 8, 1911: 8.

27 “Gardner Took Count from League Umpire,” Houston Post, May 11, 1912: 5

28 Associated Press, “Another Streak Broken,” Houston Post, July 22, 1912: 3; “Thrilling Sunday Game,” Houston Post, August 26, 1912: 3.

29 “Kike’s Komment,” Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, August 20, 1913: 10.

30  Research into news articles and box scores mentioning Van Sickle suggested that this incident – if it occurred – most likely took place while he was working in the Southern League in 1909. Van Sickle himself said it happened while he was working in the Carolina Association, but research did not find any news clips to prove that Van Sickle ever worked in that loop.

31 “Classics of the Diamond,” Salt Lake Telegram, February 22, 1922: 6. Van Sickle himself is quoted as telling a foreshortened version of the story in Billy Evans, “Humor of the Bleachers,” Washington Evening Star (weekly magazine), June 8, 1913: 7.

32  A search of Georgia newspapers in Newspapers.com in April and May 2024 using a variety of search terms, including Van Sickle, Van Sycle, Vansickle, and Van Syckle, in conjunction with “Sherman” or “riot,” found no supporting evidence.

33 “Baseball By-Plays,” The Sporting News, July 7, 1927: 7.

34 “Augusta Ties Another One,” Chattanooga (Tennessee) Daily Times, August 5, 1909: 7; “Batters’ Box is Cause of Riot,” Oklahoma City Daily Oklahoman, August 7, 1909: 8; “Warm Roast for Umpire Vansycle”; “’Dixie’ Van Syckle Has Been Released,” Knoxville (Tennessee) Sentinel, August 30, 1909: 12.

35 “Only Three Hits are Made by Yannigans,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, March 27, 1909: 9.

36 “Hot Water at Club House,” Columbus (Georgia) Enquirer-Sun, February 10, 1910: 10.

37 “Brief News Notes from Pirate Camp,” Pittsburgh Press, April 2, 1911: 27.

38 “Van Sycle Likes Job as Umpire,” Pittsburgh Post, March 22, 1912: 10.

39 W.B. McVicker, “McVicker’s Gleanings at Hot Springs Camp,” Pittsburgh Press, March 28, 1912: 22.

40 Ralph S. Davis, “Groundkeeper O’Maley Will Work at Hot Springs Park,” Pittsburgh Press, February 16, 1913: Sports:2. Later that season, Van Sickle was publicly credited for tipping the Pirates to an infield prospect, Gil Britton, who got a brief trial in the majors. “Another Man Bought by Pirates,” Pittsburgh Press, August 15, 1913: 28.

41 “Van Sickle Would Make Early Touch,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 24, 1913: 10.

42 “Federals Let Out Steve Kane,” Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle, June 12, 1914: 27; David W. Anderson, “Bill Brennan,” SABR Biography Project, accessed April 2024, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bill-brennan/.

43 Comparison of Retrosheet’s listings of Federal League umpires for the 1914 and 1915 seasons, as listed in May 2024. The three constants were Barry McCormick, Spike Shannon, and the league’s umpire-in-chief, Bill Brennan.

44 “Steve Kane Released,” Cincinnati Inquirer, June 12, 1914: 7.

45 Brooklyn won, 4-3.

46 “Sam Wellerisms,” Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1914: 13.

47 “Feds Win Uphill Battle,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 25, 1914: 17.

48 “Federal Gossip,” Pittsburgh Press, August 4, 1914: Sports:1; “Chief Johnson a Winner,” Kansas City Times, August 14, 1914: 8.

49 Mike Huber, “August 16, 1914: Terrapins Defeat Chi-Feds when Dutch Zwilling Homers and Strikes Out in Same At-Bat,” SABR Games Project, accessed April 2024, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-16-1914-terrapins-defeat-chi-feds-with-controversial-play-when-dutch-zwilling-homers-and-strikes-out-in-same-at-bat/; Handy Andy, “Tinx Drop Game; Only Run Homer,” Chicago Tribune, August 17, 1914: 13.

