Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-09-16
BASE BALL UMPIRES.
Why Their Life Is Sometimes Miserable
Their Work and Paw.

Their Work and Pay.
No man who has anything to do with
base ball has a more thankless task than
the umpire. In each association there
are four regular umpires. The salary IS
about 81 900 for the season. The UNI
pires are selected by the secretary of the
organization, and are wholly under his
control. The association pays the UNI
pire's actual expenses while away from
home These expenses average about SO
a day. This covers railroad fare, hotel
bills. and little expenses. It seems a
small allowance for man who stays at
the best hotels, and travels by night in
sleeping cars; but umpires get reduced
rates at hotels and on railroads.
In the league the first thing an umpire
is required to do is to sign contract
and make oath that he will do his work
to the best of his ability. He is then in
structed in his duties by the secretary.
His uniform is generally a close-ftting
blue suit and he must wear it whenever
he appears on the field. The league
constitution makes an umpire member
of the league. During the progress of q
game he is the sole representative OF the
league, and is master of the field. He Is
Judge of the individual players conduct
as well as of the plays.
The umpires are assigned to duty by
the secretary on a schedule plan. There
has never been any plan whereby the
ability of an applicant for the place of
umpire could be tested. Umplres usually
are old ball players. Sometimes they are
broken-down players. There has been
more trouble with poor umpiring this
year than usual. The league has tried
Connolly, Eagan, York, Ellick, and half
dozen others. The American Association
has tried Young, Mack, Carlin, York,
Clinton, Morton, Tunison, Quinn, and as
many more. Umpires are removed for
many reasons, such as exercising poor
judgment as to balls and strikes, or for
having faYO1ites among the players and
showing them favOrs.
Probably the most successful umpire,
says the New York Sun, is Bob Ferguson.
His success is mainly because of his quick
eye, which enables him to give his de-
cisions quickly and accurately. He has
also the nerve to back up his decisions
and to take no notice of the dissatisfac-
tion shown by players. The rules govern
ing umpires forbid a decision to be chang
ed, whether right or wrong. In some
cases umpires are weak in enforcing their
decisions and are disposed to change them
if there is ''kicking." AS soon as the
players and spectators see that the UNI
pire can be made to weaken as to the de-
cisiOn, he gets himself into hot water,
and he may as well give up, for every
time he makes a decision there will be a
yell for him to change it. One of the
mysteries about umpires is that they will
umpire a game one day and give general
satisfaction, and on the next day they will
umpire a game between the same clubs,
and before almost the same crowd, so
badly that the crowd will be ready to mob
them. Lovers of base ball in our city
will go wild over an umpire, and in the
next city he will be glad to get away
whole. Connolly did good work in this
city, but was disliked in other towns. In
Boston and Detroit they think that Gaff-
ney is the best umpire of the lot. In this
city he did the worst umpiring seen for
many day. Eagan and EIIick were poor
Judges of balls and strikes, as well as un
able to see the close plays on bases.
On one of the games which Gaffney
umpired at the Polo grounds few small
bets had been made in the brokers box, y
and they were declared off, because it was
plain that the New Yorks lost on the UNI
pire's decisions. The ''brokers' box" is
on the south side of the grand stand, and
seats about twenty. The occupants are
Wall street men, who lease the box fo1
the season.
Base ball people hereabouts say that
much of the trouble of the umpires in the
league is caused by the dissatisfaction
shown by the weaker clubs. Not only dc
the players find fault with the decisions
but the managers are given to "kicking.'