Shan Deniston

In a life that spanned 101 years, Shan Deniston made a mark as an athlete, a Marine, a high school and college coach, a teacher, and a husband and father. From a baseball standpoint, though, Deniston owes most of his notability to a single night of work – a two-hour, 27-minute sliver of his lengthy life.

On August 25, 1978, major league baseball’s unionized umpires conducted a one-day strike to campaign for improved pay and benefits.1 Teams across the majors hastily contacted local amateur umps to work the day’s schedule of games. Deniston, a former minor-league ballplayer and manager, umpired at second base during the San Diego Padres’ 2-1 loss to the New York Mets at San Diego Stadium. It was his only big-league game.

For his efforts, the 59-year-old Deniston – a high-school teacher and college football coach during the day – received a paycheck of $102 and a permanent place on the all-time roster of major-league umpires.2 While some umps who replace strikers later have second thoughts,3 Deniston said he had no regrets. “I played 12 years in the minor leagues, and I wanted more than anything else to make the major leagues,” he told a reporter. “I finally made it.”4

Shannon Willis Deniston was born on February 28, 1919, in Long Beach, California, the son of Walter Shannon Deniston and Charlotte (Taylor) Deniston.5 At the time of Shannon’s birth, Walter was working in a broom factory. By the following year’s US Census, he had become a mechanic in a shipyard; by 1930, he was a carpenter.6 The Denistons had three children, one adopted, in 1930. Shannon was the only one reported to be living at the time of Walter’s death in 1971.7

“Shan” grew into a four-sport athlete at Alhambra High School, playing football, baseball, basketball, and track.8 A member of the school’s Class of 1937, he received local recognition as a star in multiple sports, and was later inducted into the school’s hall of fame. (Major-league players in that shrine as of July 2024 included Cooperstown Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner, Max West, Dan Larson, and Noé Ramirez.9) He then spent a year at St. Mary’s College of California, known nationally at the time for its football program, where he played freshman football and baseball.10

In the spring of 1939, Deniston temporarily put aside his education to chase his baseball dreams. Signing with the New York Yankees organization, he was shipped to the El Paso Texans of the Arizona-Texas League, one of seven Class D teams connected to the Yankees that season. His teammates included future big-leaguers Ed Bahr, Russ Christopher, and Chet Johnson. Available statistics indicate Deniston hit a solid .288 in 117 games but struggled with fielding, posting an .885 fielding percentage in 68 appearances in the outfield.11

A right-handed batter and thrower, his playing height and weight were described in one account as 6-feet-1 and 200 pounds, and in another as 6-feet-3 and 198 pounds. His baseball idols were listed as future Hall of Famers Bill Dickey and Hank Greenberg.12

Deniston found the going more difficult in 1940, when he played for four different teams at three minor-league levels, and 1941, when he appeared in only eight games for the Anaheim team of the Class C California League.13 In May 1940, he played in one game with Idaho Falls of the Class C Pioneer League on a tryout basis. Starting at an unfamiliar position, third base, he committed two errors, went hitless, and was cut loose.14 Nonetheless, he played later that season at a higher level, the Pacific Coast League. In one July game, his three errors behind the plate contributed to his Portland team’s 9-1 loss to Seattle.15 Injuries might have hindered him as well: He reportedly had a sore shoulder when he was released by Anaheim in May 1941.16

With pro baseball on hold, Deniston spent the World War II years in a variety of pursuits. He played three seasons of minor-league professional football in California between 1942 and 1948 in the Pacific Coast Football League.17 The league, unlike affiliated pro baseball, was integrated; Deniston’s teammates included College Football Hall of Famer Kenny Washington.18 Deniston served in the Marine Corps in 1944 and 1945 as a physical instructor at the El Toro, California, air base19 and fought as a Golden Gloves boxer.20

After the war, Deniston resumed his education at George Pepperdine College – now known as Pepperdine University – where he earned a degree in education, served as assistant football coach, and met his future wife, Geneva Tefertiller, known as Genny.21 They were married in March 1949 and remained together for the rest of his life.22

Although bone chips and calcium deposits had taken a toll on Deniston’s throwing shoulder,23 he returned to pro baseball after the war, serving as a player-manager of several Class D teams in the St. Louis Browns organization from 1947 through 1949.