50 “Umpire Van Sycle Canned by Gilmore,” Buffalo Evening News, August 19, 1914: 12; “Gilmore Releases Umpire,” Washington Post, August 18, 1914: 8; “Van Sickle is Canned by Federal League Head,” Racine (Wisconsin) Journal-News, August 18, 1914: 7.

51 “Gilmore Fires One of the Feds Umpires,” Paterson (New Jersey) Morning Call, August 18, 1914: 3.

52 “The Wise Owl,” St. Joseph News-Press, February 1, 1916: 14.

53 “Omaha Wins Close Game in Twelfth,” Omaha (Nebraska) Daily Bee, August 13, 1915: 3.

54 “Were the Witches Playing?,” Wichita Eagle, September 4, 1914: 7.

55 “The Wise Owl,” St. Joseph News-Press, November 24, 1914: 12.

56 “Wichita So Easy!,” Topeka (Kansas) Daily State Journal, May 17, 1915: 3.

57 “Team Bosses Bait Umpire,” El Paso (Texas) Times, July 9, 1915: 9.

58 “Prexy Tip the Big Gun,” Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News, August 13, 1915: 9.

59 “Methodists Are Champs,” Hutchinson (Kansas) News, August 19, 1915: 9.

60 “Haskell Wants His Old Job Back,” Sioux City Journal, January 31, 1916: 6; “The Wise Owl,” St. Joseph News-Press, February 1, 1916: 14; “Sandy’s Dope,” Omaha Evening World-Herald, March 14, 1916: 14.

61 “Contract Mailing Starts in Western,” Topeka (Kansas) Daily Capital, February 1, 1916: 10.

62 “Establishes School to Instruct Umpires,” Davenport (Iowa) Democrat and Leader, March 14, 1916: 8; “Today’s Umps,” Omaha Daily News, June 11, 1916: 29.

63 “Sandy’s Dope,” Omaha Evening World-Herald, October 24, 1914: 5. Research for this biography did not uncover information about Van Sickle’s family. A January 1916 news item indicated that items belonging to Van Sickle were stolen from an Omaha rooming house, which might suggest that Van Sickle was no longer living with his family at the time. “Steals Jewelry,” Omaha Daily News, January 11, 1916: 8.

64 In May 2024, a Newspapers.com search for various phrases – including “Umpire Van Sickle,” “Umpire Vansickle,” and “Umpire Van Syckle” – turned up no matches in any newspapers in the database between 1917 and 1921. Since pro baseball box scores traditionally included the name of the umpire, it’s questionable whether Van Sickle umpired professionally under his birth name during these seasons.

65 Two levels below the majors.

66 Associated Press, “Two More Umpires in Texas League in 1922,” Austin (Texas) American, December 29, 1921: 2; “Texas League Signs Up Two Brand New Umpires,” Washington (District of Columbia) Times, January 25, 1922: 17.

67 Associated Press, “Two More Umpires in Texas League in 1922.”

68 “League Meets at Houston in Another Week,” Fort Worth (Texas) Record, January 6, 1922: 4.

69 Sporting News umpire card for J.F. O’Hearne accessed online in April 2024. The card includes no personal information regarding the umpire. https://www.retrosheet.org/TSNUmpireCards/OHearne-JF.jpg.

70 1918 military draft card for John Fairfax O’Hearne. O’Hearne gave his birthdate as August 12, 1877, perhaps a year later than Van Sickle’s: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G1ZV-443?i=838&cc=1968530&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AK6XS-HGJ; Wayne County, Michigan, marriage record from January 1920 for John O’Hearne and Winifred Corey: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-6Q13-TCH?i=178&cc=1452395; Wayne County, Michigan, marriage record from November 1922 for John O’Hearne and Winifred Corey, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-67WQ-PHJ?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3ANQ9V-4QH&action=view. Neither marriage record identifies the person performing the marriage nor any witnesses to it. All records accessed through Familysearch.org in April and May 2024.

