Deadball Era Umpires: What They Did for Baseball

Very little has been written about Deadball Era umpires who established the foundations of the modern umpiring profession — the implementation of umpire signals, the two-umpire system, and more support from league authorities for umpires. And yet this group of men who umpired during the Deadball Era established the traditions, rules, and procedures by which fans, sportswriters, managers, coaches, and players understand the game today.

In 1947 James M. Kahn wrote one of the first books detailing the development of umpires, The Umpire Story,1 but he had to dig deep to get information. Historian John Durant offered to provide data on umpires but Kahn concluded, “No need returning to it until 2055, or so, I doubt if I’ll ever write another line on the robbers.”2

In the official history published on the 75th anniversary of the National League, not a word was written about umpires.3 The development of umpires and umpiring didn’t occur overnight; it took many years — decades — to implement, and the story needs to be told.

The use of signals by umpires

One of the major developments came when umpires signaled plays during the Deadball Era, to formalize communication between fellow umpires, players, and coaches and fans. Before the first public-address system arrived at the Polo Grounds in 1929, umpires would announce lineups or changes in lineups by using a megaphone. As for signals — safe, out, fair, foul, strike, ball, and others — history is not so clear.

Cy Rigler is credited with raising his right arm to call a strike, first doing it in 1905 in Evansville, Indiana, as an umpire in the Central League.4 When he came to the majors in 1906, he found hand signals already in place.5 In 1904 Bill Klem had begun using fair and foul signals in the minor leagues.6 Klem asserted this in his interview with William J. Slocum, but there is no independent confirmation. Klem reached the majors in 1905. By 1906 many umpires, including Rigler, Klem, and others, were using signals, and the use of this communication was becoming more widespread.

In 1907 some publications began to push for more widespread adoption of umpire’s signals in the major leagues. Sporting Life, citing an article from the Chicago Tribune, said: “The Tribune’s agitation for a system of umpire’s gestures to indicate decisions seems to be as far-reaching as popular. Chief Zimmer has been using signs for balls and strikes and delighting New Orleans patrons.”7

The Tribune continued on April 14, 1907: “There is nothing but this habit of looking at baseball matters through the umpire’s eyes to explain the failure of big league presidents to answer the public’s demands by instructing their umpires to adopt a simple code of signals to indicate doubtful decisions on pitched balls, the same as on base decisions.”8

But how signals came to be part of communication with managers, coaches, and fans remains a question. A 2009 film, Signs of the Time,9 covers the matter by looking at the careers of William “Dummy” Hoy and Bill Klem. The bottom line in terms of hand signals is this: Some of the signs came from American Sign Language and deaf players including Ed Dundon and Hoy were able to use them to advance their game. Umpires came along slowly, with Klem, Rigler, and others playing a role in utilizing signs. Signs of the Time contributes to the dialogue about the use of signs and while one could say it’s a nice story, there are many loose ends.

The first deaf player to reach the big leagues was Ed “Dummy” Dundon. He pitched in the major leagues for the American Association Columbus Buckeyes in 1883 and 1884. His deafness made it difficult for him to understand ball and strike calls and close plays on the bases. Dundon and the umpires in the Association reportedly worked out a set of uniform signs. “The fans in the stands loved the signs because for the first time they too knew the umpires’ rulings instantaneously. Soon the umpires were using hand signs even when Dundon and Hoy weren’t playing in the game.”10

Dundon was on a winner in 1885. Former Columbus manager Gus Schmelz took him to the Southern League and won that year’s pennant with Atlanta. Dundon had a 21-12 record with an earned-run average of 1.44. He finished out his career in the minors and died from tuberculosis on August 18, 1893.

American Sign Language provides some clue as to how signs developed. “The signal for ‘out’ in baseball is identical to the sign for the word out in ASL: A, or the thumbs down, is moved up and over. … The signal for ‘safe’ in baseball is identical to the sign for the word for ‘free’ and is made with two open and flat hands with the palms down. …”11

As Dundon’s career was fading away, Hoy was emerging as a star player. According to baseball historian Richard Marazzi, “Hoy has been credited with initiating the practice of umpires raising their right hands on a called strike.”12

That both Dundon and Hoy had a role in signaling is a fact, though there is a question as to how much of a role they played. Hoy’s role might have been more important if only because he had a far lengthier career than did Dundon.