His first venture as an on-field leader went well, as his 1947 Mayfield (Kentucky) Clothiers of the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League went 72-52 for a strong second-place finish.24 Deniston experienced the flip side of pro baseball just two seasons later, when his Olean (New York) Oilers club of the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League went 39-86, finishing 40½ games out of first.25 “Olean was so far in the cellar that it would have taken two years of continuous playing to get them out,” Deniston said that fall.26 He never managed professionally again, though he rounded out his playing career with 39 games split between two teams in the Class A Western League in 1951.27

Deniston’s next move set the stage for the rest of his professional life. Leaving Olean shortly before the end of the 1949 season, he decamped for Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He earned a master’s degree there and served as head baseball coach and an assistant football coach.28 Deniston also played and managed a few more seasons in Iowa at the amateur level.29 In 1955, Deniston and family returned to California where he took a teaching job in San Diego; he worked as a teacher and administrator for 33 years.30

Deniston distinguished himself as a football coach at La Jolla, Lincoln, and San Diego high schools, winning a pair of local championships with Lincoln and earning a regional Coach of the Year award in 1965.31 He also took over in 1977 as head football coach at United States International University, a San Diego-area school with a Division II program.32

Most relevant to this story, Deniston spent time as a game official when he wasn’t teaching or coaching. As far back as his Drake days, he’d refereed high-school basketball; in California he was spotted umpiring high-school baseball games.33 In May 1974, a news photographer captured Deniston making a safe call at the plate on a sliding runner from Oceanside High School. The runner, Thad Bosley, was drafted the following month by the California Angels and played parts of 14 seasons in the majors between 1977 and 1990.34

His amateur umping experience put Deniston in the right place at the right time in August 1978, as talks between umpires and the National and American leagues began to turn sour. On August 23, the umpires’ attorney, Richie Phillips, warned of “a work stoppage in the very, very near future” if the NL and AL did not conduct good-faith negotiations regarding the umps’ demands for improved benefits.35 Major-league teams received orders to have substitute umps available. The backups were needed immediately as the unionized umpires walked off the job on August 25, starting with a Minnesota Twins-Toronto Blue Jays game.36

Teams drew substitute umps from a variety of sources. The Blue Jays turned to the Junior League Baseball Association in Toronto to arrange for experienced amateur umps. The Boston Red Sox reached out to the nearby Cape Cod Baseball League, a well-known development league for college-age players, and the amateur Boston Park League.37 The Los Angeles Dodgers brought in four college umps recommended by Rod Dedeaux, the legendary coach of the University of Southern California’s baseball program.38

And the Padres tapped the San Diego Umpires Association, an organization of umps working high school and college games, which provided Deniston, Dave Melton, Roger Dierking, and Larry Edwards for that night’s game.39 Both Deniston and Melton made clear to reporters that they supported the striking umps and were only taking the assignment for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work in the majors. “I hope the striking umpires get all they want,” Deniston said.40

The quartet almost didn’t get a chance to take the field, as a U.S. District Court judge in Philadelphia ordered the regular umps back to work about an hour before the scheduled start of the Padres-Mets game. But word didn’t reach the regular umpiring crew in San Diego prior to the game, giving Deniston, Melton, Dierking, and Edwards their one-night opportunity.41

Deniston was not awed by his sudden ascension to the majors. “A baseball game is a baseball game,” he told a reporter. “The only difference is, instead of having 500 people boo you, you have 40,000.”42 He also quipped that the fill-in umpires had chosen Melton to work behind home plate “because we decided that he was the ugliest and he’d have a mask on.”43

The game passed uneventfully, with no significantly controversial calls or disputes.44 Both managers – Joe Torre for the Mets, Roger Craig for the Padres – said the fill-in umps did a good job.45 Deniston said later that he only had to make one call at second base. “That’s what I call easy money,” he joked. “That’s like stealing it. … Hell, there’s nothing like umpiring a major-league game.”46

The regular umps complied with the court order and went back to work the next day, ending the major-league careers of Deniston, his three San Diego colleagues, and other amateur umps who had been summoned to fill the breach.47 The fall of 1978, meanwhile, also marked the end of Deniston’s two-year tenure as football coach at U.S. International University. He was replaced by Tom Walsh, a future NFL assistant coach, in 1979.48

Deniston returned to Lincoln High in the mid-1980s for a few more seasons as baseball coach.49 After that, he retired and left the local athletic scene, but his achievements were remembered. In 1993, a journalist marking his 20th year covering local sports cited Deniston’s ability to connect with his players: “Shan Deniston … might have been the best storyteller. That’s how he got teen-agers to listen to him.”50

A larger tribute took place in early March 2019, when about 100 friends, family members, and former athletes gathered in San Diego to celebrate Deniston’s 100th birthday, as well as the 70th year of marriage for him and Genny. A story in the San Diego Union-Tribune described the old coach as using a wheelchair, but still mentally sharp. An accompanying photo showed a beaming Deniston in a red letter jacket, surrounded by four former Lincoln High football players who went on to the National Football League.51

“A lot of us, his players, didn’t have fathers,” said Robert West, who played three NFL seasons in the early 1970s with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.52 “So we needed a man of character in our lives. If we had turmoil, trouble at home, we could go to Coach. He was always fair, always had an answer — on or off the field. He wasn’t afraid to give a player a kick in the butt. But he was quick with a pat on the back, too.”