71 Wedding record for Winifred Corey Burgoyne and Richard Berryman, Wayne County, Michigan, September 17, 1924, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D1C9-T9?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3ANQ7M-7FJ&action=view; accessed via Familysearch.org in May 2024.

72 Class B was three levels below the majors in 1920 (Classes A and AA were above it.)

73 “Cockneys Were Handed a Game,” Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator, July 28, 1920: 21.

74 “Morisette [sic] Suspended,” Kitchener (Ontario) Daily Record, August 12, 1920: 2. The pitcher in question was Bill Morrisette, who pitched parts of three seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers between 1915 and 1920.

75 “Athletic Club for Newark,” Marshfield (Wisconsin) Daily News, September 15, 1921: 7; “Bays Loading for Champions, London Also,” Port Huron (Michigan) Times-Herald, September 8, 1921: 8; “Yet He Worked Here,” Brantford (Ontario) Expositor, August 6, 1921: 2.

76 “As To O’Hearn,” Brantford Expositor, August 9, 1921: 8; “Brant Breezes,” Brantford Expositor, August 10, 1921: 10.

77 “Toole Gets ‘Ump’ from M-O League,” Brantford Expositor, December 24, 1921: 24. This story is one of a few that describe O’Hearne as a former Federal League umpire – further cementing the connection between Van Sickle and O’Hearne. (Another example: “Diamond Yarns,” La Sentinella (Bridgeport, Connecticut), March 19, 1921: 4.) As of April 2024, no one named Hearn, O’Hearn, or O’Hearne was mentioned on Retrosheet’s lists of 1914 and 1915 Federal League umpires.

78 “J. Morrison and Indian to Twirl,” Pittsburgh Press, March 17, 1922: Sports, 1.

79 “Pirates Drop Short Game to Sox,” Pittsburgh Press, March 26, 1922: Sports, 1.

80 Otis Harris, “O’Hearn Invites Trouble Rather than Try to Shun It,” Shreveport (Louisiana) Journal, July 16, 1923: 8.

81 Sporting News umpire card for J.F. O’Hearne, cited above; Millard, “Bait for Bugs.” Decatur had a team in the Three-I League in 1926 and O’Hearne is mentioned as having umpired on the basepaths in one of their games.

82 “Snapshots on Sport,” Waterloo Daily Record (Kitchener, Ontario), July 22, 1922: 11; Joe Carter, “Raspberries and Cream,” Shreveport Times, July 18, 1923: 8; Billy Bee, “Better Pitching and More Pep Needed as Shown by 15-9 Defeat,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 2, 1922: 18; Billy Bee, “Buzzin’ Round,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 17, 1922: 13.

83 Associated Press, “Homer with Bases Full Gives Three-I Champions Game,” Decatur (Illinois) Herald, September 16, 1926: 12.

84 Searches of FamilySearch.org in April and May 2024 turned up no clear matches for John F. O’Hearne or John O’Hearne before or after the draft card and marriage records cited earlier.

85 In legal casino settings, the term “shill” is used for a gambler who is hired by the casino to join multi-player games, using house money, to ensure the game has enough players to continue. In illegal gambling settings, a “shill” is an accomplice who lures in others to gamble by making a rigged game seem winnable.

86 Death certificate for Charles Fowler Van Sickle accessed through Ancestry.com in April 2024; “Vital Statistics,” Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal, August 30, 1943: 4; “Vital Statistics,” Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal, September 1, 1943: 4.

87 Unfortunately, Van Sickle’s death certificate identifies his wife only as “Mrs. C. F. Van Sickle.”

88 John Thorn, “Why Is the National Association Not a Major League … and Other Records Issues,” ourgame.mlblogs.com, posted May 4, 2015. Thorn, a SABR member, is the official historian of Major League Baseball. Since Thorn’s post was written, Major League Baseball has also awarded major-league status to certain Negro Leagues. https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/why-is-the-national-association-not-a-major-league-and-other-records-issues-7507e1683b66.