While deaf players were getting signs, most of the time umpires were calling games without signaling. As the twentieth century approached, there was an invisible wall between fans and umpires. Jim Hughes wrote, “No signals for strikes, no signals for safe, and no signals for out or foul. There were no electronic scoreboards, there were no announcers to interpret the game. The only signal was the umpire’s voice, drowned out by the screams of thousands of excited fans.”13 The director and co-producer of the film, Don Casper, said that whether or not Hoy initiated signals “is a little gray.”14

Deaf ballplayers introduced signals so they could understand what was happening, but umpires did not universally adopt signs. Some did, but others did not. By the time signs were commonly used by major-league umpires, Hoy’s major-league career was over.

Bill Klem, whose professional career began in 1902 said that by 1904 he was using signals for fair and foul balls. Klem claimed he invented the safe and out signals, even though another umpire, Cy Rigler, was using them in the previous year in the minor leagues and, by 1905, according to the Hughes film, safe/out and fair/foul signs were already in use.

Klem said in his interview with Collier’s, “I invented the standard ‘safe’ and ‘out’ signals used today by umpires in sandlots and in World Series games. The jerk of the thumb over the shoulder for ‘out’ and the palms-down gesture for ‘safe.’ These were innovations of convenience to me, but they were a boon to fans out of range of the umpire’s voice.”15

It is probably futile at this point to definitively establish the origin of hand signals. Signs of the Time said: “Although the legend of Bill Klem is literally cast in bronze at the Hall of Fame, many historians believe he had nothing to do with the innovation of hand signals.”16

Coaches and umpires simply began to use signals on their own without any edict from the magnates of the game.

Though Hoy had a longer career, Dundon may have played more of a role in innovating hand signals. Dundon was called on to umpire a game while a member of the Acid Iron Earths of the four-team Gulf League in 1886. Bill Deane wrote, “Dundon, the deaf and dumb pitcher of the Acid Iron Earths, umpired a game between the Acids and Mobiles, on October 20. … He used the fingers of his right hand to indicate strikes, the fingers of the left to call balls, a shake of the head decided a man ‘not out,’ and a wave of the hand meant out.”17

Deane may have read the New York Clipper, which wrote about signals, “Dundon, the deaf-mute pitcher, umpired a game in Mobile, Ala., and gave entire satisfaction.”18

So what do we make of the Dundon, Hoy, and Klem ensemble? In the film Signs of the Time, myth is the first item mentioned. While Dundon and Hoy were getting signals, umpires didn’t do the same until much later. In other words, it is tough to come to a conclusion over how signs became part of the game.

By 1908, hand signals were universally in use. “Umpire signals had been in practice prior to the 1908 season. … The Reach and Spalding guidebooks called the signals the umpire’s semaphore system. Signaling strike, safe, and out calls was an important means of adding to the enjoyment of the game, noted the Spalding Guide. The signal system had been ‘invaluable assistance’ to the umpires in ‘making their decisions understood when the size of the crowd is such that it is impossible to make the human voice carry distinctly to all parts of the field.”19

Hoy died at the age of 99 in 1961. In a publication called Silent Worker, from Gallaudet University, Hoy said, “Coaches at third base kept me posted by lifting his right hand for strikes and his left for balls. This gave later day umpires an idea and they now raise their right … to emphasize an indisputable strike.”20

Deane wrote, “This indicates that this practice was adopted after Hoy’s career; and, as far as we know, Hoy merely assumed that his coaches’ signals were the inspiration for this idea.”21

As for Klem, it is another matter. Klem outlived all other Deadball Era umpires except one, fellow Hall of Famer Billy Evans. And since Evans was an American Leaguer, Klem could describe his career as he pleased with a mixture of fact and fiction. Baseball historian Peter Morris kindly said, “Somebody who had as long of an umpiring career as Bill Klem probably got asked questions a lot of times. I think you tend to shade your answer to giving people what they want to hear. So I think that Klem probably started to shade his story and before long he probably remembered it a little differently than how it actually happened.”22

In Signs of the Time, pitching great Bob Feller told it like he saw it: “Bill Klem on his plaque said he invented hand signals. Of course, he didn’t invent hand signals any more than I did. We live with myths every day, you can call them myths or lies or untruths or misquotes, whatever you want to. But that’s all part of life.”23

The introduction of hand signals did a lot for baseball. Communication was a key to making the game more understandable and available to everyone. Today we know that hand signals facilitate communication with players, coaches, fans, and other umpires.