Another former player, Jerry Powell, added: “He touched so many lives. He put us in positions that brought out the best in us, utilized our talents. He taught sports as a life lesson. He taught us to respect our elders. … Without a doubt, Shan Deniston was the best man I ever played for.”53 Powell also noted that a group of as many as 22 former athletes had met Deniston for lunch every other month.54

Shan Deniston’s long life ended on April 4, 2020, a little over a month after his 101st birthday and more than 41 years after his one night as a major-league umpire.55 As of April 2025, Deniston was the longest-lived former big-league umpire and one of only two known to have reached their 100th birthdays, according to information available through Retrosheet.56

He was survived by his wife, three children, and four grandchildren.57 Deniston is buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, where his gravestone notes his service in the Marines and adds: “Loved By All.”58

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Rory Costello and Bill Lamb and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

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 SABR member Tom Larwin and the Giamatti Research Center of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for research assistance.

Photo of Shan Deniston from the El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post, April 25, 1939: 10.

Notes

1 Associated Press, “Umpires Ordered Back to Work – Will Comply,” Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review, August 26, 1978: 17.

2 Dave Distel, “Umpires Missing, So Is Hitting by Padres,” Los Angeles Times, August 26, 1978: III:1. According to an online inflation calculator hosted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $102 in August 1978 had the same purchasing power as $485.54 in June 2024.

3 For instance, George Grygiel, a minor-league ump who worked a National League playoff game in October 1970, later expressed the opinion that crossing the picket line cost him a chance at a permanent major-league job. Grygiel never returned to the majors after his one day as a fill-in. Earl Mishler, “Remember These Guys?,” South Bend (Indiana) Tribune, May 7, 1975: 53.

4 Distel, “Umpires Missing, So Is Hitting by Padres.”

5 California marriage record for Walter S. Deniston and Charlotte Taylor, accessed July 2024 via Familysearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93W-FJF3?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AK8XY-8V6&action=view.

6 World War I military registration card for Walter Deniston, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1SG-937Y?i=961&cc=1968530&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AKZV6-K68; 1920 US Census listing for Walter Deniston and family, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GR64-DP4?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMHQC-FLC&action=view; 1930 US Census listing for the Deniston family, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R4K-JKK?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXC8X-1FH&action=view. All historic records accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024. The Census listings include some interesting inconsistencies. The 1920 Census listing lists Shannon as “Willis S.” rather than “Shannon W.” In 1930, the father’s name is given as Willis and the son’s name as Walter. And Ruth, listed as a 12-year-old daughter in 1930 (a year older than Shannon), is not mentioned in the 1920 Census.

7 “Walter S. Deniston,” Tacoma (Washington) News Tribune, October 30, 1971: 33.

8 Maury White, “Deniston Can Sing Class D Blues,” Des Moines (Iowa) Tribune, September 12, 1949: 10. According to this article, Ralph Kiner was a teammate of Deniston’s at Alhambra High. This would have been difficult but not entirely impossible, as Kiner, born in October 1922, was three years behind Deniston – Deniston graduated in 1937, Kiner in 1940, according to the Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website cited below.

9 “Shannon Deniston,” Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website, accessed July 2024, https://ahshalloffame.com/inductees/baseball/34-shannon-deniston-1937; list of baseball inductees to the Alhambra High Hall of Fame, also accessed July 2024, https://ahshalloffame.com/inductees/baseball.

10 “Shannon Deniston,” Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website; “St. Mary’s College Facts,” St. Mary’s College of California athletic website, accessed July 2024, https://smcgaels.com/sports/2018/5/29/school-bio-facts-html.aspx. The author of this biography looked up St. Mary’s College football game reports from 1938 and did not find any reference to Deniston appearing for the varsity team.

11 News reports from 1939 describe Deniston as primarily a catcher who was also being used in the outfield. As of July 2024, Baseball-Reference’s statistics for the 1939 El Paso team were apparently incomplete, as they included no mention of Deniston appearing anywhere other than the outfield. Jerry Smith, “Ceremonies to be Held,” El Paso (Texas) Times, April 22, 1939: 8. Deniston’s fielding was also criticized in Bob Ingram, “As I Was Saying,” El Paso (Texas) Herald-Post, May 24, 1940: 12.

