Larry Gerlach’s ‘Lion of the League: Bob Emslie and the Evolution of the Baseball Umpire’ wins 2025 SABR Seymour Medal
Lion of the League: Bob Emslie and the Evolution of the Baseball Umpire, written by Larry R. Gerlach and published by University of Nebraska Press, is the winner of the 2025 Dr. Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal, which honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year.
Gerlach will receive his award during the 32nd annual NINE Spring Training Conference on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Tempe, Arizona. To learn more about the NINE conference, visit nineconference.com.
The Seymour Medal Selection Committee of Elena Elms (chair), R.J. Lesch, and Steve Gietschier released the following statement:
Lion of the League, by Larry R. Gerlach, gives readers three books for the price of one: a biography of Bob Emslie, a largely forgotten baseball pioneer; a history of the evolution of umpiring from the beginning of professional baseball through the 1930s and a rare glimpse into minor league baseball from its earliest days. Gerlach makes a strong case for Emslie’s candidacy for the National Baseball Hall of Fame with his meticulous research of Canadian and American sources and his careful and compelling writing.
Gerlach, a 2024 recipient of the Henry Chadwick Award, was the founder and longtime chair of the SABR Umpires and Rules Committee, and co-editor of The SABR Book of Umpires and Umpiring. He is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Utah, where he taught from 1968 to 2013 and also wrote extensively on the American Revolution. His book, The Men in Blue: Conversations With Umpires, was named one of SABR’s top 50 baseball books of the past 50 years in 2021.
The finalists for the 2025 Seymour Medal were:
- Leave While the Party’s Good: The Life and Legacy of Baseball Executive Harry Dalton, by Lee C. Kluck (University of Nebraska Press)
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (Pantheon)
The Seymour Medal, named in honor of Dr. Harold Seymour and Mrs. Dorothy (Seymour) Mills, was first awarded by SABR in 1996. To be considered for the medal, a work must be the product of original research or analysis. The winning book shall significantly advance our knowledge of baseball and shall be characterized by understanding, factual accuracy, profound insight and distinguished writing.
To see a list of previous Seymour Medal winners, click here.
Originally published: January 23, 2025. Last Updated: January 23, 2025.