From one to multiple umpires

During the first eight years of the Deadball Era, most games were umpired by one man. The owners at that time believed only one umpire was needed, unless in a key game in a pennant race or another important contest. In 1908 the three contenders in the National League, the Cubs, Giants, and Pirates, had two-man crews a little over 80 percent of the time.24 In the American League in 1908, games between Cleveland and the White Sox all had two-man crews. In 1909 both leagues effectively had two-man crews, but the major leagues did not formally adopt the two-man rule until the beginning of the 1912 season.

From the standpoint of both American and National League presidents and owners, augmentation of field staff to more than one umpire came slowly. In many ways having two umpires on the field, in very simple terms, involved money.

In the American League, Tommy Connolly and Jack Sheridan were two who remained through 1909, while in the National League Hank O’Day and Bob Emslie were permanent during that time. Most other umpires were basically part-timers as pressures from owners and players caused them to be, as they say, “one and done” as it concerned their major-league umpiring careers.

Until the umpire rolls added Silk O’Loughlin and Billy Evans in the American League and Jim Johnstone and Bill Klem in the National, major-league umpiring was not a long-term employment option for most. By 1909 several other umpires entered the league and had long careers: Jack Egan and Big Bill Dinneen in the American League, and Cy Rigler in the National League. These new umpires helped both major leagues by establishing the umpire’s role in the game and getting away from the “one and done” days. Connolly, Klem, Evans, and O’Day are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ejections

While the American League’s Ban Johnson and his counterpart Harry Pulliam in the National League were attempting to build the umpires’ authority and status, they ran into problems from players, managers, and owners.

Many of the problems came from players. Owners were beginning to rein in vulgar and unseemly behavior by players. But umpires were still fair game. Hall of Famer Sam Crawford said, “[W]e only had one umpire in a game, not four they have today. And you know that one umpire just can’t see everything at once. He’d stand behind the catcher until a man got on base, and then he’d move out and call balls and strikes from behind the pitcher. … We’d run with one eye on the ball and the other on the umpire!”25

It would take almost a decade to remove difficult players from causing problems with umpires; managers were another problem. Connie Mack had been ejected by Hank O’Day when Mack was a catcher, but he rarely roused umpires as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Orioles and Giants manager John McGraw was one of the toughest on umpires, averaging several ejections a season. McGraw claimed that “ ‘artful kicking’ to keep umpires aware of his presence gained his club as many as fifty extra runs a season.”26

Other Deadball Era managers such as Frank Chance, Fielder Jones, Clark Griffith, Joe Kelley, and Fred Clarke were also tough managers in their attitude toward umpires. Clarke was flexible in his attitudes with umpires in 1908, when he decided that the best approach in a close race was to keep his players eligible and to leave umpires alone. Clarke told Sporting Life, “There’s nothing to be gained by paying attention to the umpires but it may mean a big loss when men get put out of the game.”27 During the pennant race in 1908 the New York Giants led the league with 20 ejections, the Chicago Cubs had six, and Clarke’s Pirates only three.28

Team owners

League presidents also had difficulty with team owners. While Andrew Freedman was president of the New York Giants, he was responsible for getting rid of umpires Billy Nash and Harry Colgan in 1901. During his presidency he also upset players, managers, sportswriters, and even fans. When Freedman was replaced by John T. Brush as Giants president, Brush became an opponent of National League President Pulliam until Pulliam killed himself in 1909.

In 1908 the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Charles Ebbets, put enough evidence before Pulliam to get Frank Rudderham fired, after Rudderham stirred up a lot of bad press in the New York area.

In the American League, Ban Johnson had more leverage. When he formed the American League, he wanted it to penalize abusive behavior directed at umpires. Johnson was willing to face down owners as well as players and managers. But, as with the National League, it took years to repair the damage. League owners believed it increased attendance to have umpires the subject of vilification. The problem was that National League players came to the American League for a simple reason: The American League had money to spend on players. However, the former National Leaguers found Ban Johnson tough when it came to umpire abuse. Johnson said repeatedly that it “was the number one crime an American Leaguer could commit.”29

Johnson required umpires to file reports of serious incidents that occurred during games. If an umpire lied to Johnson, he was done as an umpire in the league. The league’s first major-league season, 1901, was easily the worst in terms of umpire quality. The staff was “mediocre … the novelty of presidential support of umpires, and the influx of undisciplined National Leaguers guaranteed a certain amount of difficulty.”30

The next step was to adopt a two-umpire system. The World Series already employed two umpires, one from each league. By 1908, many observers believed it was time for a change and Johnson declared that two umpires would officiate games in 1909 and thereafter. The National League finally adopted two umpires in 1912. The major leagues began three umpires in 1933 and in 1952 the current four-man setup was established.