12 Smith, “Ceremonies to be Held”; “Down the Line – With the Texans,” El Paso Herald-Post, April 25, 1939: 10. Of note in the latter item, Deniston had apparently shaved a year off his age, as his birthdate was listed as February 28, 1920. Deniston’s page on Baseball-Reference’s BR Bullpen lists still another variation of Deniston’s height and weight: 6 feet 2 inches, 200 pounds. “Shan Deniston,” BR Bullpen, accessed May 2025, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Shan_Deniston.

13 The four teams with which Deniston appeared in 1940 were Portland of the Double-A Pacific Coast League, Boise and Idaho Falls of the Class C Pioneer League, and Big Spring/Odessa of the Class D West Texas-New Mexico League.

14 “Deniston Released from Russet Club,” Idaho Falls (Idaho) Post-Register, May 7, 1940: 8.

15 “Rainiers Drop Beavers Again,” Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard, July 28, 1940: 6.

16 “Anaheim Aces Change Squad,” Anaheim (California) Bulletin, May 14, 1941: 8.

17 “Shannon Deniston,” Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website. Another notable alumnus of the Pacific Coast Football League was Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson, who played briefly with the Los Angeles Bulldogs. Bob Gill, “Jackie Robinson: Pro Football Prelude,” The Coffin Corner, Vol. 9, No. 3 (1987), accessed online July 2024, https://profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/09-03-295.pdf.

18 “Bears, Bulldogs Tangle in Pro Grid Tilt Today,” Pasadena (California) Star-News and Pasadena Post, December 16, 1945: 37.

19 “Shan Deniston Has Had Versatile Coaching Career,” Estherville (Iowa) Daily News, February 24, 1955: 4. Deniston’s gravestone, cited below, indicates that he achieved the rank of private.

20 Obituary on Legacy.com, accessed July 2024, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/name/shannon-deniston-obituary?id=8183754.

21 “Grid Coach Deniston Says Vows,” Southwest Wave (Los Angeles, California), March 6, 1949: 7.

22 Marriage license for Shannon Deniston and Geneva Tefertiller, accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8K1-ZR9. This was Deniston’s second marriage; his first, to Melvina Booth in December 1940, ended in divorce. Marriage record for Shannon Deniston and Melvina Booth, accessed via Familysearch.org in July 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VJ-W7F.

23  White, “Deniston Can Sing ‘Class D Blues.’”

24 Mayfield finished 4½ games behind the Owensboro (Kentucky) Oilers, then lost in the first round of the Shaughnessy-style four-team playoffs. Mel Held, who pitched four games with the 1956 Baltimore Orioles, was the team’s only future big-leaguer. Incidentally, the news story that introduced Deniston to Mayfield baseball fans shaved four years off his age, describing him as 24 years old in 1947. “Shan Deniston, 24-Year-Old California Catcher Is Signed to Manage Clothiers,” Mayfield (Kentucky) Messenger, February 14, 1947: 4.

25 The woebegone 1949 Oilers produced two future big-leaguers: outfielder Chuck Harmon, the first African American player to appear for the Cincinnati Reds, and pitcher George O’Donnell of the 1954 Pittsburgh Pirates.

26 White, “Deniston Can Sing ‘Class D Blues.’”

27 Deniston’s The Sporting News contract card shows no professional stops after 1951. Accessed December 2024, https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll3/id/54932/rec/1.

28 “Shannon Deniston,” Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website; White, “Deniston Can Sing ‘Class D Blues’”; Maury White, “Drake Starts Drills Monday-Tilt Friday,” Des Moines Tribune, April 4, 1951: 24. According to several sources, including his Alhambra High School Hall of Fame biography, Deniston added a doctorate in educational psychology to his curriculum vitae in 1968.

29 “Amateurs,” Des Moines Tribune, June 24, 1953: 19; United Press, “Shan Deniston Will Manage at Estherville,” Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gazette, February 17, 1955: 14.

30 “Shannon Deniston,” Alhambra High School Hall of Fame website; “New Post for Kaley,” Des Moines Tribune, August 25, 1955: 32.

31 “Mariners Inaugurate 1956 Season at La Jolla with Afternoon Game,” Chula Vista (California) Star-News, September 27, 1956: 4; “Deniston Selected ‘Coach of Year’ in San Diego Section,” Escondido (California) Daily Times-Advocate, January 12, 1966: 18; “Lincoln Garners CIF Grid Honor in 28-0 Victory,” Escondido Daily Times-Advocate, December 3, 1967: 15; Larry Littlefield, “Escondido, Cavers Renew Oldest Rivalry,”  Escondido Daily Times-Advocate, September 24, 1971: 14.

32 “Diablos Host USIU In Opener,” Eastside Journal (Los Angeles, California), September 7, 1977: 10.

33 Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart, “The Front Row,” Des Moines Tribune, January 11, 1955: 9; untitled photo and cutline, Chula Vista Star-News, May 15, 1966: 6.

34 Untitled photo and cutline, Imperial Beach (California) Star-News, May 19, 1974: A10.

35 Associated Press, “McPhail, Feeney to Meet with Umps in Labor Hassle,” Elmira (New York) Star-Gazette, August 24, 1978: 20.

36 Associated Press, “Umpires Strike at Jays-Twins Game,” Des Moines Tribune, August 25. 1978: 19. Two coaches – Don Leppert for Toronto, Jerry Zimmerman for Minnesota – worked part of the game as umpires until some of the fill-ins could arrive.

37 United Press International, “Major League Umpires on Strike: Standbys Fill In,” Boston Evening Globe, August 25, 1978: 31.

38 Associated Press, “Grote’s Run-Scoring Single Caps Dodgers’ Rally in Ninth,” Asbury Park (New Jersey) Press, August 26, 1978: B1.

39 Bill Zavestoski, “Swan Song Currently a Hit Tune,” Newsday (Melville, New York), August 26, 1978: 24.

40 Nick Canepa, “Substitute Umpires Answer the Call,” San Diego Evening Tribune, August 26, 1978: B1; Scott Stewart, “Umpires Strike; Padres to Play,” San Diego Evening Tribune, August 25, 1978: A1.

41 Dan Berger, “Major League Umps’ Strike Ends After Amateur Night,” San Diego Union, August 26, 1978: D1. According to this story, the regular umps assigned to the Padres-Mets game were Harry Wendelstedt, Dutch Rennert, Ed Montague, and Lee Weyer.

42 Zavestoski, “Swan Song Currently a Hit Tune.” The game’s actual attendance was 19,459.

43 Distel, “Umpires Missing, So Is Hitting by Padres.”

44 Distel, “Umpires Missing, So Is Hitting by Padres.”

45 Bill Weurding, “Padres Do a Swan Dive as Mets Beat Perry,” San Diego Evening Tribune, August 26, 1978: B1.

46 Canepa, “Substitute Umpires Answer the Call.”

47 “Umpires Ordered Back to Work – Will Comply.”

48 Associated Press, “Raiders Hire Assistant Coach,” Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel, March 2, 1982: 11.

49 Tony Cooper, “From Lincoln High to Lincoln, Neb.,” Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1985: III:6, Chris Ello, “Lincoln Beats Hoover on Tucker’s Homer,” Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1986: III:15.

50 Terry Monahan, “Reflecting on Two Decades of Covering Local Sports,” Escondido (California) Times-Advocate, February 25, 1993: C1.

51 John Maffei, “Cheers for Coach Shan Deniston’s 100th Birthday,” San Diego Union-Tribune, March 2, 2019, https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2019/03/02/cheers-for-coach-shan-denistons-100th-birthday/. (As of July 2024, the text of this article was also accessible via the private website of one of Deniston’s former players, who reprinted it as a tribute: https://jrmediation.com/march-2019-hero-of-the-month-coach-shan-deniston/.)

52 “Robert West,” Pro-Football-Reference.com, accessed July 2024, https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WestRo00.htm.

53 Maffei, “Cheers for Coach Shan Deniston’s 100th Birthday.”

54 John Maffei, “Beyond a Coach for His Players,” San Diego Union-Tribune, April 8, 2020: C9.

55 Deniston’s obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune says only that he died of natural causes. Maffei, “Beyond a Coach for His Players.”

56 In April 2025, the author downloaded Retrosheet’s “biofile,” an Excel spreadsheet with biographical information on all players, managers, coaches and umpires listed in Retrosheet. He then used a formula to subtract birth date from death date for each listed person, returning their age in years. The only other umpire known to have reached his 100th birthday was Henry Dobson, who umpired a single game in the National Association on May 5, 1871, and died on November 27, 1942, age 100. It should be noted that Retrosheet did not have complete birth and death information for all umpires – particularly 19th-century umps – and that Negro League umpires were not included in Retrosheet’s umpiring database at the time of research, so additional research could uncover more centenarian umpires.

57 Obituary on Legacy.com, accessed July 2024, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sandiegouniontribune/name/shannon-deniston-obituary?id=8183754.

58 Findagrave.com entry for Shannon W. Deniston, accessed July 2024, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257015730/shannon-w-deniston.