Umpires themselves were split over the use of one man versus two men. O’Day, Connolly, and Hurst were strong supporters of a single-umpire system. O’Day believed it was more trouble working with another umpire because “in many cases he has not only [had to?] give his own decisions, but sometimes his mates’ as well. …”31 O’Day made the Merkle call after Bob Emslie said he did not see the play. His comment came after the Merkle play.

Sheridan and O’Loughlin were for the two-umpire system, as was Evans, who said that with just one umpire, “You did a lot of running, and let’s face it, a lot of guessing.”32 Sporting Life weighed in with this editorial comment, during the 1908 season: “With batting cut down to a minimum, the slightest error by an umpire often deprives a team of victory. There is really too much for one man to watch in a ball game.”33

While umpires had developed fundamental techniques, professionalization and standardization came with the establishment of formal umpire training schools. Schools for umpires did not come around until the mid-1930s; George Barr of the National League opened the first and was instrumental in handing down advice to those who wanted to take on the task. Four years later, Bill McGowan began his academy. Until then, individual umpires had to rely on on-the-job training.

The development of modern umpires comes down to three factors: creating signals that allowed fans, players, coaches, and umpires to understand what occurred on the diamond; giving greater authority over the game without fear of being unnecessarily overridden without cause; and finally the advent of more than one umpire on the field.

DAVID W. ANDERSON is the author of More than Merkle, a detailed history about the 1908 season published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2000, he also wrote You Can’t Beat the Hours. He was a member of the Society of American Baseball Research from 1988 until 2016. He lives in Olathe, Kansas with his wife Judy. They have three adult children — Karin, Erik, and Julia. They spend most of their spare time baby-sitting their triplet grandchildren Robert, David, and Hadley.

 

Notes

1 James M. Kahn, The Umpire Story (New York: Putnam, 1947).

2 Larry R. Gerlach, “Umpires,” in John Thorn and Pete Palmer, eds., Total Baseball (New York: Warner Books, 1989), 465.

3 Charles Segar, ed., The Official History of the National League (New York: Jay Publishing, 1951). The only mention of umpires was in the dedication, but nothing more.

4 Dan Krueckeberg, “The Forgotten Man,” Referee Magazine, July 1983, 50.

5 Ibid.

6 Bill J. Klem and William J. Slocum, “Jousting With McGraw,” Collier’s Magazine, April 7, 1951: 31.

7 Sporting Life, March 30, 1907: 4.

8 Peter Morris, “Umpire’s Signals,” SABR-L Digest, April 2, 2003.

9 Jim Hughes, Signs of the Time: the Myth, the Mystery, the Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Innovation (2009, Crystal Pix, Inc.).

10 Joseph Santry, “Columbus Buckeyes 1876-1899,” Anchors Aweigh, July 1988: 15-16.

11 Randy Fisher and Jami N. Fisher, “The Deaf and the Origin of Hand Signals in Baseball,” The National Pastime, 2008: 35.

12 Richard Marazzi, The Rules and Lore of Baseball (New York: Stein and Day, 1980), 21.

13 Jim Hughes, Signs of the Time: The Myth, the Mystery, the Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Innovation (Documentary film script, Crystal Pix, Inc., 2009), 6.

14 Stuart Miller, “Umpires Signs: The Movie,” New York Times, July 24, 2010.

15 William J. Klem and William J. Slocum, “Diamond Rhubarbs,” Collier’s Magazine, April 14, 1951: 31.

16 Hughes, 22.

17 Bill Deane, “Dummy Hoy, Inventor,” SABR-L Digest, March 21, 2001.

18 Ibid.

19 David W. Anderson, More Than Merkle (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), 87-88.

20 Bill Deane, “Dummy Hoy, Inventor.”

21 Ibid.

22 Hughes, Signs of the Time, interview with Peter Morris, 23.

23 Ibid.

24 Anderson, 230.

25 Lawrence S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It (New York: Quill William Morrow, 1984), 55.

26 Robert F. Burk, Never Just a Game: Players, Owners and American Baseball to 1920 (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 134. Deane, SABR-L Digest, March 21, 2001.

27 “National League News,” Sporting Life, July 18, 1908: 9.

28 Anderson, 232.

29 Eugene C. Murdock, Ban Johnson: Czar of Baseball (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1982), 80.

30 Murdock, 98.

31 “O’Day Differs,” Sporting Life, October 24, 1908: 12.

32 Kahn, 75.

33 “Current Comment,” Sporting Life, June 6, 1908: